What is recorded here

Excavation near Rathcormac and Fermoy revealed a Bronze Age water trap: two pits joined by a gully, dated 1630-1380 BC, with cordoned urn pottery in the northern basin. People likely stood there in rain or drought, watching water climb through the cut stone and into the deeper hole. The bypass nearly erased the mark, but the pits still hold the shape of human thirst.

Discovered in 2002 during archaeological investigations in advance of the construction of the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass. Subsequent excavations in 2003 revealed a curving drainage trench (1.7m N-S x 0.5m; D 0.23m) which abutted a circular pit (diam. 1.24m; D 0.57m). This pit was connected to a similar pit (diam. 1.4m; D 0.55m) to the N via a linear gully. The drainage trench and the two associated pits were interpreted as a water collection feature where the gully acted as an 'overflow' from the S pit into the N pit, where the water was collected and stored (O'Connell 2006k, 50). The basal fill of the feature returned radiocarbon dates 1630-1380 cal. BC (ibid.). In addition, seven sherds of pottery, identified as middle Bronze Age domestic cordoned urn ware, were recovered from the basal fills of the N pit. A concentration of miscellaneous excavated features (CO053-111----) and a kiln (CO053-105----) were discovered in the nearby vicinity. (O'Connell 2006a, 75; 2006k) 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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