County: Mayo Site name: Saleen, Castlebar
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 18E0455
Author: Donald Murphy
Site type: Burnt stone spread
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 515422m, N 789264m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.845959, -9.285300
The site was identified as a result of archaeological testing which was carried out by Sue Zajac in August 2018 under licence number 18E0455, on behalf of Mayo County Council. During testing, a possible burnt spread/fulacht fiadh was identified.
The excavation was carried out by Donald Murphy in December 2018 under an extension to the licence.
An area measuring 265m² was stripped of topsoil and confirmed the presence of a burnt stone spread (F03). This spread of burnt stone contained fire-cracked sandstone, charcoal-stained clay and charcoal and measured 6m by 3m and survived to a height of 0.1m. No trough or any underlying features were identified and no finds were recovered. It was located in a wetland area, west of a modified stream. This burnt stone spread can be classified as the heavily truncated remains of a possible fulacht fiadh.
A number of similar sites are located in the vicinity of Saleen, in particular along the route of the nearby proposed N5 Westport to Turlough Road Scheme, where the remains of 39 such sites were identified. Fulachtaí fiadh are typically, although not always, dated to the Bronze Age.
A sample of charcoal (0.1g) recovered from the spread F03 was identified by Dr Ellen O’Carroll as ash. It was submitted for radiocarbon analysis and returned a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date of 2578–2457 cal.BC (3980±30 BP; Beta-518400).
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