The Archaeological Survey of Ireland, however, is less certain. What looks from above like an oval depression ringed by trees may in fact be a pond barrow, a rare type of prehistoric funerary monument in which a low, level interior sits noticeably sunken below the surrounding ground, enclosed by an earthen bank rather than raised above it as a conventional burial mound would be. The distinction matters, because pond barrows are uncommon in Ireland, and their misidentification as quarries or natural features means they can go unrecognised for generations.

When the ASI surveyed the earthwork in 1999, the measurements recorded were quietly at odds with anything a quarrying operation would typically leave behind. The sunken area measures roughly 18.9 metres north to south and 17.8 metres east to west. Around most of its circuit runs an earthen bank some 6.8 metres wide overall, and on the northern side there is an almost vertical internal scarp standing 2.2 metres high, giving the interior its distinctly bowl-like character. The smooth, level floor and the enclosing bank are what give archaeologists pause. The 1840 Ordnance Survey six-inch map records no antiquity at the location at all, and even the later Cassini OSi edition shows only a small oval-shaped hollow without any interpretive label. A possible ringfort lies roughly 35 metres to the north-east, and the townland boundary with Gannavane Upper runs just 45 metres to the north, suggesting this corner of the landscape has accumulated layers of human activity over a long period. The site was compiled in the record by Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly, with the file uploaded in July 2020.

The monument sits on a south-facing slope with open views stretching east, south, and west, and the summit of Cullaun Mountain rising about a kilometre to the north. Aerial photographs, including Digital Globe orthophotos from 2011 to 2013 and a Google Earth image from November 2018, show it clearly as an oval, tree-lined feature. On the ground, the tree cover that now defines its outline makes it easier to spot from a distance than up close. The classification remains genuinely uncertain; the ASI file itself notes the difficulty of being definitive about whether this is a prehistoric barrow or post-medieval quarrying, which makes it an honest rather than a resolved entry in the record. Visitors to the area should be aware that access crosses agricultural land and that the poorly drained ground lives up to its description in wet seasons.