County: Laois Site name: CANNONSWOOD (2)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A015/91, E2201
Author: John Lynch, for Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Burnt spread
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 633589m, N 676532m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.838683, -7.501455
An excavation was carried out in response to an assessment in advance of the proposed M7 Portlaoise to Castletown/M8 Portlaoise to Cullahill motorway scheme between January and February 2006. The work was carried out on behalf of Laois County Council and the National Roads Authority.
Cannonswood 2 was identified as the remains of a fulacht fiadh following the assessment of Testing Area 10. Contract 1 of the project incorporated the Portlaoise to Cullahill section of the scheme, consisting of c. 14km of motorway, which extends from Aghaboe to south of Cullahill through the townlands from Gortnaclea to Oldtown. Cannonswood 2, Trench 2, lay on the west-facing slope of a hill. Trench 1 lay in the hollow to the south.
Topsoil-stripping on this site revealed a series of three troughs and seven small burnt-mound deposits, mostly concentrated in the centre, with a further six troughs/pits to the north and south. To the south and north of the fulacht fiadh activity were four pits with in situ burning. The burnt-mound activity occurred in the low-lying centre, with other industrial activity taking place on the higher, drier ground to the south and north.
In the centre of the site a subcircular trough (1.6m by 1.4m by 0.3m) was filled by loose, light-grey, sandy silt with frequent large white heat-shattered limestone inclusions. To the north-west was a round pit (1.95m by 1.89m by 0.55m), which may have had stake-holes in the base. The basal fill was loose grey/black silt with frequent heat-shattered and decayed stone inclusions. A subrectangular cut (0.86m by 0.85m by 0.29m) was filled by loose, black sand silt with frequent heat-shattered stone.
Six burnt-mound deposits were found in the area, indicating that a former mound had been ploughed out and only survives in depressions in the ground.
Further to the south and north of the central area lay other troughs/pits all filled by similar deposits of black/brown silty sand with heat-shattered stone. These included a subtriangular pit (2.5m by 1.45m by 0.46m), a large subcircular pit cut (2.03m by 1.75m by 0.55m), a series of stake-holes that formed a small oval feature, a large subrectangular pit (1.3m by 0.53m by 0.16m), a large subcircular pit (2.3 by 2.08 by 0.30m), a rectilinear pit/trough (2 by 1.1 by 0.35m) and a large subrectangular pit (2.7m by 1.5m by 0.45m).
To the north and south of the central troughs and burnt-mound deposits lay four pits, which were burned in situ and filled by charcoal-rich deposits. They consisted of a bowl-shaped oval pit (0.6m by 0.6m by 0.15m), a shallow subrectangular hearth (1.45m by 0.85m by 0.09m), a large rectangular pit (2.05m by 1.6m by 0.28m) and a subrectangular pit (1.6m by 1.2m by 0.2m).
All of the samples from this site have yet to be analysed.
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