What is recorded here

Heat-shattered stones and charcoal-rich soil mark a Bronze Age cooking pit at Scartbarry, where water boiled over heated rock to prepare food or cleanse the body. The site contained a stone-flanked channel, stake holes, and a second oval structure with large slabs, suggesting a repeated ritual or domestic use rather than a single event. People likely gathered there across generations, drawing water, lighting fires, and sharing the steam that rose into the Cork air.

A spread (diam. c. 10m) of heat-shattered stones and charcoal-enriched soil was uncovered during testing in advance of the construction of the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass. Subsequent excavation in 2003 revealed that the spread overlay associated pits, a trough containing a number of stake-holes as well as a stone-flanked channel (D 0.7m) on an E-W orientation which was enclosed by a stone-lined slot trench (diam. 4m) with associated post-holes and entrance feature. Connected to the E via a step upwards was a second oval-shaped structure with large stone slabs laid along the base; stone walls further enclosed the cut on the E, N and S sides. The radiocarbon dates obtained from this fulacht fia indicate that it was in use from the Early/Middle Bronze Age (NRA website). (Murphy 2004, 89, Scartbarry 1; O'Neill 2006a, 75, Scartbarry 1) 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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