But when archaeologists uncovered this corn-drying kiln at Scart in 2006, they found the physical remains of a medieval agricultural process that was once as ordinary as threshing itself. Corn-drying kilns of this type worked by channelling heat from a fire along a narrow stone-lined flue and up into a bowl-shaped chamber above, where damp grain, typically spread on a wicker or wooden frame, could be dried before milling or storage. Ireland's wet climate made such structures a practical necessity rather than a luxury, and examples of the keyhole design, named for the shape produced by a long flue terminating in a subcircular bowl, turn up regularly in excavations across the country.

This particular kiln was uncovered as part of the N9/N10 Waterford to Knocktopher road scheme, one of several infrastructure projects across Ireland that prompted significant archaeological investigation in the 2000s. The bowl measured 1.75 metres in length, 1.4 metres wide, and 0.55 metres deep. Wheat grains recovered from the primary fill were radiocarbon dated to between approximately AD 1270 and 1390, placing the kiln's active use firmly in the later medieval period. Two sherds of pottery dating to the 12th to 14th century were also recovered from the flue, consistent with that timeframe. A pit found at the western end of the flue returned a much later radiocarbon date, ranging from cal AD 1681 to 1953, suggesting the site saw continued or intermittent activity well into the post-medieval period. Around 48 square metres of cobbled surface were identified to the south of the kiln, along with several stone-lined and stone-filled drains, features that together point to a more substantial working area than the kiln alone implies. Roughly 40 metres to the west lies a ringfort, a type of enclosed farmstead common in early medieval Ireland, and the two features may well have been part of the same agricultural landscape, though the relationship between them remains uncertain.