County: Cork Site name: SKAHANAGH NORTH (2)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CO053-107---- Licence number: 03E1032
Author: Deirdre Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Iron Age (800 BC-AD 339)
ITM: E 577735m, N 586476m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.029838, -8.324455
Testing was carried out in advance of construction along the route of the proposed N8 Rathcormac–Fermoy Bypass on behalf of Cork County Council. In 2002, during this phase of centre-line testing, seven features of archaeological potential were exposed at Skahanagh North. The site was subsequently designated Skahanagh North 2 and was excavated in July 2003.
A large area (4534m2) around the features was stripped of topsoil and the sod and topsoil combined measured 0.2–0.4m in depth. The site consisted of five pits, all containing charcoal, an area of oxidised clay, a stake-hole, three ditches and a series of furrows. The pits were all roughly circular in shape, with diameters varying from 0.15 to 0.36m and depths varying between 0.08 and 0.15m. Radiocarbon analysis should provide a date range for their use. It is suspected that they are prehistoric, as there was an absence of modern finds. Two of the pits contained oxidised clay within their fills, suggesting they may have functioned as hearths. A small stake-hole, less than 0.12m in diameter, was located beside these features and may have been associated with them. In the north-west of the site a large circular area of charcoal and oxidised clay was evident. This hearth was 1m in diameter and 0.07m deep. It survived in isolation near a boundary ditch. Other features identified consisted of boundary ditches or features caused as a result of agricultural activity.
This work was funded in full by the National Development Plan 2000–2006 and was awarded by the National Roads Authority.
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