Kiln - corn-drying

The National Monuments Service's description

Archaeological excavation (02E0462) of the enclosure (ME048-031001-) also recorded six corn-drying kilns in the vicinity, but none were within it. They were of the keyhole type (L 1.56-3.1m) with deeper bowls at one end. All were cut into the natural boulder clay and none was stone-lined. However, the clay forming the bases was oxidized, especially at the bowls. Each was probably only used for one episode of cereal-drying. Oats dominated the carbonised seed samples taken from the kilns, but barley was dominant at two kilns and legumes, probably peas, were found throughout. A single charcoal sample from a kiln c. 60m NW of the enclosure produced a date of Cal AD 570-770. The almost complete remains of the upper stone of a disc quern was found in the topsoil, and the fragment of another was found in a pit. (Clarke and Carlin 2008, 72, 115-6; Clarke 2008, 253, 295-8)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 14 August, 2019

References

Clarke, L. 2008 Johnstown 1 in Carlin and Clarke 2008. The Archaeology of Life and Death in the Boyne Floodplain, vol. 2, Johnstown 1. National Roads Authority Scheme Monographs 2, Dublin

Clarke, L. and Carlin, N. 2008 Living with the Dead at Johnstown 1: an enclosed burial, settlement and industrial site. in Carlin, N., Clarke, L. and F. Walsh The Archaeology of Life and Death in the Boyne Floodplain, vol. 1, 55-85. National Roads Authority, Scheme Monographs 2, Dublin