County: Tipperary Site name: DER304, DERRYVILLE BOG, Killoran and Derryfadda
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 96E0298ext.
Author: Paul Stevens, Lisheen Archaeological Project, for Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 622123m, N 666274m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.747084, -7.672321
Early Bronze Age
DER304 was the earliest site revealed stratigraphically below DER305 (Excavations 1997, No. 508) during the excavation of a large cutting at the west end of DER18 (Excavations 1997, No. 506). The site was located on a gentle slope in the mineral soil to the south-west of DER18. Charcoal from this site was radiocarbon-dated to 2138–1935 cal. BC (UB-4186).
The trough was circular and measured 1.5m in diameter and 0.4m in depth. It cut through the glacial till at the location of a natural spring providing a clean, abundant and effortless water source. The backfilled trough contained two fills, the latest of which contained stone larger than that in the mound or the lower fill. Hazelnut shells that showed evidence of rodent attack were found, suggesting that the site was backfilled and disused by the autumn.
The mound was a small intermittent semicircular mound of fire-cracked sandstone and charcoal measuring 7–5m in diameter and 0.25m in depth. It was situated on the western side of the trough, partly sealing peat to the south and utilising a small natural glacial bank to the north. Sealing the mound to the south of the trough and partly covering peat was an area of burnt clay with charcoal measuring 1.8m in length and 1.5m in width. This may represent the hearth. The site was rapidly inundated by forest fen peat.
Rath House, Ferndale Road, Rathmichael, Co. Dublin
