Kiln - corn-drying

The National Monuments Service's description

Excavated in 1999 in advance of the development of an industrial and retail complex on Little Island in Cork harbour. There were no visible remains of this possible corn-drying kiln prior to the removal of the topsoil. It consisted of a linear stone-lined feature (2.2m E-W; 0.5-0.84m N-S; max. D 0.4m), divided roughly in half by fire-reddened stone. It was filled with charcoal-enriched deposits and red oxidised soil resulting from intense burning. A large quantity of charred cereal grain recovered form the fill led the excavator to conclude that this feature may have functioned as a cereal-drying kiln. The cereal remains yielded a radiocarbon date which placed the use of this kiln in the 5th/6th century AD. Two possible kiln flues (CO075-085----, CO075-086----) and a Bronze Age fulacht fia (CO075-082----) were also excavated in the immediate vicinity. (McCarthy 2000, 25; 2004a, 51-66)

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009).

Date of upload: 22 December 2009