Burnt mound in Cherryville

The excavated site (Thaddeus C. Breen, Licence No. 01E0304: www.excavations.ie) lay in a level area near a stream. It was a burnt spread, measuring 13m by 7m, consisting mainly of fragments of fire-shattered stone in a matrix of charcoal-rich soil. The stone comprised limestone and sandstone in a ratio of 30:19. This overlay four pits. Two were oval, 1.2m and 0.95m long respectively, and 0.36m and 0.6m deep. The first of these adjoined a much larger pit, approximately oval but quite irregular. The oval pit may have drained into it, as it was at a higher level and the wall between them seemed to have been an opening which had been blocked up. The larger pit measured 2.5m by 2m and was 0.85m deep. The fourth 'pit' was much less regular and was probably a natural depression. Eight post-holes were arranged around the larger of the two oval pits, but at irregular intervals. Finds included a waste flint flake and a fragment of an iron vessel, both from within the pits. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 23 November 2011