2006:761 - CARAUN MORE, Galway

This excavation was part of the archaeological investigations associated with the proposed N6 Galway to Ballinasloe road scheme. The site was detected during test-trenching and was excavated during March 2006. Work was commissioned by Galway County Council and the National Roads Design Office and sponsored by the National Roads Authority.

This site is comprised of one burnt mound situated in an area of heavily drained pasture. A large field drain separates the site from a second burnt mound situated 25m to the west (see No. 762, Excavations 2006, A024/17). Phase 1 investigations involved topsoil-stripping an area of 208m2 in which the burnt mound was confined.

This mound is a relatively small and simple deposit representative of small-scale local activities including the collection and burning of firewood, the extraction and heating of stone and probably water. The mound exhibits little internal stratigraphy which might indicate phasing or repeated use over a period of time. A series of pits and a single trough were also present. The trough measured 2.95m by 1.33m and 0.4m in depth. It was filled by a series of silt layers, one of which was charcoal-rich. An unequivocal trough lining was not evident. Six pits were excavated. These were typically oval or subcircular in plan and varied in depth and diameter. Charcoal-rich and cleaner silts filled the pits. There were no finds retrieved and only a small number of animal bone fragments were recovered. The pits and trough and the cutting of one feature by another, however, imply that the site was used and reused. The fills of these features reflect both deliberate dumping of charcoal-rich deposits and the natural accumulation of silt. There is little evidence for other types of on-site activity, although the few animal bones recovered might suggest the site functioned as and served domestic/agricultural needs.

The site is located in an area subject to flooding and, during the course of the excavation, which took place during a wet spring when the local water table was high regularly, water collected on the field surface. The cut features filled within hours with water. They also retain the water easily, as the glacial till into which they are cut does not drain well. This may have been an attraction to those that used the site.

The burnt mound can be viewed as one of a series of potentially prehistoric sites in the townland of Caraun More. The proximity of a second burnt mound, c. 25m to the west (A024/17), and a third mound 300m distant (see No. 764, Excavations 2006, A020/30), if contemporary, may indicate a greater intensity of prehistoric occupation in the area than hitherto recognised.

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