County: Clare Site name: CRAGBRIEN (BGE 3/23/5)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E1299
Author: Graham Hull and Martin Jones, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 530858m, N 669288m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.770200, -9.024622
This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West project. The archaeological deposits were a very low mound or spread of burnt clay and heat-shattered stone, two pits, a possible cremation pit and a post-hole.
The mound measured 8.56m (north–south) by 8.16m and was 0.26m high. It overlay the natural geology, was single phased and consisted of a thin deposit of grey/black clay and burnt limestone and sandstone. A very small amount of charcoal was also present. Mound material was present in the grikes of the underlying limestone bedrock. There was no evidence of a hearth or trough. Immediately above the mound lay the modern topsoil. A number of bovine teeth and small, probably rodent, bones were found within the mound material.
A small pit was found to the west of the mound. It was oval in plan and measured 0.25m (north-east/south-west) by 0.22m. In profile the pit was round bottomed with a maximum depth of 0.11m. The fill was a mid-/dark grey, silty clay containing small stones, with a small amount of charcoal and a large amount of small flecks of cremated bone central within it. No artefacts were found, and a 100% sample of the fill was taken for sieving. The proximity of this feature to the mound may suggest that they were roughly contemporary, while the size of the cut and the composition of the fill make it likely that the feature functioned as a cremation pit.
A second pit also lay to the west of the mound. The full extent of the cut was indeterminate, with the northern extremity falling outside the limit of excavation. The exposed portion of the cut suggested that the feature was sub-oval, measuring 2.32m (north-west/south-east) by 1.08m. The pit had slightly concave sides sloping gently to a flat, level base, with an overall depth of 0.14m. Two fills were distinguished within the cut. The primary fill was a moderately compact, dark grey/black, silty clay containing a small amount of subangular stones, very few flecks of charcoal and a small amount of burnt bone. The bone was distributed evenly within the fill. The deposit had a maximum thickness of 0.12m and was sampled. The secondary fill was confined to the south-eastern portion of the cut and was a moderately compact, grey/brown clay containing a large amount of small, subangular, unburnt stone. This secondary fill was sub-oval, measuring 1.3m by 0.6m, with a maximum depth of 0.11m.
A third pit also found to the west of the mound was oval, measuring 0.32m (north–south) by 0.29m. The cut had straight sides, almost vertical on the southern side and slightly more sloped on the northern side. The base of the cut was flat and level. It had a maximum depth of 0.11m. A single deposit of moderate to hard compaction was recorded within it. This deposit was a black clay containing a small amount of subangular stone and a single, slightly larger, flat stone.
A circular post-hole, 0.22m in diameter, was excavated. The cut had straight, vertical sides leading to a flat or very slightly concave base. A single deposit of moderate to hard compaction was recorded within the cut. This fill was a dark brown/grey, silty clay containing a small amount of decayed, subangular stone. The maximum depth of the fill was 0.46m.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
