2021:588 - BALLALEASE NORTH AA7, Donabate, Dublin

A rectangular cutting of roughly 13m x 14m (182 sq. m.) was opened by mechanical excavator under constant archaeological supervision. It was centred on features first identified during test excavations. The site contained the degraded remains of a burnt mound/fulacht fiadh, prehistoric sites where hot/boiling water is produced in pits or troughs with the use of heated stones. The features identified comprised two probable troughs, C03 and C07, a shallow pit, C05, a short linear feature, C09, abutting the shallow pit and one modern drainage ditch, C11. The archaeological features were filled with typical burnt mound material comprising heat-affected stone in a dark charcoal-rich/stained soil. A fragment of hazel charcoal from trough C03 returned a radiocarbon date of 2200–1980 cal. 2δ BC (UBA 48275; 3720 +/-31 BP) placing activity here in the Early Bronze Age and accords well with dates from other sites of this type. No artefacts, animal bones or charred seeds were retrieved during the excavation while analysis of the bulk soil samples identified a modest range of charcoal: ash, hazel and cherry/blackthorn, that likely reflect the use of fuelwood and the make-up of the surrounding woods.