2007:997 - AR102, Rathcash, Kilkenny

This site was located within the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford road scheme along Contract 2, Phase 4B, Knocktopher to Powerstown, on a slight rise within former arable land. The site consisted of two pits, a curvilinear arrangement of post-holes and four recent agricultural linear drains. The larger of the two pits consisted of two separate features, and the main pit (2.35m by 1.7m by 0.44m depth) appears to have been truncated by a second, more irregular, cut (3m by 1.87m) which was cut by a modern field drain. The second pit (2.6m by 1.55m by 0.35m) was located 8m to the north-east. Both pits contained charcoal-rich fills with frequent heat-affected stones. A semi circular arrangement of nine post-holes may have created a light structure (which would have measured 4m north–south by 3m with the open end facing towards the pits) or fence. It is possible that the archaeological remains represent temporary habitation associated with burnt-mound or fulacht fiadh activity, which may date to the Bronze Age. Charcoal obtained from the site should provide dates to prove the provisional interpretation. A worn stone axehead was also discovered within the topsoil; this item could date from the Neolithic through to the Early Bronze Age.