These features, known in Irish as fulachta fiadh, are essentially mounds of fire-cracked stone and charcoal-rich earth that accumulated beside a water source, the result of repeatedly heating stones in a fire and dropping them into a water-filled trough. What was actually being done at these sites, whether cooking, brewing, bathing, or some industrial process, remains a matter of lively debate among archaeologists.

The site at Charlesland was excavated in 2003, with work carried out under Excavation Licence 03E0908, recorded as Site GC1. The findings were subsequently published by Molloy in 2006. The cautious designation of the feature as a possible burnt mound reflects the ambiguity that can arise during excavation, where the characteristic assemblage of scorched stone and organic material may be present but incomplete, or where later disturbance has obscured the full picture.