Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

On flat pasture 585m E of Castle Ievers and 235m SW of the townland boundary with Drombeg. One of a group of four prehistoric sites (LI031-217/218/219/220----) excavated within 600m on the Bord Gáis Éireann's Pipeline to the West in 2002 (Grogan et. al. 2007). No trace of the monument was indicated on OSi historic maps or visible on aerial photographs prior to the discovery of the site during pipeline construction.
An area (29sq.m) was excavated under licence No. 02E0500 uncovering a disturbed fulacht fia. Two cut pit features were identified. Pit 2 was triangular (0.6m NE-SW; 1.51m NW-SE; D. 0.14m) with a concave centre and shallower, shelved edges. The fill in the pit was composed of blue/grey sandy clay with moderate amounts of burnt sandstone and charcoal. Pit 6 was oval (1.32m N-S; 0.9m E-W; D. 0.2m) with steep sides and an uneven base. The fill consisted of dark grey sandy clay including a significant quantity of burnt sandstone and charcoal. A thin disturbed deposit of mid-grey sandy clay with a high burnt sandstone and charcoal component (L. 1.25-1.1m; D. 0.08m) was recorded within a natural depression. Two stone tools, a flint crescentic scraper and chert scraper were found on the surface of the site in disturbed contexts. The site is typical of many excavated during the pipeline project, pits and deposits containing charcoal and heated fire-cracked stone. The surface finds and site typology is consistent with a Bronze Age date for the site.

Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan

Date of upload: 27 October 2020

References

Taylor, K. 2004 Tullerboy (BGE 3/73/1); Prehistoric burnt spread and pits. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2002: Summary Accounts of Archaeological Excavations in Ireland, 347-8, No. 1262. Wordwell, Bray.

Grogan, E., O'Donnell, L. and Johnston, P. 2007 The Bronze Age landscapes of the pipeline to the West. Bray. Wordwell.