2000:0521 - CASTLETOWN, Kilkenny

Monitoring of topsoil-stripping and associated plant excavations was carried out at the Arcon Mines, Galmoy, Co. Kilkenny, between November 1999 and March 2000 (see Excavations 2000, No. 520). The topsoil-stripping formed part of the works associated with the construction of a new tailings pond at the mine. During the construction of the first tailings pond in 1996 a number of fulachta fiadh/burnt mounds were recorded, as well as a corn-drying kiln with associated industrial activity. In January 2000 a further three burnt mound sites were identified, and the following is a summary of the excavation of one of these.

The site was located immediately to the south of the limit of the borrow area excavated in 1996. It was initially identified as a large spread of blackened and fire-shattered stone immediately beneath the topsoil. The spread extended c. 17m east–west and up to 10m north–south. Preliminary investigation of the site indicated the presence of a probable trough and a number of associated pits.

The trough was located slightly to the west of the centre of the area of the spread. It was subrectangular in plan and was orientated roughly north-west/south-east. It measured 1.65m by 1.4m, had a maximum depth of 0.75m and was cut through the natural subsoil. There was no evidence of a surviving lining of the trough. Two large angular stones were identified in the north-west and south-west corners of the trough. These were not fire-shattered or burnt and may have functioned as supports for walling. In addition, there were two small stake-holes near the south-east corner that had been cut through the base of the trough. These may also have supported timber walling. The base of the trough was filled with a mid-grey silt with a high concentration of heat-shattered stones. The main deposit filling the trough consisted of blackened soil and fire-shattered stone, which was identical to the main spread of mound material across the site.

At the western side of the trough there was an additional cut/pit, roughly oval in plan, which had removed a section of the cut for the main trough. This secondary pit was orientated roughly east–west and measured 1.25m by 1.1m with a maximum depth of 0.65m. It can only be assumed that it post-dates the main trough, as there was no evidence to indicate whether or not both features were contemporary. The pit had exactly the same primary and secondary fills as the main trough. It is likely that it represented an extension of the main trough.

A number of both regularly and irregularly shaped pits were found near the trough beneath the spread of the mound. These were filled mostly with deposits of mid-grey silt with a high concentration of heat-shattered stones and burnt mound material. The function of these pits is unclear; they may have served as auxiliary troughs, but this seems unlikely. It is also unlikely that the pits were used as fire-pits because there was no evidence of scorching or burning around their sides or at their bases.

The mound of heat-shattered stone debris around the site of the fulacht fiadh probably originally took the form of the classic horseshoe shape, with the trough being located centrally within the arms of the horseshoe. No actual mound survived on site, having been ploughed out/levelled. The mound material was identified as a large spread of blackened soil and fire-shattered stone immediately beneath the topsoil. The spread was presumably originally larger but had been cut/disturbed to the north-north-east during the works in 1996. The spread had a maximum depth of 0.25m. At its edges the spread was only 0.01–0.02m deep. The heat-shattered stone was on average 0.1m in diameter and consisted roughly of 80% sandstone and 20% limestone.

No definitive hearth area was identified during the excavation of the site.

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