County: Cork Site name: KILLYDONOGHOE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0495
Author: Rory Sherlock, Sheila Lane and Associates
Site type: House - Bronze Age
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 573344m, N 578432m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.957337, -8.387820
The site was originally identified during monitoring of topsoil-stripping on the N8 Glanmire– Watergrasshill Road Scheme (see Excavations 2001, No. 173). It consisted of the remains of a circular timber structure and a series of large grain-storage pits, a number of which had fragments of saddle querns within their fills. The internal area of the structure, which was defined by a circle of post-holes, had a diameter of c. 6m, with a central hearth and a possible entrance to the south-east. The subcircular grain-storage pits, to the west of the house site, measured up to 1.4m across and 1.05m deep, and large pieces of five saddle querns were found in this area. A number of the pits had a single large saddle quern fragment towards the base of the fill, possibly providing evidence of ritual deposition. Other finds from the site include a number of pottery sherds which were found in a structural post-hole, a hone stone, a possible rubbing or smoothing stone, and a number of pieces of struck flint.
A later phase of activity was noted in the area of the house site, as material from a later hearth was found to seal a structural post-hole. A Bronze Age date for the house site is suggested on the basis of the excavated evidence, and post-excavation work is ongoing. The site lay 40m south of a possible Bronze Age cremation burial (see Excavations 2001, No. 192) and 210m north of a similar burial (see Excavations 2001, No. 190), both of which were excavated during the course of the same project.
AE House, Monahan Road, Cork
