Fulacht fiadh (Irish pronunciation: [ˈfˠʊlˠəxt̪ˠ ˈfʲiə]; Irish: fulacht fiadh or fulacht fian; plural: fulachtaí fia or, in older texts, fulachta fiadh) is the name given to one of many burned mounds, dating from the Bronze Age, found in Ireland. Most surviving examples consist of a low horseshoe-shaped mound[1] of charcoal-enriched soil, and heat-shattered stone, with a cooking pit located in a slight depression at its centre. In ploughed fields, they are apparent as black spreads of earth interspersed with small sharp stones.[2]
There are multiple examples of fulacht fiadh in Ireland. The majority were constructed during the mid to late Bronze Age[3] (c.1500- c. 500 BC), though some Neolithic and a few medieval examples are known.[4] In Great Britain and the Isle of Man they are known as burnt mounds, and similar objects are found in Sweden. Permanent structures are rarely found near to fulachtaí fiadh, but small hut sites are common and it is unknown whether early sites were built by permanent settlements or nomadic hunters.[5]
- ^ Other examples include oval, circular or irregularly shaped mounds
- ^ Murphy (1997), 91
- ^ Brinley, Lanting, "The dating of fulachta fiadh", Burned Offerings, 1990, Wordwell, p55-56.
- ^ "Mayo Archaeology 15 of Travels in Time". Travels in Time. 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2006.
- ^ Power, Denis, "Archaeological Inventory of County Cork, Volume 3: Mid Cork", ColorBooks, P75. ISBN 0-7076-4933-1