County: Kerry Site name: ROCKFIELD
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0323
Author: Tracy Collins, Aegis Archaeology
Site type: Cremation pit and Burial
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 493073m, N 612453m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.253397, -9.566115
These features were uncovered during the monitoring of topsoil-stripping in July of the new N21 route between Castleisland and Tralee. Subsequent excavation revealed five subcircular features, the central one a cremation burial. To the north a stony, amorphous deposit was also excavated. Six metres to the south of the cremation a large cremation pit (1.9m in diameter, 0.4m deep) was exposed. The interior of the pit had been intensely burned, the heat penetrating the boulder clay for up to 0.1m. Two channels, also intensely baked and set in a cruciform arrangement, were cut into the base of the pit. A linear, U-shaped flue extended for 2m beyond the western edge of the pit. Two metres to the south, two truncated post-holes were also excavated.
The baking of the boulder clay in the pit suggests that the heat within it reached high temperatures in order to oxidise it, yet none of the burnt material survived. The cremation, in contrast, showed intensive burning, although the boulder clay beneath it was not burnt. The proximity of the cremation to the pit suggests that the pit may have contained the cremation pyre, the elaborate flues providing the ventilation necessary for high temperatures. Prehistoric dates are anticipated for the features identified.
16 Avondale Court, Corbally, Limerick
