Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

A complex of pits and cut features was excavated in the townland of Tiglin, Co. Wicklow, during May–June 2001. The site was detected during the monitoring of topsoil-stripping for the Hollybrook–Wicklow Bord Gáis Éireann pipeline in May 2001.
It was on the crest of a gentle north to south slope, between the coastline to the east and a larger hill to the west. The field was formerly under cultivation, with the likelihood that the site had experienced some truncation by plough prior to excavation. The monitoring of topsoil-stripping and subsequent excavation revealed two related spreads of heat-shattered stone. Subsequent excavation detected approximately ten pits and several post-holes. These features were located in or around the edges of a pre-existing backfilled depression.
The earliest feature encountered was a suboval depression that was a broad V-shape in profile and measured approximately 6.6m east–west by 7.9m, with a maximum depth of 1.17m. This was filled with a mix of stony layers and silty clays with infrequent charcoal flecking.
A series of pits were cut into the upper fills of this depression and into the surrounding natural subsoil. The majority of these were wide, shallow cuts with loosely compact silty grey clay fills. However, one pit, to the south-east of the area examined, contained a series of eight fills, comprising fire-cracked stone and charcoal layers, silty clays and layers of redeposited charcoal. A single post-hole was revealed at its base. The majority of the excavated pits were sealed by the two spreads of heat-shattered stone, presumably from fulacht fiadh use. A layer of redeposited natural subsoil sealed the heat-shattered stone.
Discussion at the time of excavation centred on the possibility that the large initial cut into subsoil was a peri-glacial natural feature. The presence of minute fragments of charcoal in the fills of this cut somewhat confuses the issue, however, although such fragments may well have percolated downwards. The presence of archaeological features on and adjacent to the backfilled depression is unequivocal, and it may well be that any moisture content in the backfill deposits was used for water accumulation.
A crude flint scraper was found during initial clearance. Analysis of charcoal samples from excavated pits has noted a high incidence of hazel, followed by oak (Bennett 2003, 429).

Date of upload: 01 October 2012

References

Bennett, I. (ed.) 2003 Excavations 2001: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland. Bray. Wordwell.