County: Laois Site name: CUFFSBOROUGH (2)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A015/87
Author: Deirdre Murphy, ACS Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia and Pit
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 634313m, N 683129m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.897932, -7.490017
Testing was carried out before the construction of the M7 Portlaoise–Castletown/M8 Portlaoise–Cullahill motorway scheme. In March 2005, during centre-line testing of Contract 1, Testing Area 2, carried out by Eamonn Cotter, an area of archaeological significance was identified in Field 156 (Plot 365) (see No. 874, Excavations 2005). The site was designated Cuffsborough 2 and was excavated between November and December 2005. Three areas measuring 20m by 20m (minimum) were stripped of topsoil by mechanical excavator to a depth of c. 0.3m. Excavation of the site revealed the remains of pits with burnt-stone material, post-holes, a small deposit of burnt bone and a burnt-stone spread.
The most northerly cutting contained a spread of heat-shattered sandstone measuring 3.5m east–west by 4.5m. It was heavily truncated and sealed four irregular-shaped pits. In the east of this cutting a series of roughly circular pits and post-holes were evident. They averaged 1m in diameter and 0.3m in depth. They were randomly dispersed across the cutting, forming no coherent pattern. They were filled with charcoal, silty clay and heat-shattered sandstone, suggesting they originally underlay the burnt-stone spread. This cutting represents the remains of a ploughed-out fulacht fiadh and associated pits.
Further south, two additional cuttings were opened. An isolated pit measuring 1.2m by 0.7m with a depth of 0.15m was evident in the most easterly cutting. It was filled with fire-cracked sandstone and charcoal and no finds were associated with it. The cutting to the west contained a series of randomly dispersed pits and post-holes. A small deposit of blackened soil measuring 0.33m in diameter and containing burnt-bone fragments was also evident. Two body sherds and two rim sherds of prehistoric pottery were recovered from the fill of three post-holes also in this area. The site was truncated by drains and furrows associated with modern agricultural activity. A programme of post-excavation analysis will be undertaken later in the year.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
