Kiln - corn-drying

The National Monuments Service's description

An excavation was conducted from 2 to 14 May 2002 as part of the full resolution of archaeological sites found during the N11 Newtownmountkennedy– Ballynabarny Road Scheme. The site consisted of open pasture on a hillside overlooking Rathnew. Two sites, 1 and 4, were excavated by hand. The sites had been revealed during monitoring works.
Site 4 consisted mainly of relatively recent lazy-beds and field boundaries. However, a small pit consistent with prehistoric activities was excavated in the northern part of the site. It consisted of two overlying fills of charcoal-rich and fire-reddened soil. No artefacts were recovered.
Site 1 represented more intensive prehistoric activity. This Bronze Age industrial site consisted of a horseshoe-shaped enclosure open to the south-east. A furnace/corn-drying kiln was in the centre of the interior. It comprised an area of 10m2 excavated into an irregular oval hollow, with a projection tapering in all aspects to the east-south-east. Its fill comprised thin layers of charcoal-rich and fire-reddened soil, with a collapsed overlying clay-bonded stone structure. Sherds of pottery were recovered from this feature and the base of the enclosing ditch. Three small vertical pits were situated within the enclosing ditch and around the kiln. Fragments of deliberately broken saddle querns had been deposited in them in a manner consistent with votive offerings. Some reasonably sized pieces of charcoal were recovered that retained signature toolmarks (Bennett 2004, 528).

Date of upload: 23 October 2012

References

Bennett, I. (ed.) 2004 Excavations 2002: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland. Bray. Wordwell.