What is recorded here

Fire and water met at Ballyoran long before roads cut through the green fields. Heat shattered the stones, charcoal stained the soil, and people gathered near the Shanowennadrimina Stream to share food, story, or ceremony. The bypass nearly erased the mound, but excavation in 2003 pulled back the topsoil and revealed a small fierce place where ordinary land had become a kitchen of flame.

A mound (7.65m N-S; 4.2m E-W; D 0.15m) of heat-shattered stones and charcoal-enriched soil was discovered during topsoil stripping in advance of the construction of the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass and was excavated in 2003. It was located c. 120m E of the Shanowennadrimina Stream. Excavation did not reveal any associated trough. A fulacht fia (CO035-127----) was found 2.5m to the S. (O'Connell 2006g, 56) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009

Burnt mound in Ballyoran is a Neolithic ritual or industrial site, dating to approximately 2500–2000 BCE. Its significance lies in providing evidence of early human activity, possibly related to feasting, ceremonial practices, or heat-based technologies such as hide-scalding or cooking.

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