That is more or less what saved this one. A burnt spread, as such features are technically called, is typically associated with prehistoric activity involving intense, repeated burning, often linked to the fulacht fiadh tradition of heated-stone cooking or craft use, though the precise function of individual sites is rarely straightforward to establish.

The deposit was uncovered in 2006 during excavation ahead of the realignment of the N9 and N10, the road corridor running between Waterford and Powerstown. The remains measured a maximum of 3.75 metres in length and 2.8 metres in width, a modest spread of black friable silt mixed with charcoal and shattered stones. It had been partially cut through by a modern field ditch, which means some portion of the original deposit was already lost by the time archaeologists reached it. The excavation was conducted under licence E3017 and reported by Channing in 2008 and 2009.