2020:580 - CLOONGULLAUN (1), Mayo

Excavation at Cloongullaun 1, as part of the N26 Cloongullaun Road Realignment Archaeological Consultancy Services Contract, revealed three pit features: a pyrolithic pit and two ephemeral features.

Pit 003 was 1.1m long, 1m wide and 0.23m deep. It was sub-circular in plan with rounded corners, sharp break of slope at top, concave sides, gradual break of slope at base and circular concave base. The pit had two fills. Lower fill 009 was a loose dark greyish-black sandy silt (40-50%) and heat-shattered stone (50-60%) with abundant charcoal. Above this was a similar fill (010) that differed in appearance, but also consisted of sandy silt (40-50%) and heat-shattered stone (50-60%) with abundant charcoal. Stones from both fills were large enough to still have been used for heating water.

Pits 004 and 005 were shallow concave features containing relatively sterile fills of mottled brown sandy silt (008) with very occasional inclusions of charcoal flecks and stones.

Pit 003 appeared to be the result of burnt mound activity and may represent a pyrolithic site of short duration, with no associated mound accumulating. The stones in the two fills had been heat-affected, but not shattered to a small enough size to be discarded, as would be seen in the material of a typical burnt mound. It is possible that it represents a trough of limited of single use, abandoned possibly due to being excavated in an unsuitable location. The remaining two features (004 & 005) were relatively sterile in appearance and a possible function is unclear. It is possible that they may represent stone sockets, rather than cut features.

The analysed charcoal assemblage for the pit features shows a mixed assemblage comprising of c. six overall woodland taxa. Ring curvature information has demonstrated that both trunk and branch wood were used for wood-fuel in the possible burnt mound activity associated with the pit features indicating the deliberate felling of trees as part of the wood fuel procurement strategy. Organic residue analysis suggests that the trough function did not include processing of animal carcass products, such as cooking.

Two radiocarbon dates were obtained from charcoal samples recovered from Cloongullaun 1. These comprised two samples from pit [003]. Returned dates indicated that activity recorded at the site took place during the Middle Bronze Age with dates of 1632–1506 cal BC (3298±27 BP; SUERC-95381) for (009) and 1643-1508 cal BC (3306±27 BP; SUERC-95382) for (010), both from pit [003].