County: Kerry Site name: Trien
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 13E0004
Author: John Olney
Site type: Prehistoric
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 506587m, N 632334m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.434498, -9.373777
A programme of archaeological testing (Feb 2012) was undertaken at Trien, Co. Kerry in advance of ground clearance for the construction an ESB substation. Subsequent monitoring of site clearance works identified an area of archaeology comprising a series of possible pits, post-holes, stake-holes and a hearth.
The site was excavated between 22 and 26 April 2013. A total of 10 circular or sub-circular pits, 4 post-holes and 33 stake-holes were recorded across an area of approximately 13m north-south X 15m.
The area of archaeology as revealed appeared to be centred around the hearth, with the majority of the features located within a 5m² area. This would suggest the hearth as the primary focus of the activity here. The presence of stake-hole clusters around the hearth indicates the phased use of ‘hearth furniture’ in the form of spits and/or tripod arrangements for cooking. Some of the outlying stake-hole clusters may represent a wind-break or temporary structure. The presence of stake-holes in cluster arrangements is indicative of re-use over a period of time.
Most of the pits encountered were carefully cut features with fills of charcoal, ash and occasional burnt stone relating to the use of the hearth. Several pits had stake-holes cut into the base. This would suggest phases of activity with at least one pit definitively back-filled prior to the insertion of a stake.
The presence of deep (modern) agricultural furrows across the site coupled with the shallow nature of the archaeology prevented a more comprehensive archaeological overview of the site. It is possible that any arrangement of post-holes suggestive of structure was destroyed by agricultural activities and three post-holes presented as heavily truncated to the south-east of the hearth. However, the presence of these features over a relatively discrete area and in association with a hearth could, in itself, be taken as an indicator of settlement.
The absence of finds associated with these features prevented any confirmation of date range during excavation. The morphology of the overall site suggests these features represent a small hut/house site relating to settlement and/or industrial activity of probable Bronze Age date.
Vigorous sampling was undertaken where charcoal was encountered. Dating and species analysis of this material is on-going.
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