County: Tipperary Site name: Boola 1
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E003903
Author: Liam Ó Séaghdha, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny.
Site type: Prehistoric
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 610029m, N 684342m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.909834, -7.850896
This site was identified during testing along the route of the proposed N7 Castletown–Nenagh road improvement scheme. Excavation was carried out in late January/early February 2008. Two cuttings were opened.
Area 1
At the centre of this level area was an irregularly shaped hearth with an intensely oxidised base, and a thin layer of charcoal-rich fill. This hearth was 1.5m by 1.14m by 0.03m deep. It was surrounded by 55 circular stake-holes c. 0.06m in diameter by 0.1m deep. A large sub-oval pit, measuring 2.63m by 1.52m by 0.39m deep, was located c. 2.5m north-east of the hearth, and three pits arranged in an arc were located to the west of it. To the north-west lay a regular sub-square pit, 0.56m by 0.51m by 0.21m deep, with a flat stone set in its base, similar to pits on nearby Boola/Ballyslea (see No. 1096 below, E3902). A subrectangular pit lay adjacent to the south-west, measuring 0.98m by 0.54m by 0.16m, and a sub-oval pit 0.43m by 0.34m by 0.12m deep lay to the west.
Area 2
This cutting was located to the west, on the summit of a nearby hillock. The natural subsoil was very stony and the area was more exposed to the elements than Area 1. A stone spindle whorl and two pieces of worked flint were recovered from the topsoil. The archaeological features were located on the centre of the summit, set into a shallow hollow. In the centre of the hollow was a keyhole-shaped pit, initially thought to be a kiln. The base of the pit was made up of naturally occurring angular stones and was 3.24m by 1.69m by 0.8m deep. Fourteen sherds of Bronze Age pottery were recovered from the basal fill. Six circular stake-holes were set to the west of the pit, three to the north, three to the south. These measured on average 0.08m in diameter by 0.16m deep. A further seven circular stake-holes were adjacent to the east, measuring on average 0.08m in diameter by 0.19m deep. All the features within the hollow were sealed beneath several layers of washed-in deposit and sediment. A piece of worked flint and a sherd of medieval pottery were found within these mixed layers.
