Two burnt mount sites from the Bronze Age - which are believed to have been saunas and cooking pits - have been discovered in ground excavated during construction of the New Ross Bypass.

James Eogan, Senior Archaeologist with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, said archaeologists from Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd (IAC) have been carrying out archaeological monitoring of construction works in various locations along the New Ross Bypass since July 2016. This work is being carried out in accordance with directions issued by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and follows on from the extensive pre-construction archaeological investigations.

The two burnt mound sites which date to the Bronze Age, between 2500 and 4000 years ago, were found in areas of poorly drained land, one in Landscape and the other to the northeast of Lacken Hill. The Landscape site was located beside the Camlin Stream and consisted of a low mound of heat-shattered stone approximately 10m in diameter. The mound covered a rectangular pit or trough which had been lined with split oak planks, some of which survived due to the waterlogged conditions. The sites have been identied as fulacht fia, cooking areas.

The timber-lined trough would have been filled with water which would have been heated by adding stones heated in a fire.

Experiments have shown that joints of meat, wrapped in straw, could have been cooked in the boiling water. The mound of heat-shattered rock was the result of the fulacht fia being used repeatedly, maybe

over a number of years.

Mr Eogan said it has been suggested that some burnt mounds could have been used for other purposes. The site investigated in Lacken may even be an example of a Bronze Age sweat lodge or sauna. The burnt mound here was twice as big as the Landscape example. It was located on a slight knoll in an area close to a number of fresh water springs.

'The main feature of the Lacken burnt mound was a large pear-shaped pit located on the side of the mound closest to the water source. The pit was almost 4m long and 60cm deep, its narrowest end was located close to the centre of the mound, a series of stakeholes were found at the broader end. An area of burnt soil on the highest part of the knoll, beside the narrow end of the pear-shaped pit, indicated the location of a hearth.'

At the opposite end of the pear-shaped pit a circular 2m diameter pit was found. The silt found in the circular pit suggests that it had held water. 'It seems likely that when in use the pear-shaped pit could have been covered with a roof made of thatch or other organic materials such as animal hides. Stones would have been heated in the hearth and rolled down-slope into the roofed area, water splashed on the hot stones would then have generated steam within the covered area.'

A number of similar Bronze Age sweatlodges have been found in Ireland over the past few decades and there are folklore records of 'sweathouses' being used in rural Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries, 'so it seems that the sauna isn't such a recent innovation in Ireland'.

Archaeological monitoring of construction works is continuing and the post-excavation analysis and reporting on the sites excavated is under way. This will include the scientific examination of material recovered during the excavation and radiocarbon dating of samples to establish when the sites were used.

Final reports will be published over the coming months.

New Ross Standard