What is recorded here

No visible mound remains in the forestry field, only a thin buried line of burnt stone and charcoal that men revealed when they cut a trench through the ground. The heat worked there five thousand years ago, perhaps to cook food or cleanse skin, while people lived beside water and marsh. Trees have since grown over the edge of that old fire, hiding most of it from sight but leaving its warm stones exposed in the soil.

In a field of damp rush-grown pasture, converted to forestry. This burnt mound is located in the NE quadrant of a field, close to the E boundary and opposite an entrance gate. It was discovered in 2002 during archaeological monitoring on the Lough Mask Regional Water Supply Scheme (2001-2002). It was recorded and sampled under licence 01E0314 (Guinan 2015, 104, 113-116; Cloontumper I).There was no above ground trace of a mound but burnt stone and charcoal was noted in the extreme edge of the pipeline wayleave. A charcoal sample was retrieved for radiocarbon dating, and produced a Late Neolithic Age date (3462+/- 44 BP (1899-1681 BC)) (Guinan 2015, 114). In 2012 the burnt mound was damaged by a private forestry plantation. Burnt stone fragments and dark soil are exposed in a N–S forestry trench (Wth 1m; D 0.2m) and in heaps of upcast soil from the trench. In the section face, the burnt material is visible as a thin layer (D c. 0.1m) which can be traced intermittently for 2-3m N–S, but the quantities of burnt material are relatively meagre. It is not possible to determine the exact limits of the burnt mound. It is possible that the forestry trench clipped the W edge of the mound and that the remainder lies concealed in undisturbed ground between the trench and the E edge of the field. There is a burnt mound (MA102-55----) 15m to SW, and a fulacht fia (MA102-56----) c. 45m to SW. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 25 June 2013

Burnt mound in Cloontumper is a Bronze Age ritual or domestic feature, characterized by heat-shattered stones and organic remains. Its significance lies in providing evidence of prehistoric activity and land use in the area.

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