2008:622 - Liscahane, Kerry

As a consequence of agricultural land clearance works undertaken in Liscahane townland, located c. 4km north of Tralee town, Co. Kerry, a number of monuments, some previously unrecorded, were impacted upon. Archaeological works, carried out on behalf of the National Monuments Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, comprised conservation works including cleaning back, recording and sampling five of the monuments before they were reinstated/
covered over.
Monuments 2 and 4–6 were fulachta fiadh/burnt mounds that had been truncated by open drainage ditches during the agricultural works. Monument 2, KE029–012 (080959 118362), was a fulachta fiadh/burnt mound. This monument comprised a mound of c. 50% heat-shattered cubic sandstones in a dark-blackish-brown charcoal-enriched silty clay matrix with frequent charcoal flecking throughout. It measured a maximum 13.9m by 7.5m by 0.7m in depth. A truncated pit was recorded beneath the mound material, exposed in the section of the agricultural drainage ditch, measuring 0.6m in width and 0.4m in depth. Most of the pit was filled with the mound material, except at the base where a shallow silt deposit overlay a stone-lined base represented by a large thin flat sandstone which may suggest a trough/roasting pit function.
Monument 4 (080800 118486) was a previously unrecorded fulacht fiadh/burnt mound. It consisted of a mound of c. 60% heat-shattered cubic sandstones in a dark-blackish-brown charcoal-enriched silty matrix with frequent charcoal flecking and moderate small charcoal chunks throughout. It measured a maximum 25.75m by 22.6m by 1.05m in depth. No features were found in association with it.
Monument 5 (080670 118626) was a previously unrecorded fulacht fiadh/burnt mound. This monument comprised a mound of c. 70% heat-shattered cubic sandstones in a dark-blackish-brown charcoal-enriched silty matrix with frequent charcoal flecking and moderate small charcoal chunks throughout. It measured a maximum 10.25m by 8.4m by 0.65m in depth. No features were found in association with it.
Monument 6 (080820 118771) was a previously unrecorded fulacht fiadh/burnt mound. This monument consisted of a mound of c. 60% heat-shattered cubic sandstones in a dark-blackish-brown charcoal-enriched silty clay matrix with frequent charcoal flecking throughout. It measured a maximum 3.1m by 2.6m by 0.2m in depth. No features were found in association with it.
Monument 3, KE029–01001 (080726 118360), was a bivallate ringfort. Sometime between the undertaking of the first- and second-edition OS maps the north-east quadrant of the ringfort had been levelled and assimilated into the surrounding pastureland. Consequently, field boundaries were constructed at a right angle, delimiting the levelled quadrant. As part of the recent agricultural works a small quarry was excavated in this quadrant, essentially revealing the buried outer ditch of the monument in two section faces of the quarry, which were both recorded. Section 2 provided the most information. The cut here was U-shaped in profile with straight, almost vertical sides and a flat base and measured 3.17m in width by 0.65m in depth. A hearth delimited by a stone setting was revealed at the base of the ditch. The stones, which show evidence of prolonged exposure to high temperatures, are subrectangular and average 0.25m by 0.15m by 0.15m. The hearth was only partially revealed but it would appear to be square or rectangular in plan. Within the hearth a series of nine firmly compacted alternating charcoal and oxidised silty clay layers were recorded with an overall depth of 0.15m. Three further deposits (C.10-C.12) overlay the top layer of charcoal. C.12 directly overlay C.13 and comprised moderately compact mid-greyish-brown silty clay with some sub-rounded pebbles, small to medium sub-angular stones and moderate charcoal flecking throughout. C.11 directly overlay C.12 and consisted of moderately compact mid-reddish-brown silty clay with frequent sub-angular stones, some small sub-rounded pebbles, occasional small lumps of redeposited subsoil and moderate charcoal flecking throughout. C.10 directly overlay C.11 and comprised moderately compact dark-brown silty clay with some small to medium sub-angular stones, small sub-rounded pebbles and occasional charcoal flecking throughout.
Samples were taken for environmental analysis and possible radiocarbon dating from all of the monuments. Post-excavation analysis is ongoing.