A large spread of burnt material rises to the surface, the charred and fire-cracked residue of an ancient cooking site that otherwise leaves no mark on the landscape above.

What lies beneath is a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking place found in great numbers across Ireland, particularly in damp, low-lying ground near water sources. The typical form consists of a horseshoe-shaped mound of burnt and shattered stone surrounding a trough, which would have been filled with water and heated by dropping fire-reddened stones into it until it boiled. The broken, blackened stones, discarded after use, gradually accumulated into the characteristic mound. At Knocks, that mound is not visible as a surface feature; the burnt spread lies buried, detectable only through disturbance of the soil. The site sits in pasture that rises gently to the south, the kind of quiet, undramatic ground where such sites are commonly found, close to sources of water that may no longer be obvious.