Burnt mound in Ballinafad

Discovered during the construction of the Curlew bypass and excavated in 1995 (Channing 1998a, 154). Two peat-covered spreads of heat-shattered stones and charcoal were found on the edge of wet ground close to Lough Arrow. The main spread (c. 11.5m x 10m) contained two roughly circular unlined troughs, 1.1m apart, cut into the subsoil. The N trough (1.95m E-W; 1.95m N-S; D 0.5m) was roughly circular in plan with straight cut sides. The S trough (1.92m N-S; 1.5m E-W; D 0.25m) was more oval in plan. The second spread (c. 5.5m x c. 2m) of burnt stones and charcoal lay c. 5m to E. The area between the two spreads had been truncated by machinery during the road construction and the excavator implies that both spreads were part of the one monument. (Channing 1995, 1-8) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008

Burnt mound in Ballinafad is a Bronze Age ritual or industrial site, dated to approximately 2000–800 BCE. Its significance lies in providing evidence of prehistoric activity, possibly related to feasting, ritual practices, or tanning, in the wetland environment near Lough Arro.