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Burnt mounds or fulachta fiadh as they are known in Ireland are probably the most common prehistoric site type in Ireland and Britain. Typically Middle to late Bronze in age (although both earlier and later examples are known), they are artefact-poor and rarely associated with settlements. They generally consist of a low mound of stones often showing signs of fire-exposure arranged by, or around, a pit or trough which may be unlined or lined by wood or stone. The function of these sites has been much debated with the most commonly cited uses being for cooking, as steam baths or saunas, for brewing or textile processing. A number of major infrastructural development schemes in Ireland in the years 2002-2007 revealed remarkable numbers of these mounds often associated with wood-lined troughs, many of which were remarkably well preserved. This afforded an opportunity to investigate these sites as landscape features using environmental techniques - specifically plant macrofossils, pollen, beetles and multi-element analyses. This paper presents the results from nine sites from Ireland and compares them with burnt mound sites in Britain. The fulachta fiadh which are generally in clusters are all groundwater-fed by springs along floodplains and at the bases of slopes. The sites are associated with the clearance of wet woodland for fuel and have predominantly ‘natural’ beetle assemblages found in wet woodlands. At 7 out of the 9 sites evidence of nearby agricultural (arable) activity was revealed and all sites revealed, some but not high, levels of grazing. At one site (Cahiracon) both pollen and coleoptera suggested that oak galls or leaves were brought onto site, at another (Coonagh West) both pollen and macrofossils suggested that alder was being used on site and at a third (Jigginstown) the pollen of two dye plants (purging flax and knapweed) was recovered. Multi-element analysis at two sites (Inchagreenoge and Coonagh West) revealed elevated heavy metal concentrations suggesting that non-local soil or ash had been used in the trough. This evidence, taken together with the shallow depth of all the sites, their self-filling nature, attempts to filter incoming water, the occasional occurrence of flat stones and flimsy stake structures at one site (Inchagreenoge), suggests that the most likely function for these sites is textile processing involving both cleaning and/or dying of wool and/or natural plant fibres. This can be regarded as a functionally related activity to hide cleaning and tanning for which there is evidence from one site (Ballygawley) as well as from other Irish burnt mound sites. Whilst further research is clearly needed to confirm if fulachta fiadh are part of the ‘textile revolution’ we should also recognise their important role in the rapid deforestation of the wetter parts of primary woodland and the expansion of agriculture into marginal areas during the Bronze Age.

This report outlines the results of excavations at and near the Céide Fields Visitor Centre, North Co. Mayo. Three projects are included here: Dr Seán Ó Nualláin, Prof Michael Herity and Prof Ruaridhí de Valéra’s excavations at the court tomb at Behy (1963-1969); Prof Seamas Caulfield’s excavations at the Glenulra Enclosure (1970-1972); and Gretta Byrne and Noel Dunne’s excavations in advance of the construction of the Céide Fields Visitor Cente (1989-1993). This report forms part of the Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscapes of North Mayo (NBNM) project which aims to bring to full publication the survey and excavations in north Mayo carried out by Caulfield and his students. The NBNM project has been supported by the Heritage Council (2008) and INSTAR (2009-2011). This project will finish in 2012, with a full text covering all aspects of the research and extensive interpretative discussion. This current report focuses on presenting the results of the excavations and an overall chronological model for the Céide Fields Visitor Centre site: the wider aspects of interpretation of site function, significance and parallels will be addressed next year. This will include comparative discussion of the specialist analyses summarised here. Heritage Council Irish Strategic Archaeological Research Programme (INSTAR)