What is recorded here

Backweston, County Kildare. A shallow pit, cut into boulder clay and burnt from within, waited beneath the future agricultural campus when engineers began digging in 2002. Its sharp edges and charcoal-heavy fills suggest someone made heat there intentionally, perhaps cooking, crafting or clearing land, before ploughing erased the top of the hole. The pit no longer exists as a visible place, but its shape and fire remain recorded in the excavation report.

In 2002, archaeological monitoring (Licence No. 02E0680) was undertaken before development of the Backweston State Agricultural Laboratory Campus, and a pit was archaeologically excavated. It was cut into the natural boulder clay and had been significantly truncated on top, presumably by late post-medieval or modern ploughing. It exhibited clear indications of in situ burning, containing two charcoal-rich fills, with the natural boulder clay surrounding the edge of the cut burnt to a light to mid-red/brown. The feature measured 2.03m north-east/south-west by 0.94m. It achieved a maximum depth of c. 0.22m. The cut had a flat base, with straight sides and sharp upper and basal breaks of slope. The upper fill was a mid-grey/brown silty clay with frequent charcoal flecks, occasional burnt mid-red/brown patches and small, irregularly shaped stones, and a single medium-sized stone. It was 0.14m deep. The lower 0.08m of fill was black, of which 90% was composed of charcoal (flecks and small fragments), with 10% comprising a soil identical to the upper fill of the feature. The lower fill was visible around some of the edges of the feature, indicating truncation. No small finds were recovered from these deposits. (www.excavations.ie) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

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