County: Limerick Site name: BALLYNACRAGGA (BGE 3/42/3)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0848
Author: Tony Bartlett and Kate Taylor, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 524496m, N 650716m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.602456, -9.114621
This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. Monitoring identified a low mound of charcoal-enriched soil and heat-cracked stones, immediately beneath the topsoil. The site lay on rough pastureland that sloped gently downward from south-east to north-west.
The site was part of a fulacht fiadh, with a significant part still remaining in the adjacent field to the north-east, a baulk section of which was recorded. The exposed area of the mound measured 12.5m south-east/north-west by 9.5m, and the material had a maximum depth of 0.47m. The outer edges of the spread were 0.01–0.02m deep, and the mound was cut by a modern field drain.
Six layers were recorded, containing charcoal-enriched, silty clay and heat-cracked sandstone. Two additional layers exposed in the baulk section, beneath the burnt material, were sterile, silty clays, one overlying the other.
Three subsoil-cut features (a trough, a roughly stone-lined hearth and a possible roasting pit) and a charcoal spread were found beneath the mound. The trough was sub-oval, measuring 1.86m by 1.8m, and was 0.8m deep, with concave sloping sides and an undulating base. The deposit in the trough contained heat-cracked stones and charcoal-rich, silty clay and was interpreted as a backfill of mound material. No lining was evident in the trough, although, when excavated, it filled with water to a depth of c. 0.1m, indicating the level of a trapped water table. The charcoal spread, 0.75m west of the trough, may have represented the waste from its cleaning.
The roasting pit (0.6m south-east of the trough) was sub-oval, measuring 2.1m by 1.7m, and was 0.4m deep. It had concave sloping sides and a predominantly flat base. Laid flat at the bottom and centre of the pit were thin sandstone slabs forming a subrectangular platform. The platform measured 0.94m by 0.6m, and the average thickness of the stones was 0.03m. Beneath the stones was a layer of charcoal that overlay an area of scorched subsoil, which may support the theory of a roasting function. The north-western side of the pit was cut into an outcrop of naturally occurring sandstone bedrock, which was layered and split. The top few layers were pushed back into the subsoil, creating what may have been a standing/sitting work platform. A further two fills made up the remaining deposit in the pit. The lower fill was mid-grey sandy clay with occasional charcoal flecks and occasional burnt stones. The upper and final fill was dark brown, silty clay, containing occasional charcoal flecks. This final fill also contained a concentration of large, unburnt sandstones near the top, which protruded from the pit before it was excavated.
The hearth was 0.25m south-east of the roasting pit. Sub-oval in plan, it had a concave profile and a rounded base. It measured 1.6m by 1.2m and was 0.1m deep. The stones delineating the hearth were naturally occurring bedrock. Although there was evidence of in situ burning on the base of the hearth, no remains of the last firing were present. This suggests that the hearth was cleaned/scraped out after its last use. Because of its proximity to the possible roasting pit, it is thought likely that they were associated.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
