2021:578 - AA2 Ballalease North, Donabate, Dublin

Full archaeological excavation of a pit uncovered during earlier test excavations took place on 10-11 October 2021. A 10m x 10m cutting was opened by mechanical excavator under archaeological supervision centred on the feature first revealed during the test excavations. No further features were uncovered. The sub-circular pit measured 0.91m north-east/south-west x 0.78m x 0.25m in depth. It contained a single fill of typical burnt mound material, i.e. heat-affected stone in a charcoal-rich soil. No artefacts were retrieved during the excavation. A fragment of Prunus (blackthorn/cherry) charcoal retrieved from the fill of the pit returned a radiocarbon date of 2030-1880 cal. 2ẟ BC (UBA 48146 3605 +/- 28 BP) placing activity here in the Early Bronze Age (c. 2200-1700 BC). The fill of the pit indicates the use of heated stone for boiling or heating water. In cases like this, where features are isolated or limited, the pits are often termed ‘pot-boilers’ or roasting pits where it is thought small-scale cooking was undertaken. Otherwise, it could be a natural accumulation of the distinctive material from a larger burnt mound site whose other features did not survive or exist outside of the cutting.

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