What is recorded here

Seven burnt pits and one long trench appeared near Castlemartyr when housing work began in 2003. They may have been roasting holes for a short cooking camp, but no bones, pots or dateable objects survived to confirm the meal or the people who ate it. Ploughing had already cut through their tops, and the new houses now stand above the place where heat once rose from dark earth.

A group of seven features was discovered during archaeological monitoring of topsoil removal in advance of a housing development to the E of Castlemartyr; these were excavated in 2003. The features comprised five circular/oval pits (dims. of largest pit: 1.11m x 1.22m; D 0.29m), one circular depression (diam. 0.7m; D 0.12m) and one linear feature (L 4.36m; Wth 0.42m; max. D 0.2m), all with a burnt stone content. They all occurred in close proximity in an area measuring c. 17m N-S by 9m E-W. The excavator concluded that these features may have been roasting pits and therefore part of a cooking site though the absence of heat-shattered stones around the features suggests that they had a short-term use. Deep ploughing in the area is thought likely to have truncated the upper levels of the features exposed and any other associated features. No finds were recovered from any of the features which makes their dating difficult. (Lane et al. 2003; Lane 2006b, 45, no. 197) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009

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