County: Cork Site name: FOATY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 09E0522
Author: Sheila Lane, Deanrock Business Park, Togher, Cork
Site type: Prehistoric?
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 579146m, N 571591m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.896086, -8.302995
The development site (carpark) is located at Fota House and gardens. A number of test-trenches were excavated within the proposed development site in several areas of interest identified by geophysical survey (Areas 1–5).
Four possible hearth pits were identified. Two were oval in plan, measuring between 0.75m and 1.25m in diameter, and up to 0.33m deep. The other two were small subcircular pits measuring 0.33–0.45m in diameter with a depth of 0.15m.
No finds were identified in any of the features, making their chronology difficult to interpret. Their scale, and location c. 200m south-west of the prehistoric settlement site (CO075–077) excavated in 1992 by Rutter and O’Connell (Excavations 1992, No. 20), may indicate these are of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date. Further analysis of environmental remains recovered may reveal their chronology.
These features were found within an area 30m by 20m. It is highly likely these represent a single phase of small-scale limited human activity during the prehistoric period.
