2023:409 - Drombeg, Listowel, Kerry

The archaeological excavation undertaken in Drombeg townland has resulted in the preservation-by-record of a previously unrecorded fulacht fia. The initial activity at the site appears to have been the formation of a substantial, consolidated platform area formed of redeposited subsoil and large stones. This layer measured 8.5m (north-south) by 7.4m and varied in depth between 0.1m and 0.5m but averaged c. 0.3m. The introduced layer was deposited directly upon a slightly elevated area of natural subsoil. The introduction of this deposit resulted in the provision of an elevated and dryer working platform for those carrying out their pyrolithic activities. This area was up to 1m higher in elevation that the lower lying, and readily flooded, areas of the cutting to the south.

Subsequent to the formation of the platform area, an earth-cut trough was excavated at the site. During site usage, this trough would have been filled with water (this was shown to occur naturally at the site during spells of wet weather), following which fire-heated stones would have been placed into the trough water in order to bring it to boiling point. In this instance, it appears that whatever process was being undertaken within the trough, it necessitated the use of a lining or small wooden frame. The archaeological evidence indicates that this was constructed with stakes and upright rods and could potentially have been interwoven with wicker. The trough itself was of irregular shape in plan but trended towards sub-oval. It had maximum dimensions of 1.88m (east-west) by 1.66m and had a maximum depth of 0.7m (as measured from the highest point of its cut into the introduced layer on the north-eastern side of the trough).

Based on the extent of the burnt material that was deposited around the trough, the site was used repeatedly over a potentially significant length of time. The burnt mound was composed of an oblong deposit of heat-affected stone fragments contained within a matrix of dark greyish-brown to black clayey silt. It directly underlay the topsoil and had a maximum extent of 10.5m (north-south) by 9.2m. The depth of the burnt mound deposit was greatest in its central portion with a maximum depth of 0.42m. The depth of the deposit gradually decreased towards its edges.

Lenses of silt evident in the lower trough fills are suggestive of periods of inactivity, or alternatively, evidence of the gradual filling up of the disused trough. Subsequent to the abandonment of the site, and quite probably within the modern or early modern period, a wide linear feature, likely drainage related, was excavated through the site truncating the mound of burnt material, the underlying introduced layer and the water-boiling trough itself.

As previously noted, the interpretation of the results of the archaeological excavation will remain tentative until completion of the post-excavation analysis on the recovered environmental samples. Analysis of these results will provide a clearer picture of site phasing and provide evidence helpful for a more thorough understanding of the environment which surrounded the site while it was in use. However, the discovery of the fulacht fia indicates that this excavation has produced evidence of late prehistoric (circa 2400-400 AD) human activity in this area of County Kerry.

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