Kiln — corn-drying in Ballytegan

Situated on a gentle SE-facing slope, with a small canalised NE-SW stream c. 110m to the SE. Archaeological testing (20E0638) over a large area (dims c. 150m NE-SW; c. 160m NW-SE) in November 2020 identified a cereal-drying kiln which was visible as a stone-lined area (dims 4.5-5m NE-SW; 1-2.2m NW-SE). It was narrower at the W end and there was burning around the stones. Within the fill was a fragment of a large millstone (full diam. 0.75m; T 0.13m) with a slightly convex top and a flat base. There was a slot-trench (L 2m; Wth 0.1m) in the vicinity, and at least two post-holes. (McLoughlin 2020) It was completely excavated in April 2021 under the same licence when it proved to be a keyhole kiln in an oval area (dims 5m E-W; 0.9- 1.9m N-S) that was shallowest (D 0.2m) at W and deepest (D 0.65m) at the E end. Stones from the flue were still present, and the bowl had nine fills of charcoal-rich soils mixed with redeposited subsoil. The broken millstone had been found in its topmost fill, but the other features in the vicinity were no longer evident. A second corn-drying kiln was c. 7m to the N. This was an oval feature (dims 5m NE-SW; 1-2.2m) that had been badly truncated and was very shallow (D 0.05m at NE to 0.2m at SW). It was filled with a redeposited subsoil over a thin lens of charcoal, and on artefacts were recovered from it. (McLoughlin 2021, 13-16) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 17 December 2020 Amended: 4 August 2021