2007:1733 - Tinderry 2, Tipperary

This site was excavated as part of the archaeological resolution of the route of the N7 Castletown–Nenagh road scheme.
Several small burnt pits were scattered in the west and north of the site, containing occasional to moderate amounts of charcoal in fills generally of silty sand. To the south of the site, two large regular pits were located adjacent to each other. The pit to the south had near vertical sides and a flat base and measured 2.03m (north-east/south-west) by 1.35m and 0.38m deep. The upper fill comprised sediment and hill wash and the lower fill consisted almost entirely of charcoal. The base of the pit was heavily scorched and consisted of oxidised clay, which, coupled with the charcoal fill, suggests the pit was used for charcoal burning.
The other large, regularly constructed pit was c. 0.3m to the north-west. It was oval in plan with smooth steeply sloping sides leading to a flat base. It measured 2.94m (north-west/south-east) by 1.86m and 1.05m deep. Beneath a thin layer of clay, the pit was mostly backfilled with rough-hewn stone of varying sizes, from large rocks to small stones. Two pieces of rough-hewn wood were found underneath the stone fill. Beneath these pieces of wood were found two fragments of the bowl of a clay pipe, giving an early modern date for the backfilling. The wood pieces do not appear on the surface to be worked or structural. The stones suggest that they formed part of a structure of early modern date with a possible relationship with the adjacent charcoal-burning pit. No evidence of industrial residue could be determined from the large oval pit. The site was cut with modern and early modern drains, including one well-constructed example with a stone-slabbed roof and mortared walls.