2007:1596 - Camlin 1, Tipperary

This site was identified during testing along the route of the proposed N7 Castletown to Nenagh road improvement scheme. Excavation was carried out in July/August 2007. Topsoil-stripping revealed an enclosure and three burnt mounds.
The enclosure was situated on level ground and measured 29m by 28m internally. A 3m-wide causewayed entrance was located on the eastern perimeter. There was no evidence of post- or stake-holes to indicate any form of entrance gate or structure. The ditch was 1.2–1.9m wide and 0.5–0.8m deep, and was shallowest at the south-east. The fills mainly comprised layers of grey silty sand and clay/marl, the result of varying degrees of waterlogging. Occasional unworked pieces of wood, along with some animal bone, were recorded throughout the ditch fills, as were large amounts of discarded iron slag. Much of the slag retained the shape of the hearth/bowl furnace from which it came. Slag was also recovered from two pits within the enclosure, close to the entrance. A broken fragment of a bone pin was the only find recorded. (A bronze axehead had been recovered c. 25m north of the enclosure during centre-line testing.) There was no evidence for a bank and no major internal structures recorded.
Most of the interior of the enclosure was taken up by a shallow burnt mound that appears to have been truncated by the enclosure ditch. It lay entirely within the enclosure, with no evidence for it on the exterior or over the ditch. It measured c. 17m by 21m and only 0.07–0.08m deep. Beneath the spread were two pits/troughs, one rectangular, one oval, both filled with burnt stone and charcoal. A shallow, narrow channel led from the oval pit to a small rectangular pit that also contained burnt stone.
Two other burnt mounds were located 250m north of the enclosure. The first measured 14m by 8m and 0.2m deep, the second 4.65m by 2.8m and 0.2m deep. A rectangular trough was recorded beneath the latter. The trough had rounded corners and was partially lined with stones. It measured c. 5.2m by c. 1.75m wide and 0.38m deep. A possible slot-trench and several stake-holes situated around the west end of the trough suggest the presence of a screen, possibly to protect the trough. Situated c. 2m north-east of the trough was a sub-oval well c. 3m by 2.85m and c. 1m deep. This feature was sealed under a c. 0.1m layer of bluish-grey silt with heat-fractured sandstone inclusions, and was cut into heavy clay below the water-table. During the excavation the well filled with water from the base. This would have provided a useful water source for the activity in the trough.