2014:371 - BALLYHERBERRY: Kill Hill (Site 23), Tipperary

A shallow, near circular pit was excavated after identification during monitoring of construction for a windfarm. The pit measured 0.8m x 0.68m and was partially lined with stone. The surrounding soil was heat-affected but the pit did not appear to have been used for fire repeatedly. The fill of the pit contained large pieces of charcoal in the form of slender twigs. It appears one of the first fires in a carefully made pit was extinguished by sweeping in soil to smother it. No artefacts were retrieved. The charcoal was carefully removed and later identified as hazel. The date obtained from this material was 1431 – 1483 AD (IntCal 13 95.4%). No other archaeology was found in the immediate area to broaden the archaeological narrative, though a circular enclosure of unknown date does lie 400m to the south-west (TS061-049).