Food processing and manufacturing at burnt mounds: What do the

archaeological features reveal?

Finn Delaney & John Tierney

NRA Seminar 2009

Theme: Creative Minds: production, manufacturing and invention in ancient Ireland

• This presentation will examine the features and artefacts found on a number of burnt mounds excavated by Eachtra on a series of road projects over the last decade.

• In particular, posthole structures and interconnected pits will be examined.

• The evidence will be considered in the light of the hypothesis that burnt mounds were predominantly used for animal slaughter, butchery and processing of meat/blood/fat.

• This is only one of a number of potential hypotheses.

Abstract

• Timeline & Geography• What is a burnt mound?• Testing an hypothesis in 3 parts• Significance of surplus• Conclusions

Outline

Prehistoric & Historic Periods

• Mesolithic Period 8000-4000 BC• Neolithic Period 4000-2000 BC• Bronze Age Period 2500-500 BC• Iron Age Period 500 BC -500 AD• Early Christian Period or Early Medieval

Period 500 AD -1000 AD• Medieval Period 1000 – 1500 AD

What is a burnt mound?

Hardwood and softwood mixed with beach stones

Mound formation in advance of boiling

Immediate boiling and evaporation

Key observations

• The ‘hearth’ made the mound – they were not separate

• The trough needed to be constantly filled with water

• Water and fuel were the scarcest resources (stone is recycled)

• The boiling water was spoiled by stone grit and charcoal – sieving probably needed if not going to spoil food products

Hypothesis

Moore Group (www.mooregroup.ie)

Great Beer Experiment

Test 1Artefacts

Test 2Faunal Remains

Test 3Archaeological

features

FEATURES

• Mound/Layers Heat Shattered stone• Trough Pits (boiling pits?)• Circular Pits – Deep and shallow• Interconnecting Pits• Stakeholes – Internal / External• Postholes• Associated Structures• Hearths• Wells / Springs• Ecofacts/Artefacts

AhanagloghN25 KilmacthomasJohn Tierney & Aine Richardson

Cutting stone?Working surface?

Edge of trough pit

Boiling grit lines

Clashnevin1N7CNJo Ronayne

Receding groundwater within the well

Park 2 N7CN John Tierney & Nick Garland

Postholes

Well

Trough 1

Trough 2

Park 2N7CN John Tierney & Nick Garland

Ballyglass WestN18OGAgnes Kerrigan

Ballynamona 2Linda Hegarty N8FM

Trough 1

Trough 2

Hearth

Structure?

GreenhillsN7CNJacinta Kiely & Josh Cronin

• Troughs– Boiling of large quantities of water for butchery, food preparation (incl hide

preparation) and food processing– Other uses

• Small pits– Hot stone boiling of smaller quantities of water for varied uses– Washing/Sieving– Blood product processing?– Plant product processing?– Holding containers (basket/leather/clay) for curing/storing– Roasting pits?

• Posthole and stakehole structures/furniture– Tripods?– Drying Racks– Windbreaks

• Hearths– Stone roasting– Hide roasting– Meat Roasting

FUNCTION

• Our job is to convert these sites into Places

• Varied domestic functions• We should be using these ‘sites’ to study

Bronze Age communities

CONCLUSIONS

Stocking the winter larder?

• While burnt mounds were probably put to a range of uses we must not ignore the possibility that there may have been one predominant use.

• Surplus production– Production of food

products for social storage or feasting

– Storage (in fat, salting, dry cured?)

• Boiling one cow could take up to 60 hours (based on 200lb cow and 20min / lb) (this must have entailed associated periodic, short term settlement)

• Share part of the prepared foods at the slaughter/butchery place (boiled/roasted - eyeballs, ‘offal’ etc)

• Main portion brought to primary settlement for storage or sharing?

CONCLUSIONS

• Must measure the right things

• Must record stratigraphically – attempt to associate contemporary hearths, troughs and pits

• Do not just record the ‘tidy’ features

• Must do charcoal identifications

• What analyses will pick up blood residues?

• Need a shared database of these sites – recording presence/absence of key features along with dimensions & dates (see Welsh roundhouse database)

• Need to agree terminology and definitions of features