County: Clare Site name: SRANAGALLOON (1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A044; E3713
Author: Joe Nunan, IAC Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 540150m, N 690059m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.957973, -8.890755
A burnt spread was discovered in undulating scrubland in Sranagalloon townland in north County Clare. The Sranagalloon 1 site lies at 24m OD and is located in a poorly drained, low-lying wetland area which is used for pasture/silage.
The removal of topsoil revealed a large spread of burnt material consisting of charcoal and heat-shattered stone, which overlay a cut feature. The site consisted of a spread of heat-affected stone and charcoal-rich silty clay measuring 9.3m by 5.95m to a depth of 0.42m. A modern open drain cut the burnt mound at its southern edge. The open drain extended east–west through the burnt spread and also cut away the southern limits of the cut feature.
The cut feature, a ‘trough’, consisted of a pit with a wood-lined base. The wood was in cut timber plank form. The timber planks measured c. 0.18m by 0.8m by 0.05m. Three base timbers orientated north–south and equally spaced supported the seven remaining timbers, orientated east–west. The pit into which the timber trough was situated was rectangular in plan with a sharp break of slope at the top that graded towards a flat base. The southern section of the trough was destroyed by the construction of a modern open land drain. The partially surviving trough measured 2.2m by 1.15m by 0.44m. A large flat stone orientated east–west was placed at the northern edge of the trough and smaller slab-like stones were placed on the east and west edges defining the edge of the feature. The larger of the stones measured 1.08m by 0.47m by 0.18m. It is possible these stones were placed in situ as retaining slabs to prevent the stone debris tumbling back into the trough.
A final phase of activity took place shortly after the trough fell out of use. A large quantity of small sub-angular stone was dumped into the trough hollow to raise it up to the same level as the surrounding burnt mound.
The southern side of the open land drain appears to have been disturbed as a result of modern land improvement. There were no remains of the burnt spread south of the drain. There was a spread of stone laying on the natural measuring 8.7m by 1.52m. This stone spread was not situated within a cut and was orientated north-east/south-west; the stones were small and medium angular and sub-angular limestone. A fragment of a possible stone axe was located on the surface of this spread.
Large quantities of burnt stone with charcoal inclusions were recovered from the spread and trough, and these, along with samples of hazelnut, oyster shell and snail, have been submitted for analysis and dating.
120B Greenpark Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow
