2007:1028 - AR063, Tinvaun, Kilkenny

This site was located within the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford road scheme along Contract 2, Phase 4, Knocktopher to Powerstown. An area c. 40m by 40m was stripped to reveal several pits, possible post- and stake-holes, a possible area of metalling, and interlinking ditches which may have been field boundaries at one time. These ditches were later than the pits and associated features, and are likely to be post-medieval. The largest of the pits, which may represent a trough, was subcircular (2.8m by 2.4m by 0.8m). This, along with a number of the other pits on site, was filled with heat-affected stones and charcoal-rich soil. Despite a lack of any kind of burnt mound or spread, the pit fills suggest that this site may have functioned similarly to a burnt-mound site, with hot stones being used to heat water in pits or troughs. The possible post- and stake-holes on site did not form any pattern, and it is not thought that they represent any kind of formal arrangement. The area of possible metalling was irregularly shaped, poorly laid, and is likely to be non-archaeological. The only find recovered on site was a single glass bead from a large post-medieval stone deposit.