Metalworking site in Cooksland

Situated on a slight N-facing slope. Archaeological testing (04E0146) by A. Hayden in advance of a housing development identified a curving trench and some pits that were fully excavated under the same licence (excavations.ie 2004: 1234). The trench (L 8m; max. Wth 1.5m; max. D 0.18m), filled with silty loam, curves around the N side of a pit (diam. 1.2m; D 0.1m) that was filled with charcoal-rich silt and had fragments of iron slag together with a furnace bottom. A small pit (diam. c. 0.5m) filled with charcoal-rich silt was inserted in the curving trench and there was a post-hole at the W end of the trench. Five possible post-holes were c. 2-3m S of the pit and these could have provided a shelter for a small metal-working site, while the trench on the N side provided drainage. (Hayden 2004) See the attached plan from Hayden (2004, fig. 3) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 4 May 2022