2021:579 - DONABATE: AA3 Ballalease North, Dublin

Full archaeological excavation of the remains of a burnt mound/fulacht fia uncovered during earlier test excavations took place on 6–11 October 2021. A 15m x 15m cutting was opened by mechanical excavator under archaeological supervision centred on the features first revealed during the test excavations. The excavation revealed four pits and a small surviving surface spread that had slumped into the adjoining pit. The deposits comprised typical burnt mound material, i.e. heat-affected stone in a charcoal-stained soil. The deepest pit, rectangular in plan with upright sides and a flattish base, might have functioned as a trough though significant disturbance by a modern drain that truncated entirely one of its long sides and the pit’s modest dimensions (2.18m in length x 0.56m x 0.22 in depth) allows only for a tentative interpretation for its use as a trough. Two other shallow pits completed the features in the cutting. No animal bones or artefacts were retrieved during the excavation that may shed light on what activities took place during the use of the burnt mound/fulacht fia. A fragment of Prunus (Blackthorn/cherry) charcoal from the fill of pit C11 returned a radiocarbon date of 1430–1280 cal. 2δ BC (UBA 48147 3101+/-27 BP) placing activity here in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1700–1200 BC).