House — Bronze Age in Curraghatoor

On ground sloping gently to S, in gently undulating terrain, under pasture. No visible trace of houses above ground, though visible as cropmarks on an aerial photograph (GSI May 1977 R. 594/S. 691). House excavated (Excavation number E00246) prior to Cork-Dublin gas pipeline in 1982 (Doody 1987, 36-40, Hut 1) and further investigated in 1987 (Doody 2007, 29-32, Structure 1). Circular structure (diam. c. 6.5m), defined by ten perimeter post-holes (dims. 0.2-0.3m), on average 1m apart (ibid. 29). Three post-holes on the NE side of the structure may represent the position of a doorway (Wth c. 1.2m), while the outlying post-hole may suggest a porch or windbreak outside the entrance (ibid.). Internal features include a central hearth, post-holes and stake-holes clusters which may represent a cooking spit that was replaced on a number of occasions (ibid.). Seven pits were located inside the outer perimeter of posts with an eight found in the entrance area, these may have originally functioned as storage pits and were later reused as rubbish pits (ibid.). Finds included two sherds of pottery and an unstratified stone object (ibid.). One of the pits contained charcoal which provided a radiocarbon date of 2840+/- 35 BP; 1041-937 ca. BC. Five pit-like features, some containing stake-holes, were excavated S of this house and may be contemporary with the occupation of the house. This house overlies the W sector of an earlier Bronze Age house (TS087-007003-) and is possibly contemporary with a structure c. 8m to the SSW which has been interpreted as a house (TS087-007010-). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 20 November 2013