County: Wicklow Site name: JOHNSTOWN NORTH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0252
Author: Niall Gregory, on behalf of Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 726395m, N 677421m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.832902, -6.124162
A burnt mound site was uncovered during archaeological monitoring of topsoil-stripping prior to road construction for the Arklow bypass, in the townland of Johnstown North, Co. Wicklow. It was excavated between 29 July and 10 September 1997.
Three cuttings were originally opened, followed by a fourth when an adjacent private access road, removed by road construction, revealed more burnt material.
The remains of a field wall and field clearance overlay part of the site, which was to some extent disturbed by field drains. Upon excavation, two pits and three troughs were revealed which were dug into the subsoil. Four distinct spreads were found associated with them. All pits and troughs contained dark brown soil with a high content of fragmented burnt stone. Two of the troughs were reused as pits and had a charcoal-rich fill with fragmented burnt stone. One of these troughs had two post-holes adjacent to it.
The finds consisted of twelve worked flints (16% of all flints recovered). Their situation did not favour any particular context, and they were found from the topsoil to the natural subsoil.
Preliminary assessment would suggest that this was a sauna or sweat-house site, which is supported by the absence of animal bone and any form of cooking or settlement debris.
62 Knocknashee, Goatstown, Dublin 14
