Charcoal sites

production

Inthis contribution to the Know Your

Monuments series, Muiris O'Sullivan and
Liam Downey present an overview of the
main forms of charcoal production sites
recorded in Ireland.

Charcoal production sites are neither nor well known,

picturesque
but they are increasingly being recognised as
significant traces of
industrial and are being revealed in substantially greater
activity
numbers in Ireland. Production sites in the woods around Sheffield,
where charcoal was made for many centuries, from around AD
perhaps
1300 up to the 1900s, have been classified by Ardon and Rotherham
(1999) into the following types,which may be of interestin the further
investigation of such sites in Ireland.

Charcoal platform no.77 at Glendalough,

showing (above) pre-excavation view and

(right) excavated trench (courtesy of Conor

McDermott and Graeme Warren).

22 Archaeology Ireland Winter 2009

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 KNOW YOUR MONUMENTS

Platform hearths (main forms)

Shape of Charcoal Production Platforms
?ovoid recessed
35
?revetted ovoid recessed
CD 30
?subrectangular recessed D)
C
OC 25
?revetted subrectangular recessed

Multi-feature hearths
? 20
Bowl hearths CO
LU
Undefined hearths 15
Pits 0)
10
E
Charcoal was the smelting fuel of the
5
Bronze Age and Iron Age and was

continually used in Europe for over 5,000 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
years, with the peak period of production
in the seventeenth and
Ratio of the Short Axis to the Long Axis
occurring eighteenth
centuries (Kelly 1996). Capable of achieving
temperatures in excess of 1,000?C, charcoal Relative Size of Pit Kilns and Platform Kilns
was essential in metal-working, and indeed
continues to be used in the metal and other
industries today.
Charcoal is the carbon-rich substance

produced when wood is partially burned

under conditions where air is restricted and
insufficientin supply to allow for complete
combustion of the wood. During the

charring process, the water in the wood is

driven off, followed by a number of valuable

by-products known as tarry

liquors.

Charcoal kilns
In previous centuries, and well into the
twentieth century, two main forms of earth

covered kilns seem to have been used in 1 23456789 10 1 23456789 10

charcoal production, namely pit and kilns
as further detailed Long-axis (m) Short-axis (m)
mound kilns. Kilns were,

by Kelly (1996), progressivelydeveloped over

time from the firstmethod of production, invertedpudding basin. The pile ofwood was (1999), charcoal hearths in the Sheffieldarea
which seems to have involved kilns. covered with straw, grass, bracken and turves, occur as constructed
pit mostly platform-like
These were simple in form, consisting and finally with dust and ashes, so that the features,formedby digging into a slope and
essentially of pits cut into the subsoil, external air was largely excluded. Where the bringing the excavated material forward to

carefully stacked with wood and covered wood stack was built around a central pole, form a level surface, on which a stable
with earth to exclude air. this was removed and red-hot charcoal, with mound kiln could be made and effectively
As the demand for metal products grew, a few dry sticks, down the central Platform hearths occur on
dropped managed. slopes
the more efficient mound kiln became a flue. When the stack was alight, the flue was
familiar feature of many woodlands in sealed and the fireallowed to spread through
Europe (Kelly 1996). The traditionalmethod the stack. The charring process had to be very From top: Ratios of the short axis to the
of building the kiln involved stacking carefully controlled by the charcoal-burners. long axis of charcoal platforms in

lengths of wood on end and facing inwards To ensure their stability during the Glendalough (based on 72 sites recorded in

around a wood flue or, process, when the 1972).

triangular charring woodpile Healy
alternatively, a central (Jones 1993). The contracts, mound kilns were made on level Relative size of pit kilns and platform kilns
pole
stack was built to around 15ft in diameter sites, often referred to as charcoal hearths. As recorded in Ireland (data from Kenny,
and about 5ft in height, in the shape of an furtherdetailed by Ardon and Rotherham forthcoming, and Healy 1972 respectively).

Archaeology Ireland Winter 2009 23

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 KNOW YOUR MONUMENTS

Left: Ovoid charcoal production

site in the Cummeengeera

Valley, near Lauragh in the

Beara Peninsula (courtesy of

Brendan Riordan).
3

Platform production sites

Glendalough
The sizeable number of sites around

Glendalough investigated by Healy (1972),

togetherwith those added more recentlyby
Long (1996), provide an important source of
information on of 100 charcoal
upwards

platforms recorded in Ireland. The surface

dimensions of the majority of the sites

measured by Healy fallwithin the range of

5-10m by 3-9m, with the larger sites being
the more common. Smaller are few
platforms
in number and tend to be more rounded.
but are also found on level ground, where compiled by Niall Kenny,who presented an Platforms with surface dimensions greater
there was no need to create a flat surface. analysis of the data at the 2009 National than 10m by 9m are rare. Healy postulated
These hearths nearly always have more or less Roads Authority Seminar. Some of his that the charcoal production platforms dated

