What is recorded here

Fire shattered red sandstone and blackened soil still crowd a low crescentic mound in marshy Martara land, beside a small stream. Its north-east opening faces like a trough waiting for water, heat or ceremony. People may have gathered there to boil, clean, cook or mark the edge of lived space. The mound keeps that repeated heat, making the wet margin feel inhabited rather than empty.

'Located in marshy land 30m to the west of a small stream the site consists of a low crescentic mound measuring 12m by 10m and remaining to a height of 1.2m. The sub-rectangular trough area opens to the north-east and measures 3.3m by 3m. Probing revealed the mound to be composed of fire shattered red sandstone and blackened soil. The site also shows up clearly on aerial photography.' Description from ‘The Prehistoric Settlement of the Lee Valley, Tralee, Co. Kerry; A Landscape Perspective’ by Michael Connolly. PhD Thesis UCC 2008 Date of upload: 10 July 2012

Burnt mound in Martara is a Neolithic ritual or industrial site, dating to approximately 4000–2500 BCE. Its significance lies in providing evidence of early human activity, possibly related to heat-treated stone processes or ceremonial practices.

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