Fulacht fia, Downing, Co. Cork

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Settlement Sites

Fulacht fia, Downing, Co. Cork

A field in Downing, Co. Cork contains an ancient cooking site that has vanished entirely from the surface, yet was clearly visible as a low mound on an Ordnance Survey map made in 1934.

Today there is no trace to see from ground level, just pasture running down to the east bank of a stream. The disappearance is not unusual for this type of site, but the concentration here is. This is one of a cluster of ten fulachta fiadh recorded in close proximity, which gives the area a quietly remarkable density of prehistoric activity.

A fulacht fia, sometimes called a burnt mound, is one of the most common archaeological monument types in Ireland. The basic principle involved heating stones in a fire, dropping them into a water-filled trough to bring it rapidly to a boil, and using that hot water for cooking, possibly also for bathing or craft processes such as textile working. The discarded, fire-cracked stones accumulate into a distinctive horseshoe-shaped mound, typically found beside a stream or other water source, which is precisely the situation here on the east bank of the Downing stream. Most examples date to the Bronze Age, roughly 1500 to 500 BC, though some are earlier or later. The clustering of ten such sites in one locality suggests sustained, repeated use of this stretch of water over a long period, or perhaps seasonal gatherings that left their mark again and again in the same productive landscape.

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Pete F
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