Kiln in Garadice

Situated at the crest of the S-facing slope of a broad hill, c. 240m NW of the tower house (ME049-002----) and c. 220m N of the medieval excavated features (ME049-035----). Archaeological testing (06E1231) by A. Collins (2008, 18) in advance of the realignment of a N-S section of the R158 road identified archaeological deposits extending over a narrow strip (dims 100m N-S; 17m E-W) on the E side of the existing road that were subsequently excavated (07E0296) as Site 10 by E. Larsson (excavations.ie 2007:1313). Lithics of a Neolithic character and some pits of later prehistoric date are present, while two cereal-drying kilns were also recorded in this era. Two groups of burials, dating to the early medieval and the post-medieval periods were excavated as well as a N-W ditch that is probably an earlier iteration of the existing road bank and ditch. (Larsson 2009) Two kilns were identified c. 40m apart. This N kiln is close to the post-medieval burial group (ME049-034004-). An oval feature (dims 2.9m NW-SE; 0.7-1.2m NE-SW; D 0.15-0.6m) had a sub-rectangular, fire-reddened pit at NW and a drying bowl (diam.; D 0.15m) at SE. It had five fills of silty clays containing ash and charcoal with some animal bone, although no cereal grains were recognized. A sample of hazel from a secondary fill returned a C14 determination of 130-380 cal. AD. (Larsson 2009, 23-24) The S kiln was oval (dims 1.72m plus NW-SE; 1.02m NE-SW; max. D 0.55m) with a fire-reddened base and it had three fills of clayey silts with inclusions of charcoal and animal bone. The uppermost fill was cut by two burials from the early medieval group (ME049-034003-) that dates from the fifth to sixth century AD, which it must therefore pre-date. (ibid. 24-6) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 29 June 2021