1999:529 - RATHBANE SOUTH, Limerick

Monitoring of topsoil-stripping along the line of the N20/N21 Limerick Bypass uncovered a spread of burnt stone within a charcoal-rich matrix in an area of extremely wet ground. Further investigation and excavation of the area began on 30 September 1999 and ended on 15 October 1999.

The site was an artificial platform of brushwood, peat and clay. The brushwood base was horizontally laid, with no evidence for vertical pegs to hold the larger timbers in place. The timbers were very poorly preserved and showed no signs of toolmarks. They were laid on top of an apparently natural peat layer and were concentrated underneath a peaty redeposit in an area measuring c. 8.5m east-west by 3.5m.

Above the layers of timber and peat a thin deposit of tacky, grey clay formed an artificial ground surface above the natural water level. This clay layer was cut in the north-western quadrant of the platform by a shallow, subcircular pit that had a maximum depth of 0.4m and a mean diameter of 1.24m. The pit was filled by two peaty deposits but yielded no artefacts.

The pit, its fills and the grey clay surface were sealed beneath a charcoal-rich layer of heat-shattered sandstone, with a maximum depth of 0.3m. Although this layer conforms to the classic definition of fulacht fiadh material, no further evidence, such as a definite trough feature or traces of on-site burning, indicate the use of the site as a cooking area. The presence of an extensive fulacht fiadh c. 100m to the east (see No. 530, Excavations 1999) suggests that the stony, charcoal-rich layer may have been transported to the site to refurbish the artificial platform following the abandonment of the pit.

No datable artefacts were recovered from the site.

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