equal lengthand breadth. overall conclusions are outlined below. from c. AD 1680-1740.
Platform hearths are carefully engineered The charcoal production pits generally Three of the platforms identifiedby Healy
structures. The longer axis of an ovoid-shaped consisted of simple earth-cut features with (1972) have recentlybeen partly excavated by
platform is generally aligned along the charcoal deposits and evidence of in situ Conor McDermott and Graeme Warren (pers.
contours of a hillside. As noted by Ardon and burning. They occurred in circular, oval and comm.). The platforms, which are located in
Rotherham (1999), on steep slopes the rectangular forms and with roughly an the townland of are cut into the
Lugduff,
construction of an oval platform may have equal proportion of each type. The pits hillside and form part of a dense scatter of
limited the amount of excavation necessary, ranged from under lm to up to 4m in such sites near the Upper Lake. Two of the
whilst also providing a more stable structure. length and fromunder lm to 2m inwidth, sites are ovoid in shape (c. 12m by 7m and
In this regard, a
noteworthy aspect of the and with few exceptions were less than 10m by 5m respectively) and the other is
platform charcoal sites recorded in 0.5m deep. Ten of them have been dated to much smaller and circular in shape (c. 3m by

Glendalough (see below) is the ratio of the the early and late medieval periods, in 3m). At least one site has a low wall
short axis to the long axis. In almost half of the ninth-thirteenth centuries. constructed at the rear. The excavations
particular
the cases, this falls within the relatively Later dates were obtained for a pit confirm conclusion that the
Healy's
narrow range of 0.75 to 0.85. The excavated in Cork, as well as another are indeed charcoal
platforms production
predominance of the ratios in this range is possible pit (AD 1280-1420 and 1420-1640 sites, with extensive charcoal-rich deposits.
not likely to be due to chance, the Chi-square Historical references indicate that much
respectively).
(48.0685; df = 5; p = 0.000) being highly Pits comparable in size and date to those of the valley may have been significantly
significant. Whether this reflects a referred to above have been recorded at two deforested since at least the mid-seventeenth
practical
rule of thumb employed where appropriate to charcoal production camps excavated in century. This suggests that the majority of the
construct a stable platform without Kilkenny (Joanna Wren, pers. comm.). Both platforms inGlendalough are unlikely to be
unnecessary digging is uncertain. sites had similar oval pits containing associated with more modern industrial

constructed platforms of oak for the activity. Charcoal analysis and radiocarbon

Pit production sites production of charcoal. The pits ranged in dating will establish the dates of the
A substantial number of pits used in charcoal size from 1.8m by 1.4m to 1.4m by 1.05m, platforms and will also provide insights into
production have been excavated in Ireland in and varied in depth from 0.14m to 0.44m. the type of woodland management regimes
recent years during the course of large-scale Radiocarbon dates from charcoal recovered associated with their use. Important
development-led excavation projects. A from pits from both camps ranged from the information on the trees and woodlands in

comprehensive data source, comprising eleventh century to the mid-thirteenth Wicklow over recent centuries has been
records of 100 excavated pit sites, has been century. documented by Carey (forthcoming).

24 Archaeology Ireland Winter 2009

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 1600/1700s at the head of theKenmare River
Diagnostic features ^H
Beara Peninsula

