2011:332 - MANOR EAST 2, Kerry

Excavations were undertaken at Manor East 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.
The archaeological features identified were mainly located close to the north-eastern side of the site on areas of higher ground in three groupings (north-eastern, central and south-western). The features themselves consisted of possible occupation evidence in the form of pits, post- and stake-holes.
Ten features were grouped together in the north-eastern part of the site. These included four post-holes, four pits and two stake-holes. The four post-holes were subcircular in plan and varied in size from 0.28m to 0.59m in diameter and from 0.07m to 0.18m in depth. They were filled with grey silty clay with occasional charcoal inclusions. One pit was subcircular in plan and measured 1.02m by 0.92m and 0.37m deep. Six fills could be identified within the pit, which contained much burnt bone and burnt clay. The other three pits were oval to subcircular in plan, varying in size from 1.15m by 0.7m by 0.32m deep to 0.61m by 0.3m by 0.1m deep. The fills consisted of dark silty clay with occasional charcoal and small stones. The two stake-holes were subcircular in plan and were filled by a mid-grey sandy clay with occasional charcoal.
Five features were grouped together in the central part of the site—three stake-holes, a small linear feature and a pit. The three stake-holes were circular in plan, 0.06–0.09m in diameter and 0.11–0.21m deep. The fills consisted of brown sandy silt with occasional charcoal. The linear feature measured 1.45m by 0.23m by 0.1m deep. It had a single dark grey-brown silty clay fill. The pit was subcircular in plan, measuring 0.65m by 0.62m by 0.19m deep, and contained two fills.
There were four features grouped together on the raised area at the south-west which was originally thought to be a burnt mound and is included on the RMP as such (KE029-155). These were four pits, oval in plan, 0.27–0.72m in diameter and 0.06–0.16m in depth. They were filled with a generally clay matrix with infrequent inclusions of charcoal.
There was one isolated pit/post-hole in the western corner of the site. It was oval, measuring 1.08m by 0.74m with a maximum depth of 0.24m. Its fill consisted of mid-grey-orange silty clay with frequent stone and infrequent charcoal inclusions.
Manor East 2 was in close proximity to a large multi-period site (Manor East 1; above, No. 331) and is likely to be directly related to activity there.

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