What they found was, in fact, a classic fulacht fiadh, or burnt mound, one of the most common yet least understood monument types in the Irish prehistoric landscape. These features typically consist of a mound of fire-cracked stone and charcoal accumulated beside a water source and a cooking pit, the result of repeated episodes of heating stones and dropping them into water to bring it to the boil. They are found in their thousands across Ireland, yet the precise social context of the feasting, processing, or other activity that drove their use remains a matter of ongoing debate among archaeologists.

The site at Clahane produced not one but two burnt spreads. The more substantial deposit measured 21 metres by 17 metres and averaged around 0.25 metres in depth, a considerable accumulation suggesting prolonged or repeated use. A second, smaller burnt spread nearby measured 2.5 metres by 1.89 metres, with an associated circular pit 1.4 metres in diameter. A further oval pit, 2.11 metres by 1.36 metres, was recorded to the north of these features. The finds were discussed by Michael Connolly in his 2008 doctoral thesis, completed at University College Cork, which examined prehistoric settlement patterns across the Lee Valley and broader Tralee area from a landscape perspective, placing sites like this within the wider pattern of Bronze Age activity in north Kerry.