A 1973 aerial photograph brought them into focus as a coherent group, revealing a configuration that ground-level survey had not fully captured.

The site was recorded for years simply as an enclosure or enclosures, a catch-all classification that covered a broad range of prehistoric and early medieval earthworks. What the aerial evidence clarified was that these are specifically fionán enclosures, a term referring to enclosures associated with fine or fair grass, typically low-lying, seasonally wet ground that was managed for grazing. Such enclosures are a relatively understudied category in Irish archaeology, often difficult to distinguish at ground level from other earthwork types, which helps explain why this group at Scarteen was only properly identified once seen from above. The aerial photograph in question, taken in July 1973, caught the site at a moment when crop or vegetation differences made the underlying features legible in a way that is not always guaranteed.