Platform and other charcoal A number of these were

possible (McCracken 1971).
Remainsof charcoal production sites
sites have been found in the presumablywell versed in the technology of ^H
production
of interestto archaeologistsmay be
near Co. charcoal production. Thus the production of ^H
Cummeengeera Valley Lauragh,
found inor adjacent towoodland
Kerry (Connie Murphy, pers. comm.). A charcoal in the Beara Peninsula and ^H
most elsewhere an
areas. Some diagnostic features are
preliminary examination of the conceivably may represent ^H
summarisedbelow.
prominent site, which has charcoal important historical example of the transfer
^H
or circular
impregnated soil and is located on the sloping of technology into rural Ireland. ?Ovoid, rectangular ^H
indicates an earthworks, with charcoal deposits
valley hillside, ovoid-shaped ^H
charcoal Its internal Conclusion and blackened soil.
production platform.
^H
dimensions are around 9m by 8m and Pits and platforms, the two main
?They are recorded frequentlyas ^^?
pits up to about 3m by 2m in surface^M
to those in Glendalough and archaeological features of charcoal
comparable
Sheffield. It is largelysurrounded by a wall or recorded in differ not
production Ireland,
area, or as platform-like earthen
or more in the ^H
bank surviving to around 0.5m at its just in size and construction but also
structuresup to 10m by 9m in
highest point. The platform is supported on functionalityof the kilns operated at these ^H
surface area that mostly occur on
the downslope side by a fairly steep sites, and in many instances in their ^H
slopinghillsides. ^H
perhaps
constructed bank, some 3m or more in height. main periods of use.
?Sites may have lessand/or
A second platform site occurs further on in The small size of charcoal production pits ^H
differentvegetation than the
the valley on more gentle sloping ground. It is indicative of a small-scale rural enterprise, ^H
surrounding woodland flora,
comprises a mainly grass-covered near undertaken mainly to meet individual ^H
rectangular platform, around 11m by 7m in and/or local needs. The mound kilns, on the especiallywhere prolonged and ^H
surface area and with other to have been involved in intensivecharcoal productionhas
fairly prominent upper hand, appear
^H
and lower banks. On the lower ground the larger-scale charcoal production required takenplace. ^H
the end of the valley an ovoid to industrial demands. ij??MM||HiMH^^
approaching supply Many

grass-covered site may be found, with an ironworks operating in Ireland in the 1600s References
area of 10m by 9m. More of several hundred and P.A. and I.D. 1999
approximate surface had large workforces Ardon, Rotherham, Types

systematic fieldwork in the valley and more, such as the furnace in Kenmare of charcoal hearth and the impact of
areas would to more charcoal and whitecoal on
adjoining be likely to reveal other (Kerry), and may be compared production
charcoal sites. recent industrial developments in rural areas woodland vegetation. Peat District Journal
production

Cummeengeera seems to have been well (McCracken 1971). of Natural History and Archaeology 1, 35-47.
wooded to the decades of the A number of pit production sites have, as M. (ed.) (forthcoming) Open your eyes.
prior early Carey,
1700s, when some 600 acres of trees in the outlined above, been dated to the Documentary insights into Wicklow's trees
mainly
Glenmore are said to have medieval Ironworks in Ireland were and woodlands over recent centuries.
adjacent Valley period.
been felled to provide charcoal for the iron most prevalent between 1600 and 1800 Healy, P. 1972 Supplementary survey of ancient
furnace in nearby Tousist (McCracken 1971), and many of the charcoal monuments at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.
operated (Kerry)
from 1709 to 1735 (Mould 2002). By the end production platforms may therefore be dated Office of PublicWorks, Dublin.
of the eighteenth century Cummeengeera was predominantly to the post-medieval period. Jones, M. (ed.) 1993 Sheffield'swoodland
treeless. Some of the hut sites found Nevertheless, more extensive radiocarbon heritage. Green Tree Publications,
virtually
in the valley may have been associated with is to an overall Rotherham.
dating required provide
charcoal-burners and woodcutters. of the relative chronology of pit Kelly, D.W. (ed.) 1996 Charcoal and charcoal
perspective
It is to compare the and charcoal sites in burning. Shire Publications, Princes
interesting platform production

Cummeengeera sites to the typology of the Ireland. Risborough.

Sheffield charcoal production sites (see box). Kenny,N. (forthcoming)Wood charring and
In the ovoid and fuel production in early medieval and late
particular, rectangular Acknowledgements
platforms in the valley closely parallel the We are particularly grateful to Conor medieval Ireland?revelations from recent

ovoid recessed and the McDermott, Graeme Warren, Niall Kenny excavations. In Proceedings of the 2009
subrectangular
recessed hearths in the Sheffield area. and Joanna Wren, who made available to us National Roads Authority Seminar. National
platform
Whether the in Cummeengeera details of their recent investigations. The Roads Authority, Dublin.
platforms
have revetments has not been assessed, extensive information Emmet H. 1996 Medieval Glendalough: an
Valley provided by Long,
however. The ovoid surface site may be Byrnes and the extracts from his interdisciplinarystudy.Unpublished Ph.D
compared with the bowl hearths and/or forthcoming book received fromMichael thesis,TrinityCollege Dublin.
undefined hearths in the Sheffield area. are much The McCracken, E. (ed.) 1971 The Irish woods since
Carey appreciated.
In similarities between the contributions of Connie Brendan Tudor times. David and Charles, Newton
considering Murphy,
sites in the two areas, itmay be noted that a Riordan, Jim O'Donoghue, Eugene Hendrick Abbott.

substantial number of English workers were and Katarina are also Mould, D.P. 2002 The clachan of
Domijan gratefully

engaged at the ironworks operating in the acknowledged. Cummeengeera. Mizen Journal 10, 39-51.

Archaeology Ireland Winter 2009 25

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