County: Limerick Site name: RATHBANE SOUTH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0634
Author: Catherine McLoughlin and Emmet Stafford, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 558625m, N 654659m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.641563, -8.611333
Monitoring of topsoil-stripping along the N20/N21 Limerick Bypass uncovered a spread of burnt stone within a charcoal-rich ploughsoil. The spread measured 14m north-south by 28m. Further archaeological investigation and excavation began on 18 October 1999 and concluded on 5 November 1999.
The site consisted of several layers of soil, all of which had been disturbed by ploughing. These contexts, which contained varying levels of burnt stone and charcoal, overlay a series of subsoil-cut features. Unfortunately, the relationship between some of these features had been obscured by pre-construction engineering test-pits.
The main phase of activity on the site was represented by a rectangular pit that held evidence of in situ burning. This pit, which had straight sides and a flat base, had a mean depth of 0.5m, measured 2.75m by 1.8m and was immediately identified as the trough or central feature of the site.
A large circular pit with a maximum depth of 1.35m and an average diameter of 3.9m was immediately to the west of the trough. This feature was lined with a layer of clay, indicating that it had a water-holding function. The pit may have been used as a cistern to store the water necessary for the cooking process in the adjacent trough. This possibility is supported by the absence of naturally rising or running water in the immediate vicinity of the site, which was within an area of dry, natural gravels.
Another feature, which ran diagonally across the site along a south-east/north-west direction, was also identified as having a water-management function. This gully, which fell steadily toward the north-west, had steep sides and a gently rounded bottom. It had an average width and depth of 1.1m and 0.48m respectively and ran for a recorded length of 15m. In common with the large pit, which was a minimum distance of 2m to the west, this gully had an applied clay lining. Unfortunately, the relationship between the two features was obscured by a pre-construction test-pit.
Several smaller features (pits and stake-holes) were identified and excavated below the level of the burnt material; no archaeological features were identified beyond the spread of burnt stone. Although the various fills of the large pit mentioned above contained bones from both wild and domestic animals, no artefacts datable without scientific analysis were recovered from the site. A second, smaller fulacht fiadh c. 70m to the south (see No. 530, Excavations 1999) was excavated in tandem with this excavation.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3
