County: Mayo Site name: BEKAN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 92:74 Licence number: 01E0679
Author: Bernard Guinan
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 543881m, N 779577m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.762776, -8.851117
During the monitoring of topsoil removal as part of the Lough Mask Regional Water Supply Scheme Stage III (see No. 918, Excavations 2001, 01E0314), a small area of burnt stone was noted at the edge of an area of deep peat in the townland of Bekan, Co. Mayo. No surface evidence to indicate the presence of a site was visible prior to commencement of development works in the area. Excavations were carried out in July and August 2001.
The spread of burnt stone was irregular in shape, measuring 7.2m (north–south) by 7.4m. The mound was low, 0.33m deep at its maximum and falling off to under 0.3m. The main body of the mound consisted of heat-shattered fragments of sandstone within a black sooty matrix. The southern 1.5m of the site showed evidence of disturbance. A furrow ran through this area of the site and mechanical digger teeth-marks were discovered cut into the boulder clay.
Stratigraphically, the western part of the mound rested directly on natural boulder clay sloping from west to east. The eastern part of the mound displayed a more complex stratigraphy. Here, the burnt stone rested on a thin layer of sandy material (the remains of crushed burnt sandstone) which in turn overlay a thin layer of peat sealing a layer of redeposited boulder clay. This boulder clay was probably thrown up during the digging of the adjacent boiling-pit. Excavation revealed that this redeposited boulder clay rested on a basal layer of peat, 0.08–0.1m deep, above the natural boulder clay.
Excavation of the mound revealed a well-defined boiling-pit cut into the boulder clay dropping downhill along a slope of 1:6 (east–west). The pit was oval, 2.04m by 1.22m, with a maximum depth of 0.7m. The upper level of the boiling-pit was peat-filled with a deposit of burnt stone at the bottom. A series of wooden stakes were discovered in situ at the base of the trough. There were 34 stakes surrounding the base of the pit, occurring either individually or in pairs. A greater concentration of stakes was revealed at the western edge of the pit. All the stakes were worked into sharp narrow pencil or irregular wedge points and were driven into the boulder clay to a depth of 0.3–0.4m. Most were driven vertically although some were angled.
A number of finds of lithic débitage (mainly chert) were discovered during excavation.
Coosan, Athlone, Co. Westmeath
