2006:931 - Ballyburn Lower, Kildare

The site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme: Kilcullen to Powerstown. A large circular pit measuring 5.5m in diameter, cut to below groundwater level and with 76 stake-holes located at the water level mark in a double row formation around the pit, was excavated. These stake-holes possibly formed a light structure over the ‘pond’ and heat-affected stones were found in the base of the feature, suggesting that the water was heated within a protective covering, with access at the north-east side. Two knapping stones and a possible whetstone were recovered from the fills. A 3m-diameter pit abutted the pond, containing a substantial amount of random brushwood and organic material, with a sloping drainage channel attached on the northern side. A small burnt spread of charcoal and heat-shattered stone was located nearby and was much truncated by two modern field boundaries and a hardcore-filled drain. A separate possible structure, aligned around a possibly rectangular pit, was also disturbed by these modern features. It is thought that the burnt mound was originally quite substantial, but subsequent agricultural activity has eradicated the majority of the material. A number of other features in the area suggest that tree clearance was practised on the site before the described activity took place.