County: Down Site name: AQUARIUS WATER PIPELINE, Breezemount
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/01/85
Author: Ciara McManus, ADS
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 750581m, N 878340m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.630781, -5.667683
During monitoring of topsoil-stripping along the proposed line of the Mourne Conduit Replacement Scheme (Aquarius Project) the remains of a low spread of burnt mound material, c. 25m by 8m in size, were uncovered within the corridor of the proposed pipeline. As the deposits were within an area under threat from the pipe insertion, excavation was required.
Clearance of the burnt spread revealed three large subsoil-cut pits, all filled with blackened, charcoal-rich material. The largest and most central of the pits also contained large quantities of burnt and heat-shattered stones, suggesting a function similar to that of a fulacht fiadh.
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