Burnt pit

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated c. 10m S of an enclosure (KK035-048001-) and excavated in 2006 in advance of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford road improvement scheme (Excavation licence no. E2513). A subcircular pit (L 1.3m; Wth 0.7m; D 0.25m) with steep sloping sides and a concave base. The base contained compact burnt clay. The upper fill contained dark brown sandy silt containing charcoal and seeds as well as consolidated furnace waste and slag. A charred barley grain yielded a radiocarbon date of cal AD 671-799 (UBA-14003). Specialist work on the slag suggested that it represented smelting activity that used charcoal as fuel. (Channing 2009, 268, no. 1047; Channing and O’Neill 2010)

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 16 October 2013

References

Channing, J. and O'Neill, G. 2010 N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford Scheme: Waterford to Knocktopher – Phase 2. Archaeological Resolution. Dunkitt to Sheepstown townlands, Co. Kilkenny. Final report. Ministerial Direction: A032/000 Registration No.: E2513 Sites 40, Knockmoylan Townland,Co Kilkenny. Unpublished excavation report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.

Channing, J. 2009 AR040, Kilkeasy. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2006: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 268, no. 1047. Bray. Wordwell.