County: Kerry Site name: Drombeg, Listowel
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 23E0397
Author: David Murphy
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 498928m, N 638055m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.484541, -9.488107
The archaeological excavation in Drombeg townland has resulted in the preservation-by-record of a previously unrecorded fulacht fia. The site has returned radiocarbon dates ranging from the Chalcolithic period (2455-2201 cal BC), through the Early Bronze Age (2280-2035 cal BC) and on to the Middle Bronze Age (1615-1460 cal BC), demonstrating repeated use of the site over an extended period.
The initial activity that occurred at the site appears to have been the formation of a substantial, consolidated platform area formed of redeposited subsoil and large stones. 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 irregular pit and an earth-cut trough were dug at the site. Archaeological excavation revealed the trough was likely to have contained a wattle lining, which itself likely supported an organic lining.
Analysis of environmental samples indicates some local woodland clearance to have occurred from the Chalcolithic period into the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with a decrease in oak levels and increase in alder and hazel values. It is likely that the site was located close to a boundary of dry and wetland areas.
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