1993:017 - BALLYNAGRUMOOLIA, Cork

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Cork Site name: BALLYNAGRUMOOLIA

Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 86:018 Licence number: 93E0068

Author: John Tierney, Archaeological Services Unit, University College Cork

Site type: Standing stone (present location)

Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)

ITM: E 563157m, N 564763m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.833888, -8.534568

This site was excavated over a period of ten days by a team of four people in April 1993. The stone was located on the edge of the line of the new Cork-Bandon Road and had to be excavated as a consequence. The project is being funded by Cork Co. Council.

Twelve trenches were opened in order to determine the extent of archaeological remains in the area. One main trench was dug around the base of the monolith, three were hand dug approximately 10m to the north, south and east of the stone while three others were machine-dug approximately 10m further out in order to determine the nature of the soil horizon. Four trenches were fully excavated by hand while the remainder were opened by JCB. Results by trench:

Trench 1
This main trench was 4m x 3m in size, east-west in orientation. The monolith was situated in the centre of the trench and was surrounded by a raised, roughly elliptical mound of sediment which was recently deposited by the farmer when he noticed that the stone was loose. When this layer of material was removed the packing fill of the monolith socket became evident. Once it was realised that the monolith was not too deeply set in the soil, it was considered too destructive to the surrounding archaeological sediments to uproot it immediately. Two layers (c. 5 & 6) cut by the socket hole were excavated along with the packing material before the monolith was removed by machine. The relative date of erection is indicated by the excavation of cultivation furrows and ridges directly below layers c.5 & 6. Such furrows are usually dated to early modern or more recent cultivation. Fragments of willow pattern plates were found in the furrow fills. Thus, it would appear that the standing stone was erected in socket c.16 in relatively recent times. However, other archaeological remains were evident at lower levels in the trenches indicating that the history of human occupation in the area was more complex than an early modern erection of a 'scratching stone' for cattle.

Once all of the furrow fills and cuts were excavated more archaeological remains were evident: especially interesting was a rough linear arrangement of stakeholes/postholes and pits running in a south-westerly direction from the location of the standing stone.

The most important archaeological remains were found directly beneath socket cut c.16 and consisted of a medium sized pit whose dimensions were almost exactly the same as the base of the monolith. It is hypothesized that this pit is the original socket hole for the monolith which was first erected in antiquity, probably collapsed and was re-erected in recent times.

Trench 3
This is one of four trenches excavated by hand around the area of the standing stone and it produced evidence of a furrow. This trench is situated to the east of the monolith. The digging of this furrow is probably contemporary with those found in Trench 1. This trench was completed once the furrow was excavated and the natural B horizon was evident throughout the trench.

Trench 4
This trench was hand dug to the north of Trench 1 and after the removal of the newly formed sod a loose earthy sediment was noted. The trench was expanded in order to determine the nature of this archaeological feature, which after further investigation was found to be the remains of a field enclosure ditch. All of the sediments found were loose and earthy, this being indicative of a recent deposition. The remains of a posthole were also found cut into the top of the ditch. This ditch was evident in the first edition of the 6" OS map.

Trench 5
This trench was opened to the immediate south of Trench 1; it was 4m x 2.5m in size. The top plough soil was removed by machine but the lower levels of the plough soil were removed by shovel and trowel. The trench was positioned here so as to investigate the possibility that the rough line of cut features running south-west of the socket stone in Trench 1 ran in this direction, perhaps forming a structure.

A small pinky coloured spread was found directly beneath the plough soil and this covered two of three charred organic filled pits found in this trench. All three pits were shallow and contained both charcoal and charred bone (no diagnostic fragments were found). The function of these pits is not clear. They do not appear to have had a structural use and while they are not directly stratigraphically linked to the socket cut, they could be contemporary.

Sediment samples from each context excavated are being examined at the Archaeological Services Unit, UCC. A C14 date from one of these pits and the early pit below the monolith is being awaited.