2023:471 - Castleredmond, Midleton, Cork

Archaeological monitoring was carried out on the final phase of a residential development near Midleton. Five features of archaeological significance were identified and excavated in two separate areas on the site. Two deposits of cremated bone 0.9m apart were identified at the southern end of the site. The deposits appear to have been laid on the sandy gravelly surface; neither was within a pit. No associated features or finds were identified in the vicinity of the pits. Analysis of the bone is ongoing.

Approximately 30m north of the deposits of cremated bone three small features were clustered together. Two of these appeared to be the remains of slag-pit furnaces approximately 2m apart and the third was a small spread of charcoal-rich material which may represent spill from the furnace activity.  The more complete of the furnaces measured 0.8m by 0.72m by 0.3m deep and contained almost 2kgs of slag. The other measured 0.62m by 0.5m by 0.22m deep and contained just three small pieces of slag. These are typically assigned a broad date range from the Iron Age to the Hiberno-Scandinavian period (Rondelez 2017) and appear to be unrelated to the deposits of cremated bone.

Reference:

Rondelez, P. 2018 “The Irish bowl furnace: origin, history and demise” in The Journal of Irish Archaeology Vol. XXVI 2017. Wordwell, Dublin.