Burnt mound in Shanacoole

Located on a gentle S-facing slope at the bottom of a steeper S-facing slope, and c. 450m NE of where an E-W stream enters the estuary of the River Blackwater. It was excavated (E3570) as the E part of Area 6 during 2006 on the S side of the existing road as part of the N25 road re-alignment scheme. A disjointed spread of burnt mound material (dims. 8m E-W; 7.5m N-S) was assoicated with a pit (dims. 1.54m NW-SE; 0.97m NE-SW; max. D 0.15m) that contained four fills of oxidised clay, charcoal and shatterd stone mixes. This may have been a hearth and produced a C14 date of cal. BC 1606-1414. Burnt mound (WA037-056----) is c. 80m to the W. (Hegarty 2007c, 18-9) Hegarty, L. (2007c) N25 Kilsalebeg Realignment. Final report on archaeological and paleoenvironmental investigations in the townlands of Shancoole and Pillotown, Co. Waterford. Headland Archaeology Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 07 October 2011

Burnt mound in Shanacoole is a Bronze Age ritual or industrial site, characterized by the presence of heat-shattered stones, likely used for water heating or ceremonial purposes. Its location near the River Blackwater estuary suggests it may have been part of a broader network of activity in a coastal landscape.