What is recorded here

Four bowl hearths and a charcoal pit still hold heat in the Hardwood soil, spanning centuries from before Christ to the late medieval period. Smiths likely hammered metal beside farmers who made charcoal, layering fire and labour into the same gentle land. Ploughs cut shallow through their work, yet the charcoal and slag remained visible enough to date the activity. The site records ordinary craft repeated across generations, not a single dramatic event.

Situated in a gently undulating landscape. An area of sub-surface archaeological features was identified by Ian Russell in centre-line testing (02E0108) for the M4 Dublin to Galway motorway and set aside as Hardwood 3. Excavation (02E1141) revealed four bowl hearths and three other related pits cut into subsoil, although all features were truncated by ploughing. A rectangular charcoal-making pit (dims 2.8m x 1.115m; D 0.27m) with a layer of charcoal at the base produced a C14 date of Cal AD 720-740 and Cal AD 760-960. The smithing hearths produced a wide range of dates. A small hearth (diam. 048m; D 0.18m) produced a date of Cal BC 380-60 BC, and another (diam. 1.5m; D 0.25m) had a C14 date of Cal. AD 1440-1640. The other hearths (diam. 0.65m; D 0.1m to 1.5m x 0.9m; D 0.45m) contained either charcoal flecks, oxidized clay or metal slag. There were numerous tree-boles and spreads of charcoal that were probably related to the late use of the area as was an L-shaped trench. All the stray finds were post-medieval or modern. (Murphy 2004) Compiled by: Michael More Date of upload: 13 August 2019

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