Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

A mound (17m by 18.5m in size and 1.2m high) orientated north-east/south-west, had a slight dip in the north-west quadrant, giving it a characteristic horseshoe shape. It was archaeologicaly excavated (Licence No. 01E0654). Any cooking-related activity that was carried out on the site appeared to have been confined to the north-west portion of the mound, where three large pits/troughs were found in a linear arrangement along a north-west/south-east axis. The first and most substantial of these features was rectangular, orientated almost east-west, and measured 2m by 1.8m by 0.38m deep. Small fragments of decayed wood were noted within the base of its fill along the north-east and south-west edges of the feature, suggesting that it may have had a wooden lining that was subsequently removed. The second trough had been cut into the south-east edge of Trough 1 and was placed slightly askew of it, orientated in a north-west/south-east direction. This second trough was again rectangular but slightly smaller in size, measuring 1.6m by 1.7m by 0.24m deep. The third trough lay only centimetres from the south-east edge of trough 2, on an almost north-south axis. It had a less formal shape, measuring 1.8m by 1.4m by 0.25m deep where it was cut into subsoil. It appears to have been the latest of the three to have been dug; evidence from the section of the quadrant baulk suggests that it was cut through the main burnt mound material. All of the troughs had been filled with similar black charcoal-rich soils containing numerous heat-shattered stones (Bennett 2003, 409).

Date of upload: 23 October 2012

References

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