County: Tipperary Site name: Camlin/Derrymore
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E003744
Author: Colum Hardy, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny.
Site type: Bronze Age enclosure; corn-drying kilns
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 613825m, N 685768m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.922563, -7.794399
This site was identified during testing along the route of the proposed N7 Castletown to Nenagh road improvement scheme. Excavation was begun in October 2007 and will continue into 2008. Five areas were stripped of topsoil along a 600m section of a proposed new sliproad.
Area 1
The main feature here was a circular enclosure with two oval-shaped internal structures. The enclosure was c. 23m in diameter and c. 80% of it lay within the road-take. It was comprised of a slot-trench c. 0.5m wide and 0.7m deep with straight regular sides and a rounded U-shaped base, narrowing to c. 0.3m. There were no post- or stake-hole cuts evident in the base of the slot-trench. It was filled with numerous flat stones, many of which lined the sides of the trench and probably supported a wooden palisade set in the trench. The entrance was most likely located to the south-east, where the width and depth of the slot-trench increased to 1.2m and 1.1m respectively, probably to accommodate two large posts.
Two structures (Structures 1 and 2) were recorded within the interior of the enclosure; both comprised slot-trenches c. 0.3m wide and 0.2m deep containing numerous flat stones. The first was oval in plan and measured c. 7m by 5.6m, with an inturned entrance to the south. The second was circular and 7.1m in diameter, with an entrance to the south-east.
No internal hearths or pits to indicate domestic activity were evident within either of these structures or within the overall enclosure. One piece of possible Bronze Age pottery was recorded from the slot-trench of Structure 1.
Three other structures (3, 4 and 5) were recorded outside the enclosure.
Structure 1 was a setting of four post-holes forming a rectangle 2m by 1m, each with a flat stone lying on its base. It is possible that this acted as a small enclosure for a single animal or as a platform for grain or cereals.
Structure 2 was roughly circular in shape with a diameter of 6.5m and comprised a series of post-holes. It had a 1.9m-wide opening to the east.
Structure 5 was recorded c. 30m south of the enclosure. It was rectangular in shape, with two sides made up of three post-holes each with one central post-hole. There was a small line of four post-holes adjacent to these on the southern side that may have acted as a type of wicker wall or porch near a possible entrance. The structure measured 2m by c. 4.6m.
Area 2
This area contained a number of post-holes and pits, with no apparent pattern or structure. Two of these pits, c. 1m apart, produced over 30 sherds of pottery, probably Bronze Age.
Area 3
The main features here were two corn-drying kilns.
The first was keyhole-shaped and orientated roughly north-west/south-east, with a 3.9m-long flue connecting the bowl and hearth. A section of the original stone lining of the flue was still in situ.
The second kiln was located c. 4.25m north of the first. It was a figure-of-eight type and measured c. 3.1m by 1.4m and 0.3m deep, and was orientated roughly east–west. A shallow channel (0.5m wide), possibly a flue, extended c. 4.1m eastwards from the kiln, then widened out into a roughly square pit measuring 1.6m by 1.4m. This channel was full of charcoal and the occasional heated-cracked stone. Midway along the channel several large flat stones were deliberately placed, and had evidence of intense burning on and around them. At the base of the square pit was a small circular pit measuring 0.85m by 0.45m by 0.35m and filled with charcoal.
