Archaeologists Bill Quinn and Declan Moore had a flash of insight about the mound they were about to excavate-whilst suffering from a big hangover.

Burnt mounds are found all over the place, and they date from prehistoric to medieval times, but no one has been sure what they were actually for. They consist of mounds of burnt stones and  an adjacent trough of stone, usually with a water course nearby. The usual interpretation is that they are for cooking, but other people have posited that they were saunas. Quinn and Moore have the best interpretation- they say they were for brewing ale… never let it be said that archaeologists aren’t interested in beer, and homebrew in particular…