In 2017, the excavation of two clusters of pits in the townland of Kilcolman, just south-west of Milltown in County Kerry, revealed some surprising results. The excavation was directed by John Olney for ACSU and took place in advance of the construction of the N70 Kilderry Bends Improvement Scheme. Most of the pits included the remains of hazelnuts, ranging from just a few shell fragments to several whole nuts and over 290 shell fragments in one pit. Two small and worn sherds of carinated bowl pottery (c, 3900–3600 BC) were also recovered, along with a shale disc bead and a sandstone rubbing/hammerstone. These artefacts, combined with two radiocarbon dates spanning the period c. 3600–3300 BC, suggests this area was once occupied in the earlier Neolithic, possibly by some of the first farmers in the region.
For more information see here for a recent article published in the online Seanda ezine.