County: Kerry Site name: CAMP 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E004308
Author: Liam McKinstry
Site type: Fulacht fiadh
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 469575m, N 609405m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.220938, -9.908916
Excavations were undertaken at Camp 2 on behalf of Kerry County Council as part of Stage (iii) of the Archaeological Services Contract prior to the commencement of construction of the N22 Tralee Bypass/Tralee to Bealagrellagh, which extends from Lissatanvally townland to Flemby townland.
Excavation revealed evidence for three phases of activity, all related to one burnt mound feature.
Phase I
A natural depression was identified towards the centre of the site. It measured 4.75m in length, 4.4m in width and 0.3m in depth, was oval in plan and had a flat base. It was filled by a deposit of brown, loosely compacted peat, which contained wood, nutshell and plant remains, a natural accumulation of material. This feature is unlikely to represent a trough given its size and contents.
Overlying this depression was a small deposit of sand, which measured 1.3m in width and 0.2m in depth, and the remains of a large burnt mound.
Phase 2
The earliest deposit forming the burnt mound comprised black, loosely compacted silty peat with frequent inclusions of charcoal and heat-affected stone. Above this was a layer of moderately compacted whitish-grey silt that is likely to represent a period of flooding at the site. This layer measured 10.1m in length, 6.25m in width and 0.2m in depth.
Phase 3
The uppermost deposit of burnt mound material consisted of black, moderately compacted silty peat with frequent inclusions of charcoal and heat-affected stone; it measured 15.1m long by 7.8m wide by a maximum of 0.4m deep.
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