Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

Archaeological monitoring (15E0577) by P. Duffy, D. Bayle and J. Whitaker of topsoil stripping over a large area (c. 92 ha.) conducted intermittently between Dec. 2015 and October 2018 uncovered 37 locations of potential archaeological importance (excavations.ie 2016:051). Each of these was further investigated by the same archaeologists under different licences. At Site 35, excavation (18E0144) recorded a spread of broken and burnt stone (dims 6.5m x 3.65m; max. D 0.2m) that overlay a trough (dim. 1.66m; D 0.3m) filled with three layers of black or grey silty clay that had varying amounts of burnt stone and charcoal. A sample of fruitstone charcoal from the base of the trough yielded a date of 2287-2046 cal. BC (FTMC-BD08-14), while a sample of hazel charcoal from the mound provided a date of 2334-2052 cal. BC (FTMC-DI25-6), placing the fulacht fia firmly at the start of the Early Bronze Age. (Duffy et. al. 2021, 14)

See the attached plan from Duffy et al. (2012, fig. 37)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 26 April, 2023

Duffy, P., Fairhead, S. & F. Fleeshouven 2021 Final Excavation Report for Sites 3-37, Clonee, Portan, Gunnocks, Co. Meath. Multiple licences, Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy