Archaeological Investigations along the A1 Dualling Scheme, Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, Co. Down, N. Ireland (2005) 9781407302447, 9781407321400

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Project
Chapter 2: Area 2 Ballintaggart
Chapter 3: Area 9 Derrycraw
Chapter 4: Other Archaeological Features Excavated Under Archaeological Licence AE/04/55
Chapter 5: General Conclusions
Bibliography
Appendices

Citation preview

BAR 479 2009 CHAPPLE et al.: LOUGHBRICKLAND TO BEECH HILL, CO. DOWN, N. IRELAND

B A R

Archaeological Investigations along the A1 Dualling Scheme, Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, Co. Down, N. Ireland (2005)

R. M. Chapple, C. Dunlop, S. Gilmore and L. Heaney Illustrations by S. Godden and S. Cannon. Principal Editor: K. Beachus Edited by J. Barkley and C Heaney

BAR British Series 479 2009

Archaeological Investigations along the A1 Dualling Scheme, Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, Co. Down, N. Ireland (2005)

Archaeological Investigations along the A1 Dualling Scheme, Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, Co. Down, N. Ireland (2005)

R. M. Chapple, C. Dunlop, S. Gilmore and L. Heaney Illustrations by S. Godden and S. Cannon. Principal Editor: K. Beachus Edited by J. Barkley and C Heaney

BAR British Series 479 2009

ISBN 9781407302447 paperback ISBN 9781407321400 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407302447 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

BAR

PUBLISHING

Archaeological Investigations along the A1 Dualling Scheme, Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, Co. Down, N. Ireland _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abstract This report presents the results of one year’s monitored topsoil stripping and excavation in advance of a 10-kilometre development of the A1 from Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, which centred on Northern Ireland Grid Reference H 10 38. A number of areas of archaeological remains were identified. Two particularly complex and large sites were assigned unique archaeological licences. The site at Area 2 in Ballintaggart townland (AE/04/77) comprised three Neolithic rectangular houses and a Bronze Age barrow cemetery. The latter contained nine cremation burials, eight marked by ring ditches (four of which were associated with funerary vessels) and two four-post burials. This site also included an Early Bronze Age occupation area. The second site at Area 9 in Derrycraw townland, (AE/05/14), comprised a destroyed cairn, five ring ditches (three of which contained burials), a cremation in a woven structure, several other token burials and a single post-marked burial, which was associated with a Bronze Age funerary vessel containing a cremation. A number of smaller unassociated excavations were completed under licence AE/04/55 including an Iron Age cremation in Maddydrumbrist townland and several burnt mounds.

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Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the Department of Regional Development Road Services Northern Ireland who funded this project and Jacobs for their advice and guidance throughout. We would also like to thank the field staff at Northern Archaeological Consultancy as without them none of the features recorded in this publication would have come to light, Simon Large who wrote an ealier version of the excavation report, Stephanie Godden and Steve Cannon for their illustrations, Kev Beachus, Johnny Barclay and Jacky Sommerville for their sterling work in editing this report and Colm Heaney for his work as copy editor for this publication.

This report was compiled by

This project was funded by

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CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abstract

i ii

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Project Chapter 2: Area 2 Ballintaggart

1 4 4 5 5 16 23 27 30 31 36 36 41 46 50 50 53 55 59 60 62 64 65 67 70 72 74 97 97 99 101 101 101 104 106 109 110 111 112 114 115 116 118 118 122

2.1 Introduction 2.2 Early Neolithic Activity 2.2.1 House 1 2.2.2 House 2 2.2.3 House 3 2.2.4 Midden 2.2.5 Pit Aligment 2.2.6 Ritual Pits 2.3 Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Activity 2.3.1 Southern Pit Complex 2.3.2 Early Bronze Age Campsite 1 2.3.3 Early Bronze Age Campsite 2 2.4 Middle Bronze Age Activity 2.4.1 Introduction to the Ring Ditch Cemetery Complex 2.4.2 Ring Ditch 1 2.4.3 Ring Ditch 2 2.4.4 Ring Ditch 3 2.4.5 Ring Ditch 4 2.4.6 Ring Ditch 5 2.4.7 Ring Ditch 6 2.4.8 Ring Ditch 7 2.4.9 Ring Ditch 8 2.4.10 Four Poster Burial 2.4.11 Other Bronze Age Features 2.4.12 Discussion of Ballintaggart Barrow Complex 2.5 Un-dateable Feature from Ballintaggart 2.5.1 A Probable Truncated Structure 2.5.2 Other Features

Chapter 3: Area 9 Derrycraw 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Ring Ditches 3.2.1 Ring Ditch 1 3.2.2 Ring Ditch 2 3.2.3 Ring Ditch 3 3.2.4 Ring Ditch 4 3.2.5 Ring Ditch 5 3.3 Pit Burial 3.4 Basket Burial 3.5 Features south and west of Ring Ditch 1 3.6 Pit Complex 3.7 Features west of Ring Ditch 5 3.8 Cairn and surrounding Features 3.9 Other Features in Derrycraw

Chapter 4: Other Archaeological Features excavated under Archaeological Licence AE/04/55 4.1 Ballintaggart Area 1 4.2 Ballintaggart Area 3

129 129 130

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CONTENTS Continued 4.3 Ballintaggart Area 4 4.4 Lisnagonnell Area 4 4.5 Lisnagonnell Area 6 4.6 Maddybrumbrist Area 7 4.7 Aughintober Area 8 4.8 Derrycraw Area 10 4.9 Meenan Area 11 4.10 Discussion

Chapter 5: General Conclusions

130 132 132 132 136 141 141 142 146

Bibliography Appendix 1a- Report on lithic assemblage for archaeological licence AE/04/77 Appendix 1b- Report on lithic assemblage for archaeological licence AE/05/14 Appendix 1c- Report on lithic assemblage for archaeological licence AE/04/55 Appendix 1d- Analysis of hafting adhesive to a flint blade form from C69 Appendix 2a- Report on ceramic assemblage for archaeological licence AE/04/77 Appendix 2b- Report on ceramic assemblage for archaeological licence AE/05/14 Appendix 2c- Report on ceramic assemblage for archaeological licence AE/04/55 Appendix 2d- Report on Ceral/Seed impressions on Ceramics Appendix 3- Report on the cremated human remains Appendix 4a- Report on spall of vitrified material from archaeological licence AE/04/77 Appendix 4b- Preliminary report on a glass bead from archaeological licence AE/04/77 Appendix 5a- Wood identifaction report for archaeological licence AE/04/77 Appendix 5b- Wood identifaction report for archaeological licence AE/05/14 Appendix 6a- Microfossil analysis for archaeological licence AE/04/77 Appendix 6b- Microfossil analysis for archaeological licence AE/04/55 Appendix 7- Radiocarbon dates

149 157 165 168 173 175 197 202 211 214 242 242 243 244 245 250 253

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Archaeological Investigations along the A1 Dualling Scheme, Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, Co. Down, N. Ireland _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Project Northern Archaeological Consultancy Limited (NAC) was commissioned in March 2004 by Jacobs to carry out archaeological mitigation prior to the dualling of the A1 Loughbrickland to Beech Hill Road, County Down, Northern Ireland, on behalf of the Northern Ireland Roads Services, Department for Regional Development.

of Area 2, and AE/05/14 was issued for the excavation of Area 9 as these areas consisted of more significant and complex archaeological material.

Figure 1: Map showing location of Loughbrickland (indicated by a star) in relation to the rest of the British Isles. The development was 9,500m of new road and an additional 500m of side roads. This was monitored using a combination of test trenching and monitored topsoil stripping. All archaeological material was fully excavated and recorded. This project was carried out from March 2004 to April 2005 under three separate archaeological licences (AE/04/55, AE/04/77 and AE/05/14), issued by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency part of the Department of the Environment. The areas identified for archaeological investigation ranged over a distance of 10km. Of the three licences issued for archaeological investigation the first, AE/04/55, specifically covered all monitored topsoil stripping and small isolated areas of archaeological potential (Areas 1, 3-8, 10 and 11; Figure 2). Licence AE/04/77 was issued for the excavation

Figure 2: Areas of archaeological potential found during topsoil stripping along the A1 road scheme (after OSNI Discoverer Series Sheet 20). Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO© Crown copyright.

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funerary activity, as well as slight evidence of earlier Neolithic activity.

The topsoil stripping took part in two phases. In the first phase of stripping, six areas of archaeological potential were identified. These were: Areas 1-4 in Ballintaggart townland and Areas 5 and 6 in Lisnagonnell townland. Upon investigation of the six areas in Phase 1, Areas 3, 5 and 6 were found to be non-archaeological. Area 1 comprised a pair of Neolithic pits and Area 4 a burnt mound.

Location and Geology The A1 corridor is situated in South-west County Down, close to the boundary with County Armagh. The road passes through a drumlin landscape: a series of small rounded hills separated by often boggy inter-drumlin hollows. Many of these hollows have been reclaimed by drainage and are an integral part of the modern farming landscape. The route of the A1 runs north to south with the Slieve Gullion-Mourne mountain range lying to the south, and the Slieve Croob Hills to the east. The bedrock is, in the main, Silurian shale of the Gala Group. The subsoil overlying this is mostly glacial till with the occasional patch of gravel and alluvium. The topsoil is a mixture of gleys and brown earths. The resulting boggy terrain was difficult to cross and has historically been used as a defence, most recently in the wars of the 17th century.

Archaeological Licence AE/04/77 was issued for the excavation in Ballintaggart townland (Area 2, Figure 2). The multi-period remains included early 4th millennium BC Neolithic activity. There was evidence for three house structures, with numerous secondary contemporary features, suggesting a period of extended settlement. These Neolithic houses were the first to be excavated in County Down. Following a period of abandonment, later Neolithic activity in the Grooved Ware period (post 3000 BC) was identified and a substantial portion of the same site was later utilised during the Bronze Age from c.1600 BC, as a cemetery complex. This was the main Bronze Age activity on the site, which comprised nine cremation burials (eight of which were marked by ring ditches and four of which were associated with funerary vessels), and a four-post burial. This site also featured an Early Bronze Age occupation area. The proximity of the three Neolithic houses to Loughbrickland and the later large ring ditch cemetery suggests that the ridge they occupied was regarded, in the prehistoric period, as an important location. It should be noted that throughout this period it would have been surrounded on at least two sides by water and marshland, and would have been, therefore, an easily defensible and very conspicuous feature in the landscape. The ring barrow cemetery contained a series of burials which were contained within a variety of funerarystyle ceramic vessels. This type of burial was not unique in Northern Ireland; however, their discovery has increased the knowledge of burial practices in the Irish Bronze Age.

Archaeological Background Significant archaeological sites are known from this area of County Down, dating from the prehistoric, early Christian and later periods. A number of these sites were located in close proximity to the road development (Figure 2). Prehistoric Period: c.4000 BC – 200 AD Early prehistoric activity in this area was indicated by two standing stones and the Brickland ring barrow (Figure 2). The Brickland ring barrow, 30m in diameter, comprises an inner ditch and outer bank, and is situated on a hilltop, east of and overlooking Area 2. Later prehistory is represented by a possible hilltop enclosure and several crannogs, some of which may have had their origins in this period. Due to the nature of the terrain there was particular potential for the discovery of features such as Fulacht Fiadh (burnt mounds). These were water heating places and were most often associated with watercourses.

In the second phase of stripping five areas of archaeological potential were identified (Figure 2). Two areas were located in Aughintober, an Iron Age burial and a burnt mound (Area 7) and a Bronze Age occupation area (Area 8). Two areas were located in Derrycraw townland (Areas 9 and 10) and one area was located in Meenan townland (Area 11).

Early Christian Period: c. 200 AD – 1200 AD In the middle and later part of the 6th century the Church underwent considerable reorganisation with the foundation of a number of major monasteries. This included the monastic settlement founded at Glebe (Down 40:37, J10463498, now in the grounds of Donaghmore Church of Ireland church) whose remains include a 9th century high cross, a curving enclosure wall and a souterrain. Early Christian period secular occupation is well attested to in the area, with a high density of raths. Univallate, bivallate, multivallate and platform raths are all found. Raths reflected the high status nature of their inhabitants. Their high density can be attributed to the nature of hostilities in the region. The area was close to the frontier between the Ulaid and the Airgialla Tribes. The Ulster Cycle relates that about the year 331 or

Archaeological Licence AE/05/14 was issued for the excavation of Area 9 in Derrycraw townland (Figure 2). This relatively small site (c.50m x 15m) contained five barrows (three of which contained burials), a destroyed cairn, a ‘basket’ burial, several token burials, and a single postmarked burial. The archaeology from this site was identified as mainly Bronze Age and was primarily associated with funerary activity commencing c.1600 BC although the cairn was dated to the vicinity of 2500 BC. There were some secondary features, which may have been related to the

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Later medieval secular settlement may be reflected by remains of house sites, indicated by stony platforms generally with a smaller diameter than raths. It was also possible that these represent the damaged remains of raths. Re-occupation and re-fortification of earlier monuments, such as crannogs, also took place, as for example, the Magennis at Lough Brickland crannog.

332 AD the kingdom of Airgialla was formed in the centre of Ulster and the Ulaid were driven east into Down and Antrim. This part of Ulster would have been in an almost constant state of tribal warfare during this period. Monuments of this period are the known and possible raths. Lisnatierny Rath (Figure 2) was a large bivallate counterscarp rath, 57m in diameter with an entrance to the south-east. Two crannogs are also known; one of which was constructed in the 5th century AD (Lett 1905). Brown Bog may have been the site of another crannog. There was potential for further sites to be discovered in the study area, particularly within present and former wetland areas.

Post-medieval Period: from c.1650 AD Monuments from this period include Greenan Flax Mill, Meenan Flax Mill and Four Mile House Flax Mill related to the processing of flax, Greenan corn mill and kiln, with associated millponds and millraces, and Greenan saw mill. The presence of retting ponds (lint holes) was also indicative of the flax industry; these were used for soaking flax prior to processing. In Derrycraw townland several of these retting or soaking ponds were recorded on the Second Edition Ordnance Maps (1860) (Figure 3). Few survived to the present day as they were subsumed by modern agricultural practice or improvements.

The area’s townlands were first recorded in medieval and later documents; these names usually reflected landscape features or the social customs and history of the people who lived in them. Many of the townlands in this area contained at least one prominent early site, particularly raths, which may have been associated with the origins of these land units. Some of the local townland names reflect their early origins through their associations with the saga tales of the Ulster Cycle; for example Brickland was probably named after ‘Bricru’, of the poisoned tongue, a trouble-making hero in one of the tales. In this tale he invited Conchobar, King of Ulster to a feast in his hall at Rudraige’s hillfort. The importance of Lough Brickland is reflected in its use in ordinary speech as the parish name. However, the original parish name of Aghdarg meant ‘red field’ and was identified with the original church site in Drumsallagh townland. This was close to present-day Loughbrickland, where tradition records that several holy men were killed by the Danes and the church was destroyed. These holy men were probably the Saints Beoan and Mellan whose churches are recorded as being at Lough Bricland or Loughbricklan, (Bennett 1834) and are named in the martyrologies. The parish church is still dedicated to St Mellan. Other townland names within the study area are linked to other aspects of the areas past. They include Greenan, meaning ‘eminent place’, which may indicate it had a good view of a public assembly place, Ballintaggart, the ‘townland of the priest’, while Lisnagonnell, meaning ‘fort of the candle’, was a folkloric name, and may refer to the lost crannog in Brown’s Bog or one of the raths within the townland.

Figure 3: After 1860 2nd edition OS map, locating sites of retting ponds. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO© Crown copyright. Many of the farms and early settlements, including Loughbrickland, as shown on 19th century maps, still occupy the same sites today. Even with the appearance of organised industry, agriculture remained the primary economic focus of the area from early times until relatively recently. Mixed farming, with an emphasis on pastoralism, was practiced and post-medieval agricultural remains, such as lazy bedding (cultivation ridges) are identifiable.

Medieval Period: c.1200 AD – 1650 AD Possible medieval monuments in this area include the site of Magennis Castle, abandoned by the Magennis family, who later reoccupied the Lough Brickland crannog in the 17th century. The rectangular enclosure at Derrycaw may have represented a medieval settlement site. It is likely that many of the earlier sites in the study area continued to be occupied into the medieval period and that many later farms and hamlets may have been constructed over medieval predecessors.

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Chapter 2 Area 2 Ballintaggart 2.1

Although the limit of excavation did not provide conclusive proof that water or a bog had previously existed to the west, some supporting evidence did survive. At the western extent of the excavation a north to south linear spread of mid grey, compact silt containing organic remains and flecks of charcoal was identified. This was associated with some small sherds of prehistoric pottery which displayed evidence for mineralization due to waterlogging.

Introduction

The excavation site, located in Ballintaggart townland close to the boundary with Brickland townland, was a flattened isthmus or peninsula, (in local dialect an ‘inch’) which had been surrounded in the past by water and/or boggy land. The Brown Bog immediately to the south-west of the site survives today (Figure 4). The nearby lake of Lough Brickland was likely to have been more extensive during the prehistoric period, almost certainly inundating a still boggy area to the east of the site, i.e. the location of the existing A1 (Figure 5). To the south, it appears Brown Bog too was of a greater extent prior to the land drainage schemes of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Figure 5: Map showing likely extent of Lough Brickland and The Brown Bog during the Prehistoric. Figure 4: Area 2, showing surrounding topography (after Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland Discoverer Series Sheet 20). Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO© Crown copyright.

Overall the evidence would suggest that the area lay as a drier isthmus above the lakes or bogs which surrounded it, and was a relatively dry and secure site for the settled farmers of the early Neolithic, the earliest evidenced people to occupy the site.

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alignment and a pair of large pits which may have contained ritual deposits. Altogether, this evidence suggested that the site occupation was extensive, utilising the majority of the area investigated. It is also likely that evidence for further activity may exist outside of the excavation area. Radiocarbon determinations for these features showed that they were most likely to have been contemporary (Figure 8).

Numerous features were uncovered in Area 2: three Neolithic house structures (Plates 1 & 2); a Bronze Age cemetery site (Plates 1, 3 & 4); a pit alignment; isolated pits and postholes; spreads and potential temporary camp-type occupation sites (Figures 6 & 7). It also became apparent, as the excavation progressed, that an area in the northern portion of the site had been severely truncated and/or disturbed in the past. This truncation may have been associated with activity around the modern farm buildings and their development over time (Figures 4 & 5, Plates 1-3). Several drains and the remains of previously removed hedgerows, which cut through the site, were also identified.

Plate 3: View of ring ditches, looking north.

Plate 1: View of Neolithic houses with ring ditches in background, looking east.

Plate 4: View of ring ditches, looking south east. 2.2.1

House 1 was orientated north-east to south-west, measuring 7.2m by 5.7m externally. It had an internal floor area of 6.4m by 4.7m (Figures 6 & 9, Plate 5). The house was formed by four wall slots, the north-west and south-east wall slots being the longest. These two slots had shallow extensions to the north-east and south-west respectively. Two large postholes were identified within the wall slots, in the north-west and south-west corners of the house while several other postholes lay along the edges of the wall slots. Internally there were two substantial postholes which lay along the central axis of the house and were orientated northwest to south-east. A modern drain cut through House 1 diagonally, east to west.

Plate 2: Neolithic houses looking north. 2.2

House 1

Early Neolithic Activity

The earliest occupation of this site was initially identified by the uncovering of three Neolithic house structures (Plates 1 & 2). As excavation work continued other features emerged which were identified as early Neolithic in post-excavation specialist reports. These other features included a pit

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Figure 6: Plan showing phases of activity in area.

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Figure 7: Plan showing archaeology overlaid on road take. Calibrated dates

1000

Years cal BC/AD

0

-1000

-2000

-3000

-4000

Figure 8: Tabulation of Calibrated Radiocarbon Dates.

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Plate 5: House 1, looking northeast.

Figure 9: Post-excavation plan of House 1.

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North-east wall slot The north-east wall slot, C451 (Figures 9-11), was 5.5m long, 0.6m wide and 0.4-0.7m deep. In section it had sharp to gradual top break of slope, vertical to steep sides and a base which varied between concave and “V” shaped. There were two fills within C451, the basal F358 and the upper F458. F458 was irregular, undulating along the length of the wall slot and only partially covered the lower F358. F358 was orange-brown, friable silt, with no visible charcoal content. There were numerous stones in this matrix which ranged from c.0.2-0.4m in diameter and were concentrated to the eastern (outer) side of the slot. Some of the stones were almost rectangular, although they did not appear to have been worked: they may have been deliberately selected and are likely to have been packing stones (Plate 6).

the wall slot which would have corresponded to the inside of the house and probably represents occupation activity. There were numerous associated artefacts from this fill. There were 60 sherds of Neolithic pottery recovered (FN#AE/04/77/158-61, 163-65, 167-68, Figure 12). This represented 14 different vessels: five bowls and nine carinated bowls. There was also a polishing stone (FN#162, AX38.4), three pieces of flint including two struck flakes (FN#166, 171, 264, AX38.5 and AX38.99) and fragments of burnt pig/boar bones (FN#AE/04/77/169).

Figure 10: South-east facing section of C451.

Figure 11: North-west facing section of C451.

Plate 6: Packing stones within wall slot C451, looking south-east. Near the south-east corner of this wall slot were two postholes, C453 and C643 (Figures 13 & 14). These were c.0.8m apart. The wall slot directly east of these postholes was shallow, and sloped away to the north and south (Plate 7). The wall slot in the area between these two postholes contained fewer packing stones than in any other area of the house. Figure 12: Neolithic pottery from F458. C453, the more southerly posthole, had a diameter of 0.5m, with a depth of 0.4m. The cut of C453 was located adjacent to the wall slot C451 (Figure 13). The top break of slope of C453 was sharp and the sides were steep, while the base was relatively flat. It was filled by F452, brown, friable, gritty

The upper fill F458 was black, friable, gritty silt, with a high charcoal content and inclusions of small stones; it did not completely seal F358 and varied from 0.1m to 0.3m in thickness. F458 was located mainly on the western side of

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It is probable that the post which this posthole contained was removed when the slot was dug, and the posthole was then backfilled with the same material as the slot.

silt with a small quantity of charcoal and c.50% unsorted stones. It predated the wall slot, C451, as the wall slot cut through both it and its fill.

North-west wall slot The north-west wall slot, C505 (Figures 15-17), was 8.6m in total length. However, the portion associated with the floor of the house was 7.2m long and the remainder extended north-east of the intersection with C451, the north-east wall slot.

Figure 13: North-west facing section of C451 and C453.

Figure 15: North-east facing section of C505.

Figure 14: North-west facing section of C451 and C643.

Figure 16: North-east facing section of C505.

Figure 17: North-east facing section of C505. In section C505 had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a base which varied between concave and “V” shaped. The width was c.0.6m and the depth 0.4m-0.7m. C505 contained three fills, the lower of which F663 was orangebrown, friable silt, the middle fill, F365, was dark brown, loose, sandy loam and the upper fill, F361 was dark brown, loose sandy loam with charcoal inclusions and a small number of probable packing stones. It is worth noting that while the basal fill of this slot was the same as in the northeast slot, the upper fills had a much lower charcoal content.

Plate 7: Postholes C453 and C643, looking north-west (C453 to left). The second posthole, C643 (Figure 14, Plate 7), was oval in plan (0.58m long and 0.43m wide), orientated north-east to south-west and was 0.35m deep. The top break of slope was not well defined while the slope of the sides was gentle, but irregular. The base of this posthole merged with the cut of the foundation slot. The fill of this posthole, F358, was the same as that of the wall slot, C451, which meant that both wall slot and posthole must have been open at the same time.

F361 contained numerous artefacts: 33 pieces of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/259-63) (representing six bowls and two carinated bowls); there were also two pieces of flint – a burnt struck flake (FN#304 Ax38.108) and a bipolar core

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(FN#304, AX38.109) (FN#AE/04/77/200, 303).

and

some

burnt

Immediately north of posthole C390 was a shallow feature cut at an angle, C388 (Figure 20). It had a diameter of 0.40m and a depth of 0.06m. The deeper end was beside C390, which suggests it may have held a support for the corner post. The fill, F366, was dark red-brown, loose, silty loam, containing occasional flecks of charcoal, small stones, some fragments of bone (FN#AE/04/77/112) and several finds including one sherd of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/115), which was identified as part of a plain bowl, and a burnt broken piece of flint (FN#114 AX38.8).

bone

Figure 18: North-east facing section of C505 and C569. There were two postholes within the wall slot C505: C446 and C390. Posthole C446 was at the mid-point of the wall slot (Figure 17). The cut was circular with a diameter of 0.4m and a depth of 0.36m. It was filled by the basal fill, F663, of C505 and, therefore, it must have been part of the wall within the slot. It probably held a large post which helped to support the rest of the wall. An external posthole C569 (Figure 18) lay immediately north of C446 and outside the wall slot. This posthole was oval in plan, 0.44m x 0.36m, orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.1m. It had a sharp top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a flattish base. It contained a single fill, F568, dark brown, loose, sandy loam. This posthole may have held an external post.

Figure 21: South-east facing section of C478. South-west wall slot The south-west wall slot, C478 (Figure 21), was the same length and width as C451, the north-east wall slot. In section it had a sharp top break of slope, vertical to steep sides and a concave base. The primary fill of the wall slot was a concentration of charcoal and burnt, carbonised wood, F608, which lay north-west to south-east along the inside edge of the feature. Upon excavation the wood was found to survive as four short timbers, F659-F662. Their thickness varied between 0.10m to 0.20m, width 0.05m to 0.20m and surviving length from 0.05m to 0.20m. The timber was identified as oak “from substantial timbers” (Appendix 5a). Above this material was re-deposited subsoil, F574, dark brown-orange, loose, sandy silt, with numerous small stone inclusions, comprising c.40% of its volume. This fill may have been placed to brace the timbers in place, the stones within the fill being packing stones. The upper fill F367 was dark brown, loose sandy silt, with charcoal and some large stone inclusions. Recovered from this were several artefacts: burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/173); a broken burnt flint axe (FN#172, 174 AX38.2, 3); and the broken butt of a porcellanite polished stone axe (FN#246, AX38.1, Plate 8, Figure 22). This fill also contained a single oat grain.

Figure 19: South-east facing section of C390 and C505. The second posthole, C390 (Figure 19), was at the western corner of C505. It had a diameter of 0.22m and a depth of 0.23m, with a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a concave base. There was one fill, F389; dark yellow-grey, loose, silty sand, containing some flecks of charcoal and some small to medium-sized stones; these stones measured between 0.03m-0.10m. This posthole was cut into the main fill (F365) of wall slot C505 and may be evidence for replacement of the corner post.

Only one posthole, C545 (Figure 23), was found within this wall slot. It lay at the south-west corner and was circular with a diameter of 0.3m and a depth of 0.5m. It had a sharp top break of slope, nearly vertical sides and a concave base. F368, the fill of C545, was a black to dark brown, friable, silty loam, surrounding the remains of a burnt oak post (Appendix 5a). There were packing stones within the cut of the posthole. Red patches in the fill, caused by localised heating, confirmed in-situ burning. This was further supported by the presence of burnt daub (FN#AE/04/77/126). As with the posthole found at the

Figure 20: North-east facing section of C505 and C388.

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South-east wall slot The south-east wall slot, C464 (Figures 24 and 25), was 8.9m long, had a width of 0.30m to 0.35m and a depth of 0.65m. However, the portion associated with the floor of the house was 7m long and the remainder extended south-west of the intersection with C478, the south-west wall slot.

northwest corner of this slot, C390, this posthole was cut into the main fill of the wall slot and may also be evidence for post replacement. F368 contained several fragments of burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/127) and a sherd of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/128). A second sherd belonging to the same bowl was found in F603. F603 was a spread 0.50m x 0.35m with a depth of 0.01m. It was found 1.50m south-west of the corner of the south-west wall slot and was grey-brown mottled clay, with flecks of charcoal and containing a sherd of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/179). This feature was the result of down-slope outwash, into a natural depression after the house was abandoned.

Figure 24: South-west facing section of C464.

Figure 25: South-west facing section of C464. In section it had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a base which varied between concave and “V” shaped. The basal fill F463, was light brown-yellow, friable, sandy silt, with 10-15% stone inclusions ranging in size from 0.10m to 0.20m. Fill F462 overlay F463 and was dark brown friable, silty loam, with frequent large inclusions of charcoal and charcoal staining. This fill was not found along the entire length of the slot but occurring in patches of varying depths. It was similar to F608, identified in the south-west wall slot. Fill F460 overlay F462, and was dark brown, compact, silty sand, with some stone inclusions and charcoal as flecks. It contained fragments of hazelnut shell (FN#AE/04/77/155) and six sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/156, Plate 9). The upper fill, F369, was brown, compact, silty sand, with occasional flecks of charcoal and evidence of packing stones (Figure 37). Within this fill were eight sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/154) and hazelnut shell (FN#AE/04/77/263). F460 was found principally along the outer edge of the wall slot.

Plate 8: Porcellanite axe from F367.

Figure 22: Porcellanite axe from F367.

A posthole was uncovered within the south-western end of the south-east wall slot. The cut, C602 (Figure 26), was oval, 0.18m long and 0.14m wide, orientated north-east to south-west with a depth of 0.15m. It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flattish base. It contained a single fill, F601, which was medium brown, soft silt. This posthole predated the construction of the wall slot, as the basal fill (F463) of the wall slot lay over the fill of this posthole.

Figure 23: South-west facing section of C478 and C545.

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which sloped slightly to the west. It was filled by F342, grey-brown, friable, sandy clay with flecks of charcoal and stone inclusions. There were several unidentifiable prehistoric pottery sherds within the fill (FN#AE/04/77/270). The reason for this posthole being in this location is unknown, but its proximity to House 1 suggests that the two were contemporary.

Figure 28: North facing section of posthole C430. Plate 9: Neolithic bowl sherd from F460.

Figure 26: South-west facing section of C602, C464.

Figure 27: South-west facing section of wall slot C464 and posthole C387. At the north-eastern end of the south-east wall slot was an external posthole, C387 (Figure 27, Plate 10). In plan it was roughly circular with a diameter of 0.6m and a depth of 0.25m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flattish base with a slight slope to the north. The position and slope of base suggests this may have held a supporting post for the corner of the building. It contained two fills, the lower, F394, and the upper, F360. F394 was light brown, compact, silty clay, with charcoal and stone inclusions, measuring between 0.10m and 0.20m. The upper fill, F360, was dark brown, friable, silty sand with charcoal inclusions and a large number of packing stones measuring between 0.10m and 0.35m. There was also one find, a sherd of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/270).

Plate 10: Wall slot C464 during excavation, showing packing stones and posthole C387 to left, looking southwest.

A second external feature was located 2m south of posthole C387 (Figure 28). C430 was a shallow pit with a subcircular cut 0.48m x 0.46m, with a depth of 0.23m. It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flattish base

Internal postholes Within the house were two internal postholes, C570 and C385. These lay along the central north-west to south-east axis of the house. The most southerly was posthole C570

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The second internal posthole, C385 (Figure 30, Plate 11) lay c.2.20m north-west of C570, was oval in plan and orientated on the same alignment. The posthole was 0.52m x 0.28m with a depth of 0.15m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. There were three associated fills, F392, the basal fill which was found in patches over the base: it was soft, grey silt with charcoal flecks. F393 overlay F392 and was friable, light yellow, sandy silt with charcoal flecks. The upper fill, F370 sealed both basal fills and was loose, brown-black silty sand, with frequent charcoal flecks. There were also two large angular stones, 0.20-0.25m within this fill which were probably packing stones. Fill F393 contained a burnt and broken flint end scraper (FN#264, AX38.70) and several burnt and broken pieces of flint (FN#273, AX38.7).

(Figures 29, Plate 11), which was sub-rectangular in plan, 0.85m x 0.51m, orientated north-west to south-east, with a depth of 0.3m. It had a sharp top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a concave base. It was filled by F371, orange-brown, loose, sandy silt containing several large packing stones.

Figure 29: West facing section of C570.

Modern drain A modern stone-filled drain, C664, ran through the centre of the house and cut the wall slot. It was 1m wide, 0.2m deep, and aligned north-west to south-east. It contained a single fill (F665) of brown, friable, silty loam with quantities of unsorted small and large stones. The drain cut both the south-east and south-west wall slots but as it was relatively shallow the wall slot survived below. Figure 30: West facing section of central posthole C385.

Discussion of House 1 The house was predated by three postholes: C453, C602 and C643. These postholes may have been associated with its construction: however, the reason for their positioning was unclear. It is possible that they may have held posts which were used as markers during the construction of the house. Posthole C602 may have held a post which marked the south-west corner of the building while it is possible that postholes C453 and C643 may have held posts which were used as a guide for the placement of a doorway. The small quantity of packing stone and the shallowness of the house wall slot to the east of these postholes suggest that even though a slot was dug, no wall was placed within the slot. It is likely that a gap within the wall was used as a doorway and any door, if it existed, was supported by timbers within the wall slots to either side of this gap. There was no evidence for a hearth but as with all of the archaeological features in this area, 0.3m of topsoil was removed before the archaeological material was uncovered. We can assume that the ground surface utilised by the inhabitants of this house was the surface of the topsoil and as this ground surface was disturbed by later agricultural activity prior to removal during archaeological monitoring any evidence for a hearth would have been destroyed. The house itself was formed from a north-east to south-west orientated rectangle of wall slots with linear extensions to the north-east and south-west (C451, C464, C478 and C505), three supporting postholes within the wall slots (C390, C446

Plate 11: Internal postholes C385 and C570, looking southeast.

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and C545), two internal supporting postholes (C385 and C570) and three additional external supports (C387, C388 and C569). Of these postholes, C390 and C545 post-dated the construction of the wall slots and are evidence of later replacement/repair to the house. It is also probable that the internal postholes C385 and C570 had been replaced, as although no direct evidence exists for multiple post pipes, their size and shape was incongruous with a single-use posthole.

(O’Nuallain, 1972). The sites at Tankardstown, Co. Limerick (Gowen & Tarbett, 1988), Ballyharry, Co. Antrim (O’Neill, 2004) and Claish, Stirling (Barclay et al, 2002) showed a second phase of building after the burning event, though there was no evidence for this being the case here. Thomas (2004) states that when compared with the small number of European Bandkeramik Neolithic houses which appear to have been deliberately destroyed, the large number of Neolithic houses destroyed in Britain and Ireland was either a sign of uncommon carelessness or was in fact, and more probably, a deliberate ritual tradition. The idea of ritual traditions in destruction has also been put forward by both Topping (1996) and Tringham (1991). Topping suggests that the demolition was a final sacrificial ritual, giving the house to the gods; Tringham, however, believes that the destruction occurred when the head of a household died. In incidences where the houses were rebuilt we can assume that there was continuity in habitation and, therefore, the idea of a household member dying would seem more likely. In instances where the house was not replaced then its use as ritual sacrifice seems more likely. There is not, however, enough evidence to categorically support either interpretation for this house.

The surviving burnt timbers and the depth of the wall slot suggest that the house was probably constructed from split timbers which were held in place by the stone packing and re-deposited subsoil. The clay found within fill F368 provided evidence that gaps between the timbers were packed with clay to help weatherproof the building. The function of the north-east and south-west extensions was unclear, they may have been additional structures attached to the house, a windbreak for the corners of the house or a leanto shed of some sort. The only parallel for this was at Ballygalley (Simpson, 1996) where a similar feature was noted at the north-east corner of House 1. The exterior postholes may have held posts used as bracing for the walls.

The upper fills of the wall slots and postholes contained material from the house’s habitation. Artefacts from the lower fills provided evidence for deliberate ritual deposition, notably the broken porcellanite axe in the eastern wall. Deliberate deposition of high status artefacts has been identified at a number of sites including Ronaldsway, Malew (Bruce et al, 1947), Ballygalley, Co. Antrim (Simpson, 1996) and Ballyharry, Co. Antrim (O’Neill, 2004). All artefacts were consistent with an Early Neolithic date.

The central postholes of the house probably served two purposes: they would have provided additional support to a probable A-frame roof structure and may also have divided the house in two, with the posts supporting a partition wall. A structural framework identical to this was found at Tankardstown, Co. Limerick (Gowen & Tarbett, 1988) and similar frameworks can be seen at a number of sites including Ballyglass, Co. Mayo (O’Nuallain, 1972), Newtown, Co. Meath (Gowen & Halpin, 1992), Drummenny Lower, Co. Donegal (Dunne, 2003) and Ballynagilly, Co. Tyrone (Apsimon, 1969). The doorway appears to have been on the south-east corner of the north-east wall. The evidence supporting this was the lack of stone packing within the wall slot and the shallowness of the wall slot cut at this point. No supporting posts were noted but it is possible that any door, if it existed, was supported by the wall struts.

A total of nine lithics were recovered: five of these were primary knapped flakes and pieces, while the secondary/modified artefacts were a broken flint blade, the broken end of a flint axe, a porcellanite axe and a sandstone hammer stone (Appendix 1a). There were 118 sherds of pottery recovered, representing 34 different bowls (Appendix 2a). Stylistically, these vessels were of the Western Neolithic tradition dating from 4100-3650 BC.

There was evidence that at least part of the house burnt down as there were in-situ burnt wall timbers and posts, and a large quantity of charcoal staining. The north-east wall slot, C451, had the greatest quantity of charcoal within its fills and as such must have suffered a higher level of burning than the other wall slots. The evidence available did not indicate whether this was an accidental or deliberate act by the inhabitants, or caused by the actions of others. Many other Neolithic sites have displayed evidence of burning, including Balbridie, Aberdeenshire (Ralston, 1982), Ballygalley, Co. Antrim (Simpson, 1996) and Ballyglass, Co. Mayo

Only two bone fragments recovered from the house were identifiable, a femoral head and part of a cranial vault (Appendix 3). The femoral head was from a pig or wild boar, while the cranial vault could not be attributed to a particular species. The osteoarchaeologist speculated that it may have been human but this could not be confirmed. The consumption of pig or wild boar was identified: unfortunately, as it was not possible to differentiate between pig and wild boar it could not be ascertained whether this was due to animal husbandry or hunting. The cranial vault was found within the fill of one of the earliest features of the

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house (C453) and, if it was human, may have been part of a token ritual deposit. The presence of an oat grain within the south-west wall slot and an impression from a grain of wheat on one of the pottery vessels suggest that the inhabitants of House 1 were growing crops (Appendix 2d). The presence of hazelnut shells shows that traditional hunter-gatherer practices were also occurring.

Figure 31: North facing section of C527.

The radiocarbon determination for House 1 produced a measurement of 4850±50BP (Beta-213591), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 3710 to 3620 cal BC and 3590 to 3530 cal BC (Figure 8 & Appendix 7). These dates place this house at the end of the early Neolithic. 2.2.2

House 2

Figure 32: South facing section of C527.

The second Neolithic house was in the middle of the group of three and was the furthest east (Figure 35, Plate 12). The preservation of this house, in terms of depth of cut, was less than that of House 1. This house was orientated east to west and was the largest of the group, (measuring 9.2m x 6.4m externally) with an internal floor area of 7.65m x 4.45m. As with House 1, it was formed by four wall slots and had two large internal postholes. The wall slots were dug to the same profile as those of House 1. Within these wall slots were a number of postholes, two of which were large and were found immediately north and south of the internal postholes. There were several external postholes, one at each corner of the building and several others around the exterior. A gap in the south-east corner of the south wall slot may have been an entrance. The house was bisected, north to south, by a shallow modern field boundary.

There were two external postholes (C286 and C529) and one internal (C482) posthole associated with this wall slot. C286 and C529 lay to the south of the wall slot, while C482 lay to the north. C286 (Figure 33) lay 0.6m to the south of the southern terminal of wall slot (C527) and directly in line with its central axis. It was oval in plan, 0.6m x 0.5m, orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.3m. It had a sharp top break of slope to the north and gradual to the south. The slope of the northern side was vertical and the southern was gentle, the base was flattish. There was evidence of animal burrowing disturbance at the southern edge of the posthole cut. It was filled by F280, light brown, friable, sandy silt which contained a small quantity of charcoal flecks and several medium sized stones.

East wall slot The east wall slot, C527 (Figures 31 and 32), was 6.4m long and 0.7m wide with a depth which varied from 0.15m to 0.19m. There were four fills within C527, the basal fills F572, F528 and F571, and the upper fill F411. The basal fills were all re-deposited subsoil mixed with stones, the variation of which was probably due to natural changes in subsoil geology rather than deliberate intent and were likely to have been packing for the walls. The upper fill F411 was dark brown, friable, sandy peat, with a little charcoal flecking. The only artefact recovered from this area was a sherd of post-medieval pottery which was found lying on the stripped ground surface level above F571. As this was on the surface of the subsoil it can be considered to be a topsoil find that must have been deposited by modern disturbance, probably during topsoil stripping.

Figure 33: East facing section of C286.

Figure 34: South facing section of C529.

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Plate 12: House 2, looking south-east.

Figure 35: Post-excavation plan of House 2.

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C471 contained two fills, F533 and F565. The basal fill, F533, was orange-brown, loose sandy silt, with flecks of charcoal. It contained 33 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/140, 144, 150, 206), one piece of burnt flint (FN#AE/04/77/145) and also some burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/346). This fill extended along most of the length of the wall slot and was only missing from a small area 0.4m long, 2m from its eastern terminal. In this area it was replaced by F565, grey-brown, compact sandy clay with occasional flecks of charcoal.

C529 (Figure 34) lay 0.4m to the north of the northern terminal of wall slot (C527) and was also directly in line with its central axis. It was oval in plan (1m x 0.45m), orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.25m. It had a sharp top break of slope at the east and west, and gradual at the north and south. The slopes of the sides were steep to the east and west, and gentle to the north and south; the base was slightly concave. It was filled by F431, soft, brown silt, which had a moderate charcoal content, mainly in the upper portion of the fill. The fill contained eight sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/121), from two bowls (Appendix 2a).

Above fills F333 and F565 was F532, black, loose sandy silt containing a high concentration of charcoal. It extended the length of the wall slot. This fill contained burnt wood (FN#AE/04/77/132), 40 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/136, 139, 148, 204), some unidentifiableburnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/141) and a quantity of hazelnut shell (FN#AE/04/77/147).

C482 (Figure 36) lay immediately to the west of the eastern wall slot. It was oval in plan, 0.35m x 0.2m, orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.25m. It was filled by F481, dark brown, friable, sandy silt, with a high charcoal content. It contained two finds: a slender flint blade (FN#111 AX38.20) and a broken portion of a flint blade (AX38.21), it is probable that the flint blade was a ritual deposit as it appeared to be unused.

Within F532 were two lenses: F562 and F564, these appeared to have been formed by a localised burning event. F562 was orange-brown burnt and oxidised clay silt which contained occasional, very small burnt stones. This material was probably burnt daub and was similar to material recovered from House 1. F564 was fine black ashy silt containing a lot of charcoal and may have been the remains of burnt timber, formerly the wall structure. Cutting F533 was an oval stakehole, C548 (Figure 39). It measured, 0.15m x 0.13m, and was orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.11m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base and was filled by F547, very dark brown, loose sandy silt with a high concentration of charcoal. It contained a single sherd of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/132). This stakehole post-dated the wall slot and may have been evidence for a later repair.

Figure 36: South facing section of C482 and C527. North wall slot The north wall slot C471 (Figures 37 and 38), was the least truncated. It was 8.6m long, 0.4-0.5m wide and 0.3-0.4m deep. At its west end it continued for 0.4m beyond the point at which it met the west slot. The wall slot had a central posthole, C576.

Figure 37: East facing section of C471.

Figure 39: West facing section of stakehole C548, within C471. The upper fill of the wall slot, F372, was brown, friable loamy soil and was much the same as the topsoil covering the site, apart from its relatively high charcoal content. It contained a small quantity of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/137), 38 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#138, 143, 149 and 177), four sherds of Bronze Age

Figure 38: East facing section of C471.

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very similar to F372, brown, friable loamy soil with a relatively high charcoal content. It contained some small sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/201) and a broken, worked flint flake (FN#334, AX38.39). It is possible that this pit once contained an angled support post for the wall.

pottery (FN#138), several pieces of burnt flint (FN#AE/04/77/344) and a modern iron object (FN#AE/04/77/350). The mixed nature of finds suggested that this upper fill had been disturbed on at least one occasion during prehistory and with the discovery of the iron object, at least once relatively recently. Its appearance suggested that this fill was the boundary layer between the heavily disturbed ploughed topsoil and the intact archaeological material.

Figure 41: East facing section of C576 and C577. West wall slot The western wall slot, C467, was 5.70m long, 0.80m to 0.90m wide and 0.25m to 0.29m deep (Figures 42 and 43). The base was flattish but irregular and had a narrow, linear, north to south ridge occurring in short sections along its length. This ridge was associated with a second cut into the wall slot, C303.

Figure 40: East facing section of C576, showing stakehole C584. The wall slot contained one posthole, C576 (Figure 40) and was associated with one external posthole, C577. C576 was 0.85m in diameter and 0.40m deep. It was aligned north to south with the internal postholes (C444 and C445), the posthole within the south wall slot (C546) and an external posthole immediately north (C577). The basal fill, F580, occurred as a thin layer and was dark grey, loose silt which contained a small quantity of charcoal. Above this fill was F533, the main fill of the northern wall slot, described above.

Figure 42: South facing section of C467 and C506. Cut through fill F533 was C584, a small stakehole (Figure 40). It was 0.03m in diameter and 0.09m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope and steep sides which tapered to a “V” shaped base. It was filled by F583, orange sandy silt with a high concentration of charcoal. The purpose of this stakehole was unclear. Above C584 and also within F533 was F402, dark brown to black, loose silt with a 10% charcoal content. It had a diameter of 0.15m and a depth of 0.25m. The shape of this fill suggested that this was the void left by a post which rotted in-situ and was then filled in by material filtering in from the surrounding fills. It contained four pieces of burnt flint (FN#175, AX38.37) and five sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/176 and 178) which were from two carinated bowls (Appendix 2a). Sealing this posthole was F372.

Figure 43: South facing section of C467, C672 and C303. The wall slot had two basal fills, F468 and F530. F468 was grey, loose sandy silt flecked with charcoal which occurred in small patches throughout the length of the slot. It contained seven sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/215), a broken quartz scalar flake (FN#216, AX38.35) and a small quantity of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/217). F530 was above fill F468, where it occurred, forming the basal fill of the remaining areas of the wall slot, and was principally found on the eastern edge. F530 was orange-brown, friable sandy silt, containing a small amount of charcoal flecks, and large number of packing stones. It contained four pieces of burnt, broken

The external pit, C577 (Figure 41), lay 0.06m north-east of the wall slot. It was oval in plan, (0.95m x 0.55m), orientated north to south, and 0.15m deep and had a gradual top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a concave base. F401 was the basal fill. It was orange, loose sandy silt: probably re-deposited subsoil. The upper fill, F586, was

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F439, was dark brown, friable sandy silt with a high charcoal content which contained a single sherd of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/134). This posthole may have held a timber which helped support the roof at this corner of the building: however, in the absence of further evidence it is difficult to be definitive on this point.

As with the eastern wall slot (C286 and C529) there were two external postholes at the north and south ends of the slot, C544 and C560 respectively.

Figure 46: West facing section of C560. C560 (Figure 46) lay 0.60m south of the southern corner of the wall slot and was oval in plan, 1.20m x 0.90m, orientated east to west, with a depth from 0.15-0.30m. It had a gradual top break of slope, the slope of the sides varied between steep and gentle and the base was concave, and sloped from south to north. The slope of the base suggests that the post it held may have been angled toward the house. It was filled by F435, brown, friable silty clay and a number of probable larger packing stones. The fill contained a sherd of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/129), unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/130) and a piece of burnt flint (FN#133, AX38.38).

Figure 48: South facing section of C567. South wall slot The south wall slot C476 (Figures 49-52), was 7m long, 0.64m wide and 0.23m deep. It had a large posthole in the centre, C546, and a break in its eastern corner which may have been the house’s entrance.

Figure 49: East facing section of C476.

Figure 47: West facing section of C544. The second posthole, C544 (Figure 47), lay 0.70m north of the north corner of the wall slot and had a diameter of 0.60m and a depth of 0.25m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base which sloped slightly north to south. As with posthole C560, this suggests that the post it held was angled towards the house. C544 contained three fills: the basal fill, F542 was light brown-yellow, loose sandy silt. F542 was overlain by F543, dark grey, friable silt with occasional flecks of charcoal. It contained four sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/122). The upper fill, F432, was loose, brown silt which contained many plant roots.

Figure 50: East facing section of C476.

Figure 51: East facing section of C476.

The last feature associated with the west wall slot was the third external posthole, C567 (Figure 48). This posthole lay c.1.20m west of the southern corner of the wall slot and was heavily truncated (0.34m x 0.27m), orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.10m. It had a gradual top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. The lower fill, F566, was mottled orange-brown, loose sandy silt while the upper fill,

The wall slot contained two fills: the basal fill, F507, was orange-brown, compact, charcoal sandy clay, which contained occasional charcoal flecks; the upper fill, F409, was mottled orange to dark brown sandy clay with a high charcoal content, which also contained some angular stone inclusions, and patches of burnt red clay and sand. The artefacts recovered from this fill were: five sherds of

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internal postholes, C444 and C445, and the posthole in the northern wall slot, C576 (discussed above). The posthole, C546, had a diameter of 0.85m and a depth 0.37m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides, a concave base and was filled by F409, the upper fill of the wall slot.

Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/142), from a bowl and a carinated vessel; 31 pieces of burnt flint (FN#146 AX38.15 and FN#186 AX 38.36); a broken flint flake (AX38.16); three struck flint flakes (AX38.17 and AX38:19); a flint plano-convex knife (AX38.18, Figure 53, Plate 14); three bipolar quartz cores (FN#187 AX38.23); a single hazelnut shell (FN#AE/04/77/183); and eight fragments of pig/wild boar bones. There was also a sherd of modern pottery (FN#AE/04/77/181) recovered from the surface of the fill and was likely to have been intrusive, possibly having become embedded during the topsoil stripping phase.

Figure 54: East facing section of C546. Internal postholes As in House 1, there were two internal postholes, C444 and C445. The more southerly was C444 (Figure 55): it was oval in plan, (0.95m x 0.54m), orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.30m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It was filled by F426, loose, brown-orange sandy silt with a high charcoal content and some stone inclusions. It contained several finds: 10 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE0/4/77/11) from four bowls and one carinated bowl; a small number of fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/117); two polishing stones (FN#118 AX38.11) (one of quartz, the other of sandstone); and three pieces of flint, including a damaged blade (FN#119 AX38.12), a burnt scraper (AX38.13) and a burnt debitage flake (AX38.14). A final interesting artefact was a smooth sandstone pebble with a polished black coating on one half (FN# 120 AX38.11). This residue may have been birch tar, a hafting material, which was also identified on a blade from the isolated pit C69; unfortunately there was not enough residue to confirm this hypothesis.

Figure 52: East facing section of C476.

Plate 14: Plano-convex knife from C476, F40.

Figure 55: West facing section of C444. The second internal posthole, C445 (Figure 56), was 2.6m north of C444. It was oval in plan (1m x 0.56m), orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.23m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It was filled by F425, brown, compact, stony clay with charcoal flecks. It contained a number of fragments of Neolithic pottery, which were too small for detailed identification (FN#AE/04/77/108), some unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/106), 18 pieces of burnt flint (FN#107 AX38.10), a single struck flint flake and a shattered flint

Figure 53: Plano-convex knife from C476, F409. At the mid point of the wall slot, C476, was posthole C546 (Figure 54), which was aligned north to south with the two

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structural framework to other Neolithic houses previously excavated (see discussion for House 1). However, the house which it most resembled was that at Ballyglass, Co. Mayo (O’Nuallain 1972) as it also had external corner postholes.

blade in two parts (FN#109 AX38.9) and a burnishing stone (FN#110 AX38.8).

As with House 1, the upper fills contained artefacts from its habitation while artefacts from the lower fills, including an unused flint blade, provided evidence for possible deliberate ritual deposition. Again, all artefacts were consistent with an Early Neolithic date.

Figure 56: East facing section of C445.

A total of 58 lithics were recovered, 47 of these were primary technology: struck flint and quartz flakes, cores and debitage (Appendix 1a). These provided evidence that knapping was occurring in close proximity to or actually within this house. The secondary/modified artefacts were three retouched flakes, two knives, a scraper, a leaf shaped arrowhead and four polishing stones. Of these polishing stones one was half covered in a shiny black residue, this residue was similar to that found on a flint blade from a pit 25m to the south (C69) and was identified as birch tar (Appendix 1d). This tar was generally used as a hafting material. However, as the black residue was burnished it suggests that it was unlikely that this particular artefact was ever hafted. The black polished surface may have formed as a result of the stone’s use. Possibly it was used in part of the process of tar manufacture, or it may simply have been a decorative feature. There were 178 sherds of pottery recovered, representing 37 different bowls (Appendix 2a). As with House 1, these were stylistically of the Western Neolithic tradition.

Modern field boundary A former field boundary, C561, ran north to south cutting through both the north and south wall slots of House 2. Its width was c.1m, and the depth varied between 0.23m and 0.44m. It was filled by F671, grey-brown, loose, stony clayey silt. The depth of this cut was greater than that of the north wall slot C471. Discussion of House 2 House 2 was the largest house of the three, lay 10m northeast of House 1, and was formed by an east to west orientated rectangle of wall slots (C467, C471, C476 and C527). It did not, however, have the two linear extensions. There were several supporting postholes within the wall slots (C506, C546, C548, C575, C576, C585 and C672), two internal supporting postholes (C444 and C445), a supporting posthole at each exterior corner (C286, C529, C560 and C544) and two further exterior supporting postholes (C567 and C577). In addition there was an internal posthole (C482), the purpose of which was unclear. Of these postholes C506, C548, C575, C585 and C672 post-dated the construction of the wall slots and provided evidence of later replacement/repair. As with House 1, it is probable that the internal postholes C444 and C445 had been replaced as their size and shape was incongruous with a single use posthole. The four corner postholes were of similar shape and so may also have been replaced. A gap in the south wall slot at its east end may have represented the position of a doorway. As with House 1, the absence of a hearth was not surprising as again the original ground surface would have been above the excavated level.

Eight bone fragments were identifiable: as in House 1 these were all from pig or wild boar and were five vertebral bones, a rib, a scapula and a femur shaft. Three seed impressions were found on recovered pottery vessels (Appendix 2d). Two of these were apple pips, the third a small fruit stone, possibly that of Prunus spinosa L., the Blackthorn or Sloe. A radiocarbon determination for House 2 produced a measurement of 4850±70BP (Beta-213590), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 3770 to 3510 cal BC (Figure 8 and Appendix 7). This date overlaps with those obtained from the first house: this, combined with the fact that the house respects the first house, suggests that they were contemporary structures.

The general shape and design of this house was the same as House 1. As with House 1, the wall slots would have held upright split timbers, braced with stone packing and redeposited subsoil. The burnt clay also suggests that the gaps in the timbers in this house were packed with clay. The central axis of postholes would once again have held posts to support an A-framed roof. The only major difference between this house and the first house was the corner support postholes. Presumably these postholes held posts which supported an overhanging roof or helped to brace the gables. Unlike House 1, House 2 displayed no evidence for a major burning event. As with House 1, House 2 was similar in

2.2.3

House 3

The third house lay 10m north-west of House 2. It was the most severely truncated and, therefore, the archaeological material survived only intermittently. The south-west corner was missing completely, the result of disturbance by a modern field drain. This house was on the same orientation

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two fills, F605 and F604. F605 was the basal fill and was loose, light brown, sandy silt with some charcoal flecking. The upper fill, F604, was dark brown, friable silt with a high charcoal content and contained three sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/243).

as House 1, i.e. north-east to south-west. It measured 8.5m x 5.9m externally and had an internal floor area of 7.6m x 4.8m. As with the other two houses it was formed by four wall slots and had two internal postholes. Where the wall slots survived to a significant depth their profiles were the same as the other two houses. Within the wall slots were two postholes. There were also four external postholes, two of which were corner postholes, one at the north-east and one at the south-east corner (Figure 61, Plate 15).

C616 (Figure 59) was located 0.30m north-west of the northwest corner. It was oval in plan (0.46m x 0.40m), orientated north-east to south-west, with a maximum depth of 0.35m. C616 had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flattish base. It was filled by F588, dark brown, friable loam, with a high charcoal content and a number of possible packing stones within its matrix.

North-east wall slot The northeast wall slot, C587 (Figure 57), was 4.40m long, 0.20m to 0.40m wide and had a maximum depth of 0.17m. The basal fill, F582, was light brown, compact sandy silt which contained some charcoal flecking and produced five sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/242). The upper fill, F581, was dark brown, loose silt, with a high charcoal content – some of the charcoal survived as small pieces c.0.05m x 0.05m. This fill contained 20 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/244).

North-west wall slot The north-west wall slot, C619 survived as a broken chain of features, 6.40m long, 0.20-0.35m wide and up to 0.21m deep. It was filled by F590, firm, orange-brown silty clay which contained flecks of charcoal. Lying 3m from the north-east corner of the wall slot was a large posthole, C614 (Figure 60). It lay within the wall slot, was oval (0.74m x 0.44m), and orientated north-east to south-west, with a depth of 0.22m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides, and a flat base and was filled by F589, mottled light grey-orange, friable, coarse-grained sandy silt containing flecks of charcoal.

Figure 57: South-east facing section of C587.

Figure 60: South-east facing section of C614 and C675. C675 (Figure 60) was another large posthole which lay immediately to the north of C614, the two cuts merging at their meeting point. It was oval, 0.80m x 0.44m, orientated north-east to south-west, with a depth of 0.22m and had a sharp top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a concave base. As with C614, it was also filled by F589, and so must have been open at the same time and indeed it is probable that C614 and C675 were the cuts for contemporary paired posts.

Figure 58: North-west facing section of C606.

South-west wall slot The south-west wall slot, C613 (Figure 62), was mostly destroyed by the same modern field boundary which intersected House 2, C561. The slot survived to a length of 2m and was 0.20m wide with a maximum depth of 0.15m. It had moderate top break of slope, gradually sloping sides and a base which varied between flattish and concave. C613 was filled by F597, orange-brown, friable sandy silt which contained a few flecks of charcoal.

Figure 59: North-west facing section of C616. At the south-east and north-east corners of this wall slot were two postholes, C606 and C616 respectively. C606 (Figure 58) lay 0.20m south-east of the south-eastern corner, and had a diameter of 0.22m and a depth of 0.20m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flattish base. It contained

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Plate 15: House 3, looking south-east.

Figure 61: Post-excavation plan of House 3.

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Figure 62: South-east facing section of C613.

Figure 65: South facing section of C622.

South-east wall slot The south-east wall slot C615 (Figure 63) was destroyed to the south-west by a modern field boundary, C561. It survived to a length of 5.20m, varied between 0.09m to 0.27m in width, with a maximum depth of 0.09m. C615 had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It was filled by F599, dark grey, loose gritty silt with a high charcoal content and some angular pebbles.

Internal postholes As with the other two houses there were two central postholes, C611 and C612. The more southerly, C611 (Figure 66), was sub-circular in plan, (0.54m x 0.46m), orientated north-west to south-east, with a depth of 0.13m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base. It was filled by F595, brown, loose silt containing some charcoal and a single large stone. The other internal posthole, C612 (Figure 67), lay 2m further to the north-west and was oval in plan, 0.78m x 0.5m, orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.20m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base and was filled by F592, dark brown, compact silty loam with a high charcoal content. C612 also contained a few stones, which may have been packing stones.

Figure 63: South-west facing section of C615. In the centre of the wall slot was posthole C620 (Figure 64), 0.34m in diameter with a depth of 0.16m. It contained two fills, F621 and F673. The basal fill, F673: was orangebrown, compact sandy silt, which contained a number of subrounded stones; occupied the base and the southern half of the cut. F673 was overlain by F621; grey-black, loose sandy silt, with a high charcoal content which occupied the northern half of the cut. F621 was most likely a post pipe, the post having been burnt and decayed in situ, with F673 having acted as the packing for the post.

Figure 66: South-west facing section of C611.

Figure 67: South-west facing section of C612. In the north-east corner of the posthole was a small stakehole, C674 (Figure 68). It had a diameter of 0.10m and a depth of 0.10m, and was also filled by F592. It may have been part of an otherwise unidentified internal division or a support for the main post C612.

Figure 64: South facing section of C620. Immediately south-east of posthole C620 was a roughly circular external posthole, C622 (Figure 65) with a diameter varying from 0.33-0.39m and a depth of 0.25m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides which were in places slightly stepped, and a flat base. It was filled by F623, black, loose peaty silt, which had a very high charcoal content and contained several large sub-rounded stones, which were probably packing stones for a post.

Figure 68: North facing section of C612 and C674.

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Discussion of House 3 The third house lay 10m to the north-east of House 2 and 20m north of House 1. Truncation had destroyed much of the evidence for the structure of the house. Even so, the surviving features suggested a structure similar to both of the other houses. It was formed from a north-east to south-west orientated rectangle of wall slots (C587, C613, C615 and C619), two supporting postholes within the wall slot (C614 and C620), two internal postholes (C611 and C612), supporting postholes at the north-east and south-east corners (C606 and C616) and two other exterior supporting postholes (C622 and C675). With the corner supporting posts and lack of linear extensions, House 3 was closer in character to House 2 than to House 1. The general shape and design of the house was similar to House 2. Plate 17: Pottery from spread F378.

Fourteen sherds of pottery, representing five vessels were recovered (Appendix 2a). As with the other houses, they were consistent with the Western Neolithic tradition. No other artefacts were recovered from the house. Of the excavated fills, none produced sufficient quantities of charcoal to allow the production of a radiocarbon determination. However, based on the pottery typology, the similarity of its size to the other houses and the fact that it respected the other two houses, it can be confidently dated to the same period and was probably a contemporary structure. 2.2.4

Midden

Immediately to the north of House 3 there was a large spread of material overlying a posthole (C469) and a pit (C479) A third pit (C656) lay immediately east of the spread (Figures 6 and 73, Plate 16). A modern field drain, C396, cut through this area. Figure 69: Pottery from spread F378.

The upper spread, F378, was 20m x 15m, orientated north to south, and it continued to the west, beyond the boundary of the excavation area. It had a maximum depth of 0.10m. The spread was black silt mottled with paler grey patches and had a high charcoal content. This fill contained a large quantity of artefacts which were spread throughout its matrix. There were 351 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/252258, 266-268, 291 and 320, Figure 69, Plate 17), several pieces of flint: a broken blade in two pieces (FN#282 AX38.99); two burnt fragments (FN#283 AX38.84); five scalar flakes (FN#283 AX38.85); four debitage fragments (FN#283 AX38.86); three bipolar cores (FN#283 AX38.87); a broken struck flake (FN#283 AX38.88, 8); flint fragments (FN#286 AX38.96 and FN#292 AX38.83); a burnt flake (FN#321.AX38.100); a broken blade (FN#322 AX38.98); and a burnt flint fragment (FN#228 AX38.25), six pieces of worked quartz including a scalar flake (FN#229 AX38.24 and FN#287 AX38.97) and a quantity of burnt hazelnut shell (FN#AE/04/77/278 and 280).

A small lens, F391, was found within F378. It was circular with a diameter of 0.35m and a depth of 0.35m. It was a fine, silty ash with orange flecking. It contained 1.2g of burnt bone, which was identified as parts of two adult human ribs (Appendix 3). F391 also produced nine sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/295). Below F378 was another spread, F447, similar in size to, and sealed by, F378. It was firm, grey silty sand containing ash, flecks of charcoal and some stone inclusions. The depth of this fill varied between 0.02m and 0.10m and it produced 16 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/281 and 288, Plate 18, Appendix 2a). C469 (Figure 70) was roughly circular with a diameter of 0.30m to 0.35m and a depth of 0.25m. The top break of slope was sharp, and it had steep sides and a flat base. It was filled by F470; grey, friable sandy silt which contained small

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quantities of charcoal as chunks, and some stone inclusions which may have been packing stones.

Figure 71: West facing section of C479.

Figure 72: West facing section of C656. Discussion of Midden As the spread, pits and posthole were in close proximity to the Neolithic houses and contained material of similar date, it is likely all were in use contemporaneously. The purpose of the pits and posthole was unclear, but stratigraphically they predated the formation of the spreads. The spreads were certainly deposited by human activity and were in two distinct phases, F447 being the first phase and F378 the second. It is likely that the spreads were originally waste dumps or middens for material from the occupation of the houses. They were likely to have originally been in heaps within a considerably smaller area but a greater height; the actions of hill-wash and later agricultural activities reducing their heights and expanding the area covered.

Plate 18: Sherds of Neolithic pottery from F447.

Figure 70: West facing section of C469. C479 (Figure 71) was sub-rectangular, 0.92m x 0.58m, orientated north-east to south-west, and 0.34m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base and was filled by F480, brown-grey, friable, fine sandy silt which had occasional small pebble inclusions. The main part of this fill was, however, formed from two large stones that occupied the majority of the cut. The lower stone measured 0.28m x 0.23m, with a thickness of 0.18m. The upper stone was similar to a paving stone: it measured 0.58m x 0.46m, with a thickness of 0.05m. The upper surface was smooth and there was no evidence of burning or wear marks. The fill produced two sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#277). The function of this pit was unclear.

The presence of middens or rubbish dumps in the Neolithic is relatively common and has been demonstrated at numerous sites including Skara Brae in Scotland (Childe, 1931), and Coolfore, Co. Meath (O’Drisceoil, 2003). There were 381 sherds of pottery, representing 51 vessels recovered. One of the sherds had an apple pip impression, while another had a charred wheat caryopsis in situ (Appendix 2a). As with the houses, the sherds were consistent with the Western Neolithic tradition. The ceramic specialist (Appendix 2a) suggested that: “…based on the lack of charred residues on the pottery, this may have been either a camp-site of considerable duration or that it may be the area where the pottery was manufactured. An unusual observation was made during the examination of this range of material as the vast majority of sherds had a mineralized clay-based concretion adhering to them. The reason for this is not clear but it may have accumulated if the sherds were deposited in a slightly waterlogged environment as mineral components in the clay dissolved.”

The final feature excavated in this area, C656 (Figure 72), lay 2m to the east of the spread of material and 6m north-east of House 3. It was a shallow circular pit with a diameter of 0.40m and a depth of 0.18m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It was filled by F655, dark brown compact loam with very occasional flecks of charcoal and three slab-like stones at the bottom of the fill. This was similar to F480 in C479 as it also contained slablike stones. As with pit C479, the purpose of this pit was also unclear.

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Plate 16: Neolithic midden, looking east.

Figure 73: Neolithic midden, looking east. The material was unlikely to have been from a temporary camp as the foundations of the neighbouring houses had artefacts which were contemporary with those found in the midden and are, therefore, likely to have been the source of the dumped material. Its use as a pottery manufacturing site was also unlikely as no evidence for a substantial kiln or fires was discovered, nor were any wasters found (deformed pottery warped during firing). If pottery manufacturing was occurring it was not evident within the area excavated. The absence of charred residue and the presence of mineralized clay-based concretion noted on the sherds were most likely to be a result of the same process, namely water inundation.

The area of the spread lay below the level of the houses and it was noted during excavation that the ground was often waterlogged and was prone to flooding from hill-wash. During the prehistoric period the waterlogged areas were likely to have been significantly larger (Mitchell & Ryan, 2001; Cooney & Grogan, 1994) and the Brown Bog to the south and west may have encroached further into the site. If these sherds were submerged in water for prolonged periods of time, any charred material may have dissipated and the concretion may have built up.

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C194 (Figure 76) lay 3m south-east of C182 and was subtriangular, 1.03m x 0.80m, orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.37m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. The pit was filled by F195, orangebrown, friable silty sand with numerous small stone inclusions. It contained a single sherd of Neolithic pottery from a carinated bowl (FN #AE/04/77/72).

There were 52 lithics recovered from this feature. Three of these were secondary/modified artefacts, all flint scrapers; the remainder were primary artefacts and comprised quartz and flint cores, debitage, flakes and two blades (Appendix 1a). This suggests that some level of flint knapping was occurring on site. 2.2.5

Pit Alignment Between C194 and C191 lay a later pit, C179, which partially cut through the sides of both pits, its central point lying 0.20m south of the central line of the alignment (Figure 76). It was oval, 0.95m x 0.75m, orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.34m, had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It was filled by F157, dark brown, friable, silty sandy clay with some charcoal flecking and numerous small stones and contained 35 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/66), which represented three plain bowls and two carinated bowls. Fill F157 also formed the upper layer of fill within C194. Although this stone/posthole was later than the other two stone/postholes, the pottery recovered was of a similar period and, therefore, it can be considered as contemporary and an addition to this alignment rather than a later feature.

Pits C170, C182, C191 and C194 were aligned directly west north-west to east south-east. C179 was a later insertion between C191 and C194, and was slightly south of this direct line. C182 lay 10m south of House 2’s south-east corner. The alignment finished with posthole C170 (Figure 6), 16m to the south-east. C170 (Figure 74) lay 12m to the south-east of C194. It was oval, 0.90m x 0.55m, orientated north-west to south-east, with a depth of 0.25m and had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base. It was filled by F133, brown, friable stony clay with a few flecks of charcoal, which contained a bipolar flint core (FN #26, AX38.171).

Discussion of Pit Alignment As no large stones or obvious post pipes were present within these features it cannot be stated categorically whether they were stone holes or postholes. However, the pointed depression found in C191 suggests that a large stone was deposited within this pit, and if this is the case then it is more than likely that the other pits also contained stones. Indirect evidence for their use to support stones rather than posts can also be seen from the later Bronze Age Cemetery. The ring ditches from this cemetery respected this pit alignment and were placed on a parallel orientation, which meant that there must have been visible, upstanding remains at this time. We can assume that by this stage, nearly 2000 years later, any wooden posts would have long rotted away; therefore we are left with only one possibility, which is that the feature supported stones. Through comparison with upstanding stone monuments in the vicinity such as The Three Sisters at Greenan (Dow 033:027) and Drumnahare Standing Stone (Dow 034:076) it can be assumed that the stones were likely to have been between 0.50m and 2m in height.

Figure 74: South-west facing section of C170. C182 (Figure 75) was 0.90m x 0.80m, orientated north-west to south-east, with a depth of 0.20m. The slope of the sides was shallow and the base was concave. It was filled by F156, a brown silty loam containing a few flecks of charcoal. C191 (Figure 76) lay 1m southeast of C194. It was oval, 0.80m x 0.60m, orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.38m and had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. The base was concave with a pointed depression 0.20m in diameter and 0.10m deep at its centre. This depression may have been left by the end of a large stone sinking into the subsoil at the base of the pit. It was filled by F190, dark brown, friable silt.

Stone/post rows were a common feature of the prehistoric landscape and indeed a large number of stone rows are still upstanding. These features were constructed from the early Neolithic through to the later Bronze Age and ranged in length from paired stones up to very long extended rows, the longest being the Stall Moor row in Dartmoor which is 3,320m long (Simmons 1961). The longer rows were most often directly associated with other monuments: such as the avenue at Ballynahatty, Co. Down (Hartwell 1998); the

Figure 75: South facing section of C182.

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Kennet Avenue at Avebury, Wiltshire (Thom 1976); and the stone rows at Beaghmore, Co. Tyrone (Thom 1980).

other structure (Burl 1993). A number of short stone rows, similar to the one excavated here have been recorded in Northern Ireland: Ratoran, Co. Fermanagh (Davies 1939), Reyfad, Co. Fermanagh (Chart et al 1940), Beaghmore, Co. Tyrone (Thom 1980), Doorat, Co. Tyrone (McConkey 1987) and The Three Sisters at Greenan, Co. Down (Dow 033:027) (Burl 1993).

Only a small number were not directly associated with other monuments, Kilmartin Valley, Argyllshire (Swanson, 2002) being a rare example. The shorter rows were, however, frequently monuments in their own right, unattached to any

Figure 76: North facing section of C194, C179 and C191. significance to the Neolithic people – what this significance may have been is unknown.

A number of these rows appear to have been orientated towards the point of rising or setting of conspicuous astronomical features, namely the sun, the moon or a particularly bright star (Heggie 1981). Examples of this include Killadangan, Co. Mayo (Christiaan 1998) and Duntreath, Stirling (Thom 1967), which are aligned with the setting sun at the summer solstice, Ballochroy, Argyll (Somerville 1927), which is aligned with the setting sun at the winter solstice, and the main row at Callanish, which is aligned with Capella (Lockyear 1909). Lunar alignments have also been suggested at sites such as Callanish and Burnt Tow (Thom 1967b).

2.2.6

Ritual Pits

Features C69 and C91 were two pits which lay 20m to the southeast of House 1 (Figure 6). C69 was oval, 3m x 2.2m, orientated east to west (Figure 77). It had a depth of 0.35m with a gradual top break of slope, gently sloping sides, concave base and was filled by F58, red-brown, friable sandy clay containing flecks of charcoal and occasional small stones. Recovered from this fill were 146 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/ 323-336, Figure 78), which represented 13 plain bowls and 13 carinated bowls (Appendix 2a), a quantity of burnt hazelnut shell (FN#AE/04/77/339 and 340) and some fragments of unidentifiable bone (FN#AE/04/77/341). Lithic artefacts recovered include: a bipolar flint core (FN#337 AX38.110); two broken flint flakes (FN#338 AX38.127); a flint fragment (FN#338 AX38.127); and two worked flint arrowheads (FN#17 AX38.128, Figures 79 & 80, Plates 17 & 18, and FN#18 AX38.129, Figure 100). The second of these flint arrowheads (FN#18 AX38.129) had a small quantity of resin on its butt (Appendix 1). This resin was identified as birch tar, most likely used to securely haft the arrow (Figure 80). It was also found on a polishing stone recovered from a posthole in House 2. Resin like this has only been identified at a small number of Neolithic sites. These include Chalain (Regert et al. 1998), Sweet Track (Aveling & Heron, 1998) and La Houge Bie (Lucquin et al. 2007).

However, for most stone rows the alignment had no known astronomical association. They may have formed avenues or processional ways to the monuments they were related to, or perhaps aligned to surrounding geographical features, or they were not aligned to any specific feature (Burl 1993). In the case of the stone/post alignment excavated here, the alignment was north-west to south-east and at an angle of 299o. Taking into account latitude, horizon altitude and declination to check the astronomical potential of the lines, the alignment did not correspond to any specific astronomical feature (Adam, pers comm. 2007), nor did it line up with any surrounding geographical feature. It is, however, interesting to note that the north-west to south-east alignment is almost identical to the nearest stone row, The Three Sisters, which is at Greenan, less than a kilometre away. It is possible that the alignment shown had some

Figure 77: South facing section of C69.

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C91 was filled by F59, light brown, compact silty sand, with frequent inclusions of charcoal and small stones with one flat angular stone at the base of the main pit. It contained 36 sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/12 and 13, Plate 19), which represented six plain bowls and three carinated bowls, a bipolar flint chunk (FN#16 AX38.134), some fragments of burnt hazelnut shell (FN#AE/04/77/14) and some fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/15).

Figure 79: Flint arrowhead, FN#17. Figure 78: Neolithic Pottery.

Plate 18: Flint arrowhead with birch tar resin, FN#18. Plate 17: Flint arrowhead, FN#17. Feature C91 (Figure 81) lay 1m to the north of C69 and was an irregularly shaped pit which had been badly truncated by animal burrows. It measured 2m x 1.60m, orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.09m, a gradual top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a flat base.

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measurement of 4900±70BP (Beta 216905) giving a date range, when calibrated to 2 sigma, of 3910 to 3880 cal BC, 3800 to 3630 cal BC and 3570 to 3540 cal BC (Figure 8 & Appendix 7). However, as the artefacts were consistent with the houses, the central date range of 3800 to 3630 cal BC is the most probable. The presence of such large quantities of lithic and ceramic artefacts within these pits may be taken to indicate that deliberate deposition was occurring. The presence of two unbroken arrowheads within pit C69 suggests that the pits were being used for a ritual purpose rather than waste deposition. The manufacture of arrowheads would have been a long and involved process, these artefacts would not have been thrown away lightly and indeed it is probable that these arrowheads had significant symbolic as well as a practical function (Patton 1991; Edmonds 1995). The unidentifiable burnt bone was, therefore, possibly human rather than animal and may have been a cremation or cremations deposited in the pits along with the other artefacts. However, the possibility exists that the bone was of animal origin and represents the remains of ritualised feasting (Cross 2001). The fact that the later Bronze Age cremation cemetery respected the position of these pits may also suggest that they had some form of mound placed over them and that they were still visible some 2000 years later. If this was the case then the mound would have been visible from the houses and would have been a second symbolic and ritual feature along with the probable stone row.

Figure 80: Probable hafting of arrowhead, FN#18.

The presence of ritual deposits in close proximity to the house structures has been noted before at other Neolithic settlement sites including Thornhill, Co. Londonderry (Logue 2003), Halden, Devon (Willock 1936) and Drummenny, Co. Donegal (Dunne 2003). The close proximity of ritual and domestic activities should not, therefore, be considered unusual. Discussion of Early Neolithic Activity The Settlement in its Context In mainland Europe the Neolithic settlement pattern tended towards large villages: Vaihingen, a village of 90 houses in Germany (Krause 1998) and Ovcharovo, a village of 112 houses in Bulgaria (Bailey 2004), for example. However, in Britain and Ireland the trend was towards isolated houses, as found at Corbally, Co. Kildare (Purcell 2002) or small groups of buildings (Figure 82), as found during this excavation and at the recently excavated site at Millfield (Brightman & Waddington 2005). Only at the site at Durrington Walls, Wiltshire (Parker Pearson et al 2006) have a large number of houses been found (excavators speculate that hundreds or even thousands of houses lie within the valley), however, this site is unique in a British context.

Plate 19: Neolithic pottery sherds from C91, F59.

Figure 81: East facing section of C91. Discussion of Ritual Pits Based on the similarity of artefacts recovered and their adjacent location, it is likely that these pits were in contemporary use. The artefacts were also consistent with those recovered from the houses and the pit alignment and as such they were also likely to be contemporary with them. A radiocarbon determination from F58 in pit C69 produced a

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The settlement at Ballintaggart lay on a south facing slope, on a slight rise above the surrounding boggy areas to the west and south. It was sheltered by the hills to the northwest and overlooked Lough Brickland to the north-east. The siting of a Neolithic settlement in such a position has been noted throughout Ireland, “this is known, for example, by the lake side positions at Ballynagilly and Lough Gur and river terraces at Knowth, Newgrange, Tankardstown and Townleyhall” (Grogan 1996, 57).

midden area, was to the rear of all of the houses and would have not been visible from the entrances of the houses. As the people of the early Neolithic invariably constructed monumental features which were highly visible within the landscape, it can be assumed that the midden was solely domestic in character. As the houses formed a small settlement it is likely that their principal function was as dwellings. However, we cannot assume that they were purely domestic as the deposition of artefacts within the house foundations and the apparent intentional burning displayed at House 1 shows that ritual activities were also occurring. Thomas (2004) has suggested that identifying any of the 50 or so known rectangular Neolithic buildings as purely domestic houses is erroneous and that it is probable that though the houses were in part dwellings it is also likely that they had a significant ritual function. Barclay (2003) has suggested that such houses may also have been used as feasting halls, for holding council, exchanging goods, laying out of the dead or storing and redistributing domesticated and wild resources. All of these are possibilities for the houses at Ballintaggart but as little evidence for such activities survives within the archaeological record one must attribute the principle function of these particular houses to be domestic. However it should also be noted that modern houses have a multiplicity of uses, not all of which may seen as purely domestic, and many of which include ritual aspects.

In Ireland there have been 54 rectangular Neolithic houses excavated (Dempster 2007). In general, the early Neolithic (4000-3500 BC) houses were rectangular. Examples include Ballyglass 1, Co. Mayo (O’Nuallain 1972), Ballynagilly, Co. Tyrone (ApSimon 1969) and Ballyharry farm, Co. Antrim (O’Neill 2004). In the Middle and later Neolithic (35002500 BC) houses tended towards circularity. These include Piperstown, Co. Louth (Rynne and O’hEailidhe 1965), Knowth, Co. Louth (Roche 1989) and Slieve Breagh, Co. Meath (Grogan 1996). At Lough Gur, Co. Limerick (O’Riordain 1954) there was continuity of settlement, with rectangular houses being replaced with later circular houses. Most of the houses were orientated with their entrances and longer sides facing south; presumably this was to allow the maximum amount of light to enter the house. The houses recorded during the present excavation followed this trend in Neolithic construction and were consistent in general shape and style with other Early Neolithic rectangular houses excavated.

The later re-use of the site by the Bronze Age cremation cemetery builders shows that the site retained its ritual significance throughout the prehistoric period. As the monuments constructed by the Bronze Age inhabitants (2000 years later) respected those from the Neolithic it can be assumed that vestiges of these earlier monuments were still visible within the landscape during the later period.

The Association between Ritual and Domestic Life The Early Neolithic activity at Ballintaggart was both domestic (the houses and the midden) and ritual (the stone/post alignment and the ritual pits). The close proximity of the stone/post alignment and the ritual pits to the houses indicates that there was a ritual as well as a domestic significance attached to this site. As all of these features appear to have been contemporary this also suggests that the people living there did not separate the activities which we consider to be domestic and ritualistic: the aspects of life seem to have been intertwined. It is possible that this was a “conscious intent to incorporate one within the other” (Grogan 1996, 58) or that “for the Neolithic people there was an element of ritual incorporated in all activities” (Lane 1986).

Diet Direct evidence for Neolithic diet in Ireland is quite poor. However, evidence of a small quantity of seeds and nuts from many native plants, domesticated wheat and barley, wild game and fish, as well as domesticated animals including cattle, sheep, goat, pig and dog have been found on a number of sites (Mallory and McNeill, 1991). The evidence for the diet of the people living at Ballintaggart was limited to a small number of pig/wild boar bones, a few grains of oat and wheat, hazelnut shells, a sloe stone and two apple pips. The oat and wheat suggests that arable agriculture was taking place, while the presence of the sloe, apple pips and hazelnuts were evidence for more traditional hunter-gatherer practices. Unfortunately the bones found could not be diagnostically identified as either domestic pig or wild boar, therefore, it cannot be established whether they indicate domestication of animals or hunting practices.

If the positions of the pit alignment and the ritual pits are examined, it can be seen that both would have been major features visible from the entrances of the houses; indeed if a direct line of sight is taken from the entrance of House 2 it looks directly on to the ritual pits. It is possible that the forecourts of the houses were areas of ritual importance to the inhabitants and that both the ritual pits and pit alignment formed part of a ceremonial area. It should be noted that the only other early Neolithic feature identified on the site, the

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accessible flint is along the east coast of Antrim: flint mines are known all along this coast. Examples include Black Mountain (Mallory 1991) and Ballygalley (Collins 1978).

Neolithic pits, while the campsites were at the north-east and eastern end of the archaeologically examined area. 2.3.1 Southern pit complex: Later Neolithic and early Bronze Age ritual pits

A number of temporary camp sites with small scale manufacturing have been found at these sources of flint and porcellanite, including Mad Man’s Window, near Glenarm (Woodman 1992). These suggest that some early Neolithic communities were temporarily moving to the source of the raw materials, manufacturing artefacts and then moving on. Sustained manufacturing also occurred in these areas at more permanent settlements. For example, Ballygalley provided evidence of prolonged artefact manufacture (Simpson 1996). Indeed the main purpose of this settlement may have been the production of worked flint artefacts. It is generally accepted that artefacts found outside the area where they can be readily manufactured are likely to have reached their final destination by some form of exchange (Mallory 1991). Sheridan (1986) suggests that this was a simple form of trade, a ‘down the line’ exchange where one community obtains a certain proportion of the axes and then passes them down the line to increasingly distant communities. The artefacts were either completely polished or were rough-outs ready for final working into a finished artefact. As the settlement at Ballintaggart is at such a great distance from the source of the flint and porcellanite it can be assumed that they must have been involved in this form of trade.

Located some 12m to the south-west of the Bronze Age cemetery, and 15m to the south of the early Neolithic House 1, lay a complex of six pits and one stake hole (Figure 84). These pits did not appear to be directly related to the other archaeological activity in the vicinity, instead forming a discrete grouping of their own. The pits within this group proved to be of both late Neolithic (3000-2500BC) and early Bronze Age (2500-1600BC) date and are, therefore, dealt with separately. Late Neolithic Features Pit C636 (Figure 85) was sub-circular, 0.83m x 0.77m and 0.28m deep, and was orientated east to west. The pit had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides, a “U” shaped profile and a flattish, but irregular base. This may be a result of the pit being partially dug into the bedrock. The pit contained a single fill, F632; dark brown, friable silt containing some gravelly and stony lenses, with a high charcoal content and containing recognizable fragments of wood. There was 0.3g of unidentifiable burnt bone fragments recovered from the fill (FN#AE/04/77/313). There were also 30 sherds of Later Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/309), a quantity of charred hazelnut shell, (FN#AE/04/77/310) and a number of pieces of flint. The latter were: a broken struck flake (FN#311 AX38.71), a number of struck flakes (FN#311 AX38.72 & 74), a struck pebble flake (FN#311 AX38.73), three scalar flakes (FN#311 AX38.75), 10 burnt fragments (FN#311 AX38.76), two pieces of micro-debitage (FN#311 AX38.77), four scalar fragments (FN#311 AX38.78), two burnt bipolar cores (FN#311 AX38.79), a bipolar core (FN#311 AX38.80), a burnt struck piece (FN#311 AX38.81) and a rounded scraper (FN# 312 AX38.82).

Summary The settlement at Ballintaggart had three houses; whose occupants deposited their waste in a midden to the north of the settlement and were involved in ritual activities in the forecourt of Houses 1 and 2 to the south-east. They lived on a diet of farmed wheat and oats, supplemented with hazelnuts, apples and sloes. The meat in their diet was in part at least provided by either wild boar or domesticated pigs. The people living here traded with the surrounding settlements over long distance networks, gaining porcellanite axes and flint tools in the process. The pottery found on the site was manufactured locally, suggesting a high level of self sufficiency. 2.3

Approximately 3.5m to the north of C636 was pit C639 (Figure 86). This was oval, 0.76m x 0.56m, 0.20m deep and orientated north to south. The top break of slope was sharp and the sides were steep, leading to flat base with a “U” shaped profile. C639 was filled by F628; dark brown, loose silt with a high charcoal content. There were two large angular stones in the south-west of the feature and evidence of extensive root activity within the fill. Sherds of pottery from two Neolithic vessels were recovered. These were identified as four sherds from a carinated bowl and single sherd from a bowl (FN#AE/04/77/299). A single piece of flint (FN#297 AX38.114) and a possible piece of slag (FN#AE/04/77/300) were also recovered. This latter find was likely to be derived from modern disturbance.

Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Activity

One small area of later Neolithic (3000-2500BC) activity and three areas of early Bronze Age (2500-1600BC) activity were identified within the bounds of the site (Figures 6 and 83). The late Neolithic was represented by four small pits in the south-west corner of the archaeologically monitored area which appear to have been used for the ritual deposition of token artefacts. The early Bronze Age activity was represented by two ‘campsites’, two small pits and a single posthole which contained token artefact deposits. The two small pits and the posthole were found beside the late

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Figure 83: Plan showing late Neolithic and early Bronze Age activity.

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top break of slope to the north-east with steeply sloping sides, while to the south-west the upper break of slope was gradual and the slope of the sides was gentle. The base was flat with an elongated “U” profile. C646 contained F626; dark brown-black, friable sandy silt which contained a large quantity of medium-sized stones and was rich in charcoal but showed no sign of in situ burning. Excavation of this fill allowed 1g of burnt bone fragments to be recovered, though it was not possible to identify them to species (FN#AE/04/77/249). A small slate disk (FN#248 AX38.131) was also recovered from F626 (Plate 21).

Figure 87: South-east facing section of C646.

Figure 84: Plan of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age pits.

Figure 85: South-west facing section of C636.

Plate 21: Slate disc from F626. Figure 86: East facing section of C639.

Approximately 1.5m to the east of C639 lay Pit C640 (Figure 88, Plate 22). This measured 0.75m x 0.45m, was 0.23m deep and orientated north-east to south-west. C640 had a sharp top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a concave base. In profile it appeared as a shallow “U” shape.

Approximately 2m to the north of C639 lay C646. This was a shallow, oval pit, 1.10m x 0.6m, orientated north-east to south-west and 0.15 m deep (Figure 87). The pit had a sharp

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Early Bronze Age Features Approximately 1m to the south-west of C639 lay Pit C637 (Figures 89-90, Plate 23). This feature was oval in plan, 0.78m x 0.64m, orientated north-west to south-east and 0.23m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a concave base with a “U” shaped profile. Pit C637 contained F629; dark brown, friable loamy silt with a concentration of unsorted angular, sub-angular and subrounded stones and pebbles in the upper portion of the fill, it also contained a single sherd of early Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/77/245).

The pit contained F627; brown, loose loamy silt. Excavation of this fill allowed recovery of two burnt convex scrapers (FN#293 AX38.89 & 90); a burnt struck flake (FN#293 AX38.9); a burnt blade (FN#293 AX38.92); four burnt broken flakes (FN#293 AX38.93); along with six sherds of Neolithic pottery (FN#AE/04/77/294). This pit had been cut by Bronze Age pit C635, though at some period a portion of the fill, F627, had been swept to the south-west covering the upper fill of the later feature.

Figure 88: North-east facing section of C635 and C640.

Figure 89: North-east facing section of C637.

Plate 23: Pit C637 and stakehole C638, post-excavation, looking east.

Figure 90: North-west facing section of C637 and C638.

Plate 22: Pits C640 and C635, post-excavation, looking west.

C638 (Figure 90) was a stakehole which lay 0.03m to the south-west of C637. It had a diameter of 0.18m and was 0.14m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides,

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AX38.104), a burnt dual-platform flint core (FN#307 AX38.105) and one sherd of early Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/77/308).

angled slightly south-west to north-east and a flat base. The stakehole profile was “U” shaped. It was filled by F630: grey-brown, compact sandy clay. As this stakehole was in very close proximity to and respected C637, it is likely that it was contemporary to it and must, therefore, also date to the early Bronze Age.

Discussion of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age pits Late Neolithic Four of the seven features in this area produced evidence of a late Neolithic date. Pits C636, C639 and C640 all produced sherds of pottery which came from late Neolithic bowls or carinated bowls. Pit C646 did not produce any pottery, but contained an almost circular slate disk (Plate 21), 25mm long, 23.5mm wide and 6.5mm thick. This disk was roughly shaped and displayed evidence for grinding on its face and edges. It may have been a rough-out for a bead or a gaming counter. The slate was found to be from a local source so it is likely that the artefact was manufactured on the site (Moore, pers comm., 2004).

Figure 91: Illustration of miniature vessel from pit C635.

Parallels for rough-outs of beads are known from Neolithic sites such as Croft Manor, Ballygalley, Co. Antrim (Simpson 1996) and from Donegore Hill, Co. Antrim (Mallory, pers comm., 2004). Those rough-outs were, however, larger and less well finished than this artefact. The only directly comparable example of such a piece in an Irish context was a small sandstone disc 50mm in diameter and 8mm thick found in a court cairn in Ballynamona, Co. Waterford (Powell 1938). In the greater British context several other examples have been found. These include five small slate plaques, averaging 76mm long, 32mm wide and 6mm thick, which were recovered from the Neolithic house site at Ronaldsway, Malew (Bruce 1947), two circular slate discs, 60mm and 45mm diameter, and 20mm and 10mm thick respectively, which were recovered from the Pant y Saer passage grave in Anglesey (Scott 1933) and a single stone disc, 45mm diameter and 7mm thick, which was recovered from the chambered cairn at Quoyness, Sanday (Child 1954). It is also believed that the decorated stone balls which are principally found in sites across the east coast of Scotland and less commonly throughout the remainder of the British Isles may also have been gaming pieces (Edmunds 1992). As with the slate disk found here, they all had evidence of rough shaping and grinding, and were manufactured from locally found materials.

Plate 24: Miniature vessel from pit C635. Cut C635 (Figure 88) was an oval pit measuring 0.50m x 0.45m, 0.20m deep and orientated north-east to south-west. It had a sharp top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a concave base. In profile it appeared as a shallow “U” shape. This feature cut into C640 and contained three fills. F627, the uppermost (described above), was a Neolithic fill which appears to have spread out from C640 when it was disturbed after the final filling of C635. The second fill, F641, was black, loose silty clay with a very high charcoal content and contained: two burnt flint flakes (FN#302 AX38.101 & 102); three sherds of early Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/77/ 301); and a miniature early Bronze Age vessel (FN#AE/04/77/247). This vessel measured 30mm in diameter, 15mm high and was made as a simple pinch pot (Figure 91, Plate 24). F642 was the basal fill and was dark red-brown, loose silty sand with a small quantity of charcoal in its matrix. It contained a burnt cortical flint flake (FN#306 AX38.103), a broken struck flint flake (FN#306

The presence of similar disks in two megalithic tombs in Brittany (Champ Grosset and Keriaval) (Correia 1921), and from the domestic site Castro of Pavia in Portugal (Correia 1921) suggests that these disks may have illustrated continuity within later Neolithic culture across a large geographical area (Childe 1954). Early Bronze Age The final three features produced evidence for an early Bronze Age date or were closely associated with early

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Bronze Age material. Pits C637 and C635 both produced sherds of pottery identified as being early Bronze Age in date. Although C638 did not produce any pottery, its close proximity to and respect of C637 indicated that it too was of early Bronze Age date. Amongst the pottery recovered from C635 was a miniature Bronze Age cup (FN#AE/04/77/247) (Plate 24). These miniature vessels are often found with burials, as at Black Burgh, Sussex (Garwood 2002), Portsdown, Hampshire (Rudkin 1989) and Ballyoskill, Co. Kilkenny (Prendergast 1972) and their purpose is unknown but several suggestions have been put forward for their use ranging from childrens toys to burners for narcotics or incense (Waddell 2000).

during the later Neolithic period did not leave any settlement evidence within the area excavated; however, it is likely that evidence for occupation may yet survive beyond the limits of excavation. The items that were deposited in these pits did not suggest that they were rubbish pits as the possible Neolithic ‘gaming counter’ did not appear to be broken or damaged and could hardly be seen as being a common, throwaway item, while vessels similar to the Bronze Age miniature pinch pot found here are more commonly associated with burial (O’Kelly 1989). It is, therefore, likely that these pits were dug for the ritual deposition of artefacts. The pits were also in close proximity to each other and removed from the rest of the site. This may suggest that there was an intentional re-use of a late Neolithic ritual space by the early Bronze Age people and as the early Bronze Age pits respected the position of the Neolithic pits it can, therefore, also be assumed that the late Neolithic pits had markers of some sort which were visible when the early Bronze Age pits were dug. The early Bronze Age pits may have been dug by the inhabitants of Campsites 1 or 2, but as no direct relationship exists between these features this cannot be certain and indeed many centuries may have separated the digging of the pits and the construction of the campsites.

It was constructed from a single piece of clay and was formed by pinching. Although miniature vessels are not uncommon in the Bronze Age, this example is unparalleled in terms of its crude form and minute scale. The surface of this vessel retained traces of a slip and a small number of shallow fingernail impressions on the exterior surface almost at opposing sides of the vessel. These impressions may be deliberate, possibly a maker’s mark. Tomalin (1995) has conducted research in the area of personal signatures and ideograms on British Early Bronze Age pottery and suggests that potters’ marks have a great antiquity in Europe. Comparable motifs to that from Ballintaggart were found on a Biconical Urn from Charmandean, Sussex (Tomalin ibid) comprising three distinct, equidistant fingernail impressions. Another example from Easton Down, Winterslow in Wiltshire exhibits more numerous fingernail impressions on the exterior of a Collared Urn. If these marks are indeed a signature or maker’s mark it is possible that this vessel was produced as a trial piece to test the suitability of the clay for potting or it may represent a potter’s apprentice training piece, a toy or a crucible.

As the later Bronze Age cemetery respected the positions of the early Neolithic pit alignment and ritual pits it is likely that the early Neolithic features must have contained or been covered by features which were visible within the landscape during the later Bronze Age and, likewise, they must have also been visible in the intervening period. These visible early Neolithic features (most probably standing stones) may have marked the site as one which had ritual and cultural significance. Therefore, the presence of these late Neolithic and early Bronze Age pits can be seen as a continuity of the use of the site for ritual activity.

The radiocarbon determination for the charcoal from C635, F641 produced a measurement of 4210±80BP (Beta217383), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 3010 to 2580 cal BC (Figure 8). This date does not fit with the discovery of Bronze Age pottery from both the fill that was dated and the underlying fill F642. As it appears that C635 cut the earlier C640, it is possible that the date is the produce of contamination from F627 which overlay F641 and could have been deposited from C640.

2.3.2 Early Bronze Age Campsite 1 In the north-east corner of the site some 40m north of the barrow cemetery was an early Bronze Age campsite, which had two distinct phases of occupation (Figures 6 and 92). The first phase consisted of a simple windbreak protecting a small pit (Figure 93), while the second phase had a small circular hut with a rectangular enclosure to the west (Figure 103). The rectangular enclosure had a small hearth in its centre. A row of three stakeholes and a small pit ran parallel to, and at a distance of 1m north from the second phase structures and were, therefore, likely to be contemporary.

Continuity of Ritual While the seven features of the Southern Pit Complex initially appeared to be inter-related, the evidence from the various fills and the pottery recovered shows that pits were being dug and material was being deposited during both the late Neolithic and the early Bronze Age. An early Bronze Age ‘campsite’ lay 70m to the north-east (see below) and it is probable that the early Bronze Age pits were dug by the inhabitants of this campsite. The people who dug the pits

Phase 1 The first phase of activity was represented by an occupation spread, 11 stakeholes and a pit (Figures 93 and 93).

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C457 were side by side and lay 0.3m to the east of this arc (Figure 93).

Figure 92: Campsite 1, plan showing phases of activity. Occupation Spread The spread, F222, covered all of the other first phase features. It was irregular in plan, measuring 3.5m x 2m and 0.2m thick, was orientated north-west to south-east and was comprised of compact sandy clay which varied in colour from shades of grey to orange-grey. It contained charcoal, small stone inclusions, 19 pieces of worked flint (FN#36, FN#196-7, FN#198), some burnt micro-debitage (FN#98) and 47 sherds of early Bronze Age ‘food vessel’ pottery (FN#237-41). As the spread began at the edge of the stakeholes and had the second phase features cut through it, it must have been deposited during this first phase and as it was not uniform in colour it was unlikely to have been a deliberate single event deposit. It is more likely that it was material which built up during the period of occupation.

Figure 93: Campsite 1, plan showing first phase of activity. There was no indication for a further continuation of these stakeholes and as this area of the site did not appear truncated it must be assumed that they were not part of a larger structure. The stakeholes may have supported a short length of wattle fence. As a pit lay 1m south-east of this stakehole line it can be assumed that it may have formed some kind of windbreak to protect the people who dug this pit.

Stakehole alignment The stakeholes were all steep sided with concave to pointed bases, had diameters of between 0.6m and 0.8m and depths between 0.05m and 0.23m (Figures 94-100). All of the stakeholes were filled by F222, the material from the overlying occupation spread. Stakeholes C294, C296, C324, C327, C484, C486, C494, C496 and C498 formed a 2.3m long gently curving south-west to north-east arc C455 and

Figure 94: South facing section of C294 and C296. Pit Approximately 1m to the south-east of the stakehole alignment lay an oval pit, C556 (Figure 101). This feature

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measured 1m x 0.7m and 0.3m deep, was orientated northwest to south-east and had a sharp top break of slope, steep

Figure 95: West facing section of C324.

Figure 96: South-west facing section of C327.

sides and a concave base. It was filled by F557, dark brown, compact sandy clay, containing a small amount of charcoal.

Figure 97: South-west facing section of C494.

Figure 98: East facing section of C484 and C486.

Cut into the fill of this pit was a second smaller pit, C558. It had a diameter of 0.20m and a depth of 0.15m, a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It was filled

Figure 99: North-east facing section of C496 and C498.

Figure 100: East facing profile of C455 & C457.

by F559, orange-brown, compact sandy clay with inclusions of small sub-angular stones and pebbles.

Figure 101: South-west facing section showing C450, C556 and C558, and spread F222. There was no indication for in situ burning so the feature could not have been a hearth. Neither were there any artefacts deposited within the pit, so it was not possible to attribute a ritual use. Although the function of the pit, C556, and the reason for a re-cut, C558, is unclear, it can be stated that whatever the function was it was important enough to require a windbreak. We also know that activity continued in this area for a prolonged period after the pit was filled as there was a substantial build-up of occupation debris.

Circular hut A semi-circle of stakeholes defined this feature. All but one of these stakeholes was part of a pair; therefore, it is likely that the unpaired stakehole was also part of a pair, the other stakehole having been destroyed by later activity. The stakeholes were steep sided with concave bases, had diameters between 0.05m and 0.10m and depths between 0.05m and 0.30m. All of the stakeholes were filled by dark brown, silty sand (Figures 103-109).

Phase 2 The second phase of activity saw the area re-used for the construction of a small stakehole defined circular hut with a rectangular annexe which surrounded a hearth (Figure 102). These features cut through the occupation spread from the first phase activities. A line of three stakeholes and a pit lay 1m north of these main features and as they ran parallel to them it is likely that they also constituted a contemporary feature. The eastern side of these features had been destroyed by a modern roadway.

The semi circle of stakeholes suggests that this feature was part of a wattle built circular hut, with the eastern side having been destroyed by the modern roadway. Extrapolation from the surviving archaeology suggested that the hut would have had a diameter of 2.6m. Rectangular annex Running south-west from the western edge of the circular hut was a 4m long, parallel line of stakeholes. These stakeholes were 2.3m apart at the hut, narrowing to 2m apart at their

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terminals. The stakeholes were steep sided with concave bases, had diameters between 0.05m and 0.08m and depths between 0.05m and 0.25m. All of the stakeholes were filled by dark brown, silty sand (Figures 136-142). A hearth was located in the centre of this rectangular annex.

Figure 105: South facing section of C488 & C509.

Figure 106: East facing section of C341 & C518.

Figure 107: South-west facing section of C520 & C522.

Figure 108: North-east facing section of C524 & C526.

Figure 102: Campsite 1, plan showing second phase of activity.

Figure 109: West facing section of C511. North stakehole alignment The north alignment comprised seven stakeholes: C288, C290, C292, C306, C305, C490 and C492 (Figures 110113), a single sherd of early Bronze Age pottery was recovered from fill F237 of stake hole C306 (FN#AE/04/77/192).

Figure 103: South-west facing section of C328 & C329.

Figure 104: South facing section of C325 & C335. Figure 110: South-east facing section of C288 & C306.

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Hearth Near the centre of the area enclosed by these two lines lay a hearth C450. This feature measured 0.85m x 0.75m and was 0.08m deep, orientated north-west to south-east within the centre of the rectangular annex (Figure 101). It had a gradual top break of slope, with gently sloping sides and a flattish base and was filled by F449; compact, red-brown stony sandy clay which had a high charcoal content, including some large chunks. The stones, which formed roughly 10% of the fill, showed signs of heat cracking and burning.

Figure 111: South-east facing section of C292 & C290.

It is likely that the rectangular annex was constructed to shelter the hearth as it is possible that the small size of the attached hut meant that it was not possible to light a fire within it.

Figure 112: South-east facing section of C490 and C492.

Features north of main structure Approximately 1m to the north of the other features were an alignment of three stakeholes, C537, C539 and C541, along with a shallow pit, C535 (Figures 117-119).

Figure 113: South-west facing section of C305. South stake alignment The south alignment was made up of five stakeholes; C298, C300, C302, C322 and C323 (Figures 114-116). As with the hut, the stakeholes indicated the use of wattle walls. However, as only a single line of stakeholes was present the structure would have been less stable. This indicated that both north and south alignments were most likely to be simple vertical walls and that the gap between them was unroofed. There was no indication of stakeholes in the gap between the terminals at the south-west end of the two alignments, suggesting that this end was open.

Figure 117: North-east facing section of C537.

Figure 118: North-west facing section of C541 and C539. C537 had a diameter of 0.12m and a depth of 0.25m, with a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flat base. It contained a single fill, F536, dark brown, friable sandy silt with a high charcoal content. C539 lay 1m to the east of C537; it had a diameter of 0.09m and a depth of 0.23m: while the cut was similar to C537, the base was “V” shaped. The fill, F538, was also similar to that of C537. The last stakehole, C541, lay 0.30m to the north-east of C539. It had a diameter of 0.09m and a depth of 0.11m, and while the cut was similar to C537 it was partially cut into the underlying bedrock. C541 contained a single fill F540; dark brown, friable silty sand with some minor charcoal flecking.

Figure 114: South-east facing section of C302.

Figure 115: South-east facing section of C323 and C298.

The final feature of the four, C535 (Figure 119), lay 1m to the west of C537. It was a shallow circular pit with a diameter of 0.50m and a depth of 0.15m. It had a gradual top break of slope, gently sloping sides and a concave base. It was filled by F534, light red-brown, compact sandy clay

Figure 116: South-east facing section of C300 and C322.

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diameter, both delineated by gullies and postholes, and containing central hearths. The site at Meadowlands did not, however, contain any ‘Food Vessel’ type pottery.

which contained a small amount of charcoal and a high quantity of small to large stones and pebbles.

Looking to the wider British context it can be seen that although there were a small number of solidly built permanent structures dating to the early Bronze Age, at Gwithian, Cornwall (Megaw 1976 and Nowakowsjki 2004) and Brean Down, Somerset (Bell 1990) for example, the most typical structures were light-weight, temporary dwellings represented by stakehole clusters (Waddell 1998; Pollard 2006). These sites include Cranbourne Chase, Dorset (Barret 1991), King Barrow Ridge, Wiltshire (Richards 1990) and Easton Down, Wiltshire (Stone 1933). It was only by the beginning of the middle Bronze Age (1600BC) that clear evidence emerges for systematic house construction. This would suggest that the lightweight structures recorded at Ballintaggart were most likely to be of an early (2500-1600BC), rather than middle Bronze Age date and from the ‘food vessel’ pottery it must be assumed that the structures dated after 2000BC.

Figure 119: South-west facing section of C535. The stakeholes may have been part of a wattle wall which acted as an extra windbreak for the circular house or were part of a larger structure of which no further evidence survived. The function of the pit was unclear. Discussion of Campsite 1 The only dating evidence from Campsite 1 came in the form of the artefactual remains. Some 47 sherds of ‘food vessel’ type pottery were recovered from this area. The ‘food vessel’ type is known in two forms, bowl and vase. Both appear to have developed from the ‘Beaker’ vessels of the first Bronze Age people in Ireland, the transition from ‘Beaker’ to ‘Food Vessel’ occurring around 2000 BC (Herity and Eogan 1977). The use of this type of vessel continued up to 1400BC. The archaeological record shows that this type of vessel most regularly appears as a form of grave good (O’Kelly 1989; Parker Pearson 1994). However, the fact that a relatively large number of burial sites have been identified compared with few habitation sites means that this interpretation is considerably biased and it is likely that the ‘Food Vessels’ were as much a domestic item as a ritual one.

The people who built these structures (Figure 120) may have inhabited the site at the same time as the people who constructed Campsite 2; they may also have made the structured ritual depositions identified at the south of the excavated area. However, as there is no stratigraphic relationship between these sets of features, it is not possible to produce a definitive statement. Indeed it is as likely that they are unrelated and that their construction is separated by many centuries. 2.3.3

Permanent or semi-permanent settlements where ‘Food vessels’ have been recorded include Dalkey Island, Co. Dublin (Liversage 1968), Ballynagilly, Co. Tyrone (ApSimon 1969), Enagh, Co. Londonderry (McSparran 2005), Lough Gur, Co. Limerick (Grogan 1987) and Coney Island, Co. Antrim (Addyman 1965). Of these sites only Coney Island and Lough Gur had identifiable associated buildings: Coney Island had two small rectangular houses measuring 6.1m x 2.71m and 3.35m x 2.75m, while Lough Gur had a rectangular house which measured 8.2m x 6.4m. The remainder presented either no structural evidence or a number of pits and stakeholes which could not be resolved into a particular structure. Sherds of ‘food vessels’ have also been recovered from a number of seasonally occupied sandhill sites, though these sandhill sites contained no identifiable structural remains (O’Riordan 1993).

Early Bronze Age Campsite 2

A second early Bronze Age campsite was identified 20m to the east-north-east of the cemetery ring ditches (Figures 6 and 121, Plate 25). It was formed from a group of related features: C23, C32, C34, C36, C38, C41, C44, C48, C50 C52, C54 and C56. It was not however possible to deduce probable structures from these features. Aligned Postholes Three postholes were aligned along a north-north-west to south-south-east axis. Posthole C44 was oval in plan, 0.40m x 0.21m and orientated north-west to south-east with a depth of 0.12m (Figure 122). It contained a single fill F43, which contained a number of packing stones within friable, brown, fine, sandy clay. It lay 1.67m to the north-north-west of posthole C38. C38 measured 0.19m x 0.13m, was orientated north to south and 0.10m deep (Figure 123). C38 also contained a single fill, F37, friable, brown silty clay with small stone inclusions and a small amount of charcoal, but no packing stones. C38 lay 1.46m to the north-north-west of C39. C39 was almost circular, (0.16m x 0.15m), with a depth of 0.11m (Figure 124). It contained a single fill, F40,

Coney Island and Lough Gur are two of only three Irish examples of early Bronze Age habitation sites from the ‘Food Vessel’ period (2000-1400BC) which contained identifiable buildings. A further site at Meadowlands, Downpatrick, Co. Down (Pollock and Waterman 1964) had two round houses, one 4m in diameter, and one 7m in

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Feature C34 (Figure 129) was a shallow oval pit (0.62m x 0.27m), orientated east to west and 0.12m deep. It lay 1.50m east of C38. The top break of slope was sharp in the north and south and gradual elsewhere, with steeply sloping sides and a flat base. It contained a single fill, F33; friable, brown, silty clay, with flecks of charcoal and occasional mediumsized stones throughout.

40 stones ranging from pebbles to fist sized. Excavation of this fill allowed the recovery of sixty-five sherds of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/55/18, 31), representing four vessels (#6, #7, #8 and #15, of which #8 was decorated). Also recovered were a small flint nodule (FN#AE/04/55/30); a bipolar flint core refit (FN#26, AX35.51); and a quantity of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/55/28). These were all indicative of a deliberate deposition and backfilling.

Figure 122: North-west facing section through C44.

Figure 123: North facing section through C38.

Figure 124: North-west facing section through C39.

Figure 125: West facing section through C50.

Figure 121: Post-excavation plan of Campsite 2. Feature C41 (Figure 128) was a triangular pit, orientated east to west. It measured 1.25m x 0.58m and was 0.19m deep, lying c.0.5m east of C32. The top break of slope was sharp to the north, gradual elsewhere with steep sides and a concave base. C41 contained a single fill, F42, a friable, dark brown silty clay, with a moderate amount of flecks of charcoal, occasional small and medium-sized stones, and four pieces of prehistoric pottery (FN#AE/04/55/21 and 34) which were part of a Neolithic bowl (vessel #10) and a Bronze Age vase urn (vessel #17).

Figure 126: North-west facing section through C48.

Aligned Pits in this area This alignment ran east from C38 of the first alignment, outlined above. Figure 127: South facing section through C32.

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Non-aligned features in this area Feature C52 (Figure 132) was a roughly circular stone socket (0.65m x 0.6m) with a depth of 0.20m which lay 0.5m to the north of C50. A single fill had accumulated, F51: brown, silty clay with occasional charcoal flecks and contained five sherds of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/55/84, vessels #21, #22, #23 and #24).

Figure 128: North facing section of C41.

Figure 129: North facing section through C34. Figure 132: South facing section through C52. C54 (Figure 133) was a small oval, north to south orientated stakehole. It measured 0.15m x 0.10m, with a depth of 0.14m and lay 0.60m to the east of C44. C54 was filled by F53: loose brown, silty clay with a little charcoal flecking and numerous packing stones. Figure 130: North facing section through C23. Feature C23 (Figure 130) was an elongated pit, orientated north-west to south-east, which lay 0.3m to the east of C34. It was 1.12m x 0.50m with a depth of 0.21m. The top break of slope was sharp leading to steeply sloping sides in the south-west; all other slopes were gentle with an irregular base. C23 contained a single fill, F22. This was friable, brown, silty clay, with a moderate amount of charcoal and numerous stones throughout, ranging from pebbles to larger stones, c.0.20m in diameter. The fill also contained eight sherds of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/55/20, vessels #9 and #29, both undecorated).

Figure 133: North facing section through C54. Feature C56 (Figure 134) was a large pit which lay approximately 2m to the north of the group. It measured 2.72m x 0.98m, was orientated east to west and was 0.32m deep. The top break of slope was sharp, leading to moderately sloping sides, except to the east, which was steeply sloping and had an irregular base. C56 contained a single fill, F55; compact, dark brown, silty clay with a moderate amount of charcoal and stone inclusions of various sizes from 0.05m to 0.30m. Excavation of this fill resulted in the recovery of 11 sherds of prehistoric pottery (FN#AE/04/55/24 and 25, vessels #11, #12 and #13, Neolithic bowls, and vessel #15, a Bronze Age vase).

Figure 131: South facing section through C36. Feature C36 (Figure 131) was a sub-rectangular pit, 0.90m x 0.56m, orientated east to west and 0.26m deep. It lay 0.40m to the east of C23. The top break of slope was sharp with steeply sloping sides, a flat base and an elongated “U” shaped profile. C36 contained a single fill, F35; friable brown, silty clay, with moderate charcoal flecking, occasional small and large stones and two sherds of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/55/85, vessel #25).

Figure 134: North facing section through C56. Discussion of Campsite 2 A number of related features, C23, C32, C34, C36, C38, C39, C41, C44, C46, C48, C50, C52 and C54 were located c.20m east-north-east of the cemetery ring ditches.

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This group of features did not have an arrangement which could be resolved into an identifiable structure. As noted in the discussion for Campsite 1 this is the general trend in early Bronze Age settlement sites.

This date also overlaps the date for the southern pit complex and the pits C60 and C61, indicating that activity on the site did not end with the early Neolithic houses but continued intermittently through the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age before reoccurring in the middle to late Bronze Age. The area was a good position between a lake and a lake/bog rich in natural resources, fish, birds, clay for pottery manufacture, and wood and plant material. It is probable that people continued to visit the area to exploit the available resources rather than living on this peninsula as they did in the early Neolithic period. This exploitation of all available resources is common practice in a subsistence economy.

The pottery from this campsite was a mix of Neolithic and early Bronze Age types. The presence of the Neolithic sherds can be considered to be remnant material from earlier activity as they were found within the same matrix as the early Bronze Age pottery. The Bronze Age pottery was primarily of the ‘vase urn’ type but was also represented by ‘food vessel’ types. ‘Vase urns’ and ‘food vessel’ types appear within the archaeological record during the same period (2000-1400BC), and are often found on the same sites, suggesting that they were in use contemporaneously. Of the early Bronze Age settlement sites recorded in Ireland only the site at Enagh, Co. Londonderry (McSparron 2005) had positively identified ‘Vase Urn’ type pottery.

2.4

Middle Bronze Age Activity

2.4.1

Introduction to Ring Ditch Cemetery Complex

The Bronze Age cemetery at Ballintaggart (Figure 6, Plates 26 and 27) took the form of a complex of small barrows lying some 10m to the south-east of the three Neolithic houses. The cemetery consisted of eight central cremation burials, each surrounded by an individual circular ditch ranging in diameter from less than 2m in Ring Ditch 3 (RD 3) to over 6m in RD 2 (Figure 135).

A radiocarbon determination from pit C32 produced a measurement of 4060±80 BP (Beta 217346) giving a date range of 2870 to 2330 Cal BC, the transitional period between the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (Figure 8 & Appendix 7). This date is inconsistent with the known chronology of pottery types, as both ‘Food Vessels’ as well as ‘Vase Urns’ are generally accepted as dating between 2000 and 1400BC. Although it is possible that the radiocarbon date is contemporary to the pot, it is more likely that it came from residual material deposited from an unknown source during the later Neolithic or very early Bronze Age. This is known as the ‘old wood effect’ where an early date may be provided by significantly older wood being deposited within archaeological features and then being selected for dating (Warner 1987).

Another cremation burial, formally marked by four postholes surrounding the central burial, was located between RD 6 and RD 7. A second was located 12m to the south-west within (or below) RD 2. The nine structures were closely associated within a 900m2 area (Figure 135). Four of the burials RD 4, 5, 6 and 7 were aligned on a south-east to north-west axis in a row 20m long. This alignment appeared to point towards the lowest point in the higher land to the south-east: a dip in the nearby hillside, between Ballintaggart Hill and Water Hill (Plate 27).

Several of the ‘vase urns’ recovered contained internal residues, indicators of either cooking or storage (the storage vessel having been burnt) suggesting that this campsite was principally involved with domestic rather than ritual activity. It is possible that this campsite and Campsite 1 were occupied during the same period and that the people occupying this campsite dug the ritual pits to the west. However, this cannot be confirmed as there was no direct stratigraphic relationship between these features and, therefore, many centuries may separate them.

The four-post structure was generally contemporary with the barrows, and was respected by both RD 6 and RD 7. The other four-post structure was deliberately overlain by RD 2 and again was contemporary with the cemetery. Ring ditches RD 1, RD 2 and RD 3 lay to the south-west and ran parallel to this alignment; RD 8 lay 10m to the northeast. Four of the cremations within these barrows were contained in individual funerary vessels, while the remaining cremations were direct insertions into central pits. All the funerary ware was undecorated coarse ware, associated with the middle/late Bronze Age and dating to the latter half of the 2nd millennium BC. Three different pottery styles were represented: a bucket-type urn; a vase; and two urns. Several of the burials contained evidence of disturbance, consistent with insertion of a later second burial.

It is suggested that this is a possible habitation site but the evidence is not compelling and activity associated with one or more of the ring ditch burials (RD 3 produced a measurement of 4850±50BP [Beta-213584] giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma, of 1620 to 1390 Cal BC) cannot be totally ruled out. It is however, possible to recognise some potentially related structural features from the stake and posthole alignments; also, there were a number of pits suggesting established human activity.

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Plate 26: North facing section through C56.

Plate 27: Cemetery looking south-east, RD 4 to RD 7 aligned on the gap between Water Hill and Ballintaggart Hill (the hill in mid-ground is a spoil dump relating to the road works).

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Figure 135: Plan showing ring ditches.

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2.4.2

have been deliberate, but was more likely to have been the result of erosion and slumping of the central mound.

Ring Ditch 1 (RD 1)

RD 1 was the most southerly ring ditch (Figures 6 and 136, Plate 28) lying 13m south-east of RD 7. The ring ditch was circular in plan, with an outer diameter of 4m and an inner diameter of 2.5m east to west and 2.8m north to south. The circular cremation pit, C28 was centrally located with a diameter of 0.7m. Charcoal from the central burial produced a measurement of 3020±50BP (Beta 216911) giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma, of 1380 to 1020 cal BC, placing it in the Bishopsland Phase of the Middle Bronze Age (Figure 8 & Appendix 7).

Plate 28: RD 1, south-east quadrant of ditch C23, midexcavation, looking west. Evidence for the ditch having lain open was suggested by F31, light brown, friable silt containing some charcoal flecking, small stones and grit. This fill was uncovered at the base and on the inner curve of the ditch, but did not occur consistently, being confined mainly to the west and north. The fill was the result of primary silting of an open feature with a mound of earth in close proximity, caused by weather erosion and soil creep. This was probably exacerbated by the site being open to the south-west, with a generally prevailing west-south-westerly wind direction (Mitchell and Ryan 2001, 100-101).

Figure 136: Mid-excavation plan of RD1. The ditch, C23 was probably dug as a single event. Both the width and depth varied, which may reflect variations in the sub-soil, surface topography or the enthusiasm of those digging it. The average depth was 0.31m, while the greatest depth was to the north (0.37m), and the shallowest was at the southern end (0.20m). The variation of width may be a result of erosion or human inconsistency. The average width was 0.72m, being widest to the east (0.90m) and narrowest to the south (0.48m). The ditch had sharp outer top breaks of slope, leading to steep sides, and all inner top breaks of slope were sharp, except in the east, which was gradual. The slope of the inner sides was gradual to the east, steep elsewhere and the profile varied between “U” and “V” shaped. The ditch contained three fills. The upper fill, F4, was dark brown, friable, silty clay, similar to topsoil, and it filled the majority of the ditch. A crudely flaked concave end scraper (FN#9, AX38.139) recovered from the fill is typical of the Bronze Age. F4 also contained a lens of unsorted stones, F36, within its matrix. These were irregular, angular to subrounded and ranged in size from pebbles to fist-sized (Figure 136, Plate 28). They were often lying heaped, which may

Plate 29: RD 1, post-excavation, looking south. Central burial The central pit was identified as having two cuts (Figures 136, 137 and 139, Plate 29). The upper cut, C28, had a diameter of 0.70m and a depth of 0.20m, with a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flat base. The centre point of C28 was further to the north than that of C94. C28 contained two fills, F5 and F66, the upper of which, F66,

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appeared to have been reopened, by C28, for a second insertion. This may explain the shattered pot and the offset relationship between C94 and C28. C94 contained a single fill, F132 which was black, loose silt, with a substantial

charcoal content and also a substantial quantity of burnt human bone: 588.3g. The bone most likely represented a single adult female, aged approximately 25-35 (Appendix 3).

Figure 139: South facing section through RD 1. that F29 was the remains of a funerary structure similar to that within RD 2, but this is purely conjecture.

The osteological report does not, however, clearly support the proposition of a later second burial (Appendix 3). It was initially suggested on archaeological grounds that this burial contained two separate burials. However, upon osteological analysis, and lack of bone duplication, it appears more likely that the burial was that of a single gracile adult, probably female, aged between 25 and 45 at death, cremated in a high temperature pyre (between 645o and 1,200o C).

2.4.3

Ring Ditch 2 (RD 2)

The second ring ditch, RD 2 (C77), was certainly the most elaborate burial complex although the basic plan was similar to the other ditch-associated burials (Figures 6 and 140, Plates 32 and 33). The ditch C77 was oval in plan, orientated north to south. The dimensions were 6m by 5.20m (outer) and 3.50m by 4m (inner). The oval burial pit, C86 and C153, was centrally located and contained two burials. Around the central pit four postholes were identified, C83, C84, C85, and C87, arranged in a c.1.90m sided square. A number of shallow stakeholes were also identified, surviving as circular charcoal concentrations, with no true depth. Their lack of depth indicates that they were dug through the topsoil, which provided the necessary stability. These features are discussed in detail below. A radiocarbon date from F82, the upper fill of C86, produced a determination of 2990±70BP (Beta-213587) giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1380 to 920 Cal BC (Figure 8). This context provided a date for the second (later) burial. A date was obtained for the primary burial, which produced a determination of 2830±50BP (Beta 224301) giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma, of 1040 to 820 Cal BC (Figure 8).

An alternative theory proposed was that the lower cut C94 was a deliberate narrowing of the upper cut C28 to accept the vessel. Nevertheless, the vessel shattering in situ, by natural agency, seems unlikely. However recent research suggests that by the late Bronze Age the care and skill required for the production of robust domestic pottery was no longer being lavished on vessels intended exclusively for funerary use. Instead roughly made or poorly fired pots appear with greater frequency in barrow burials of this period (Chapple 2001 and pers. comm.). The report identifies the remains from C94, F132 and C28, F5 as possibly female aged 25-35 years at death. If this was a single individual the combined bone weight of 1,204g would fit well with the range of bone weight for females of 952-2,278g. In summary, it is likely that the cremated remains of a single female were interred, and the containing funerary vessel was broken upon insertion. This may have been deliberate, or accidental, possibly the result of a small vessel and a large quantity of cremation material. It is possible that C28 was dug around C94 to enable the pot to be buried with greater ease. A small charcoal concentration in the form of compact, charcoal flecked, grey-black sandy silt F29 in the south-east quadrant was uncovered on the upper surface of F4 within C23, the ditch. It was oval, orientated south-east to northwest, measuring 0.4m by 0.2m, 0.07m thick and contained two fragments of burnt bone, “1 possible human parietal” (Appendix 3). This was not regarded as a secure context. However, it may be a token burial, the remains of a more significant deposit disturbed by recent agricultural activity or it may relate to the central burial. There is also a possibility

Plate 32: RD 2, post-excavation, looking north-east.

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(FN#AE/04/077/226). These pieces were identified as “4 human cranial vaults”, (Appendix 3). They may have been from the disturbed central burial discussed below, or a token deposit of one or more individuals. From the south-east quadrant a number of lithic pieces were recovered (FN#77) including: a smoothing pebble (AX38.145); a flint scraper (AX.146); a scalar flint flake (AX.147); and two flint fragments (AX.148). The quality of the scraper and a scalar flake associates them both with Bronze Age activity. Also recovered was burnt flint micro-debitage, a flint fragment and a bipolar flint core (another indicator of Bronze Age activity) from the east quadrant, (FN#79/223, AX38.142, 143 and 144). There were fragments of Bronze Age pottery from the south-west quadrant (FN#AE/04/77/78/224) and three further flint finds, recovered during soil processing: a fragment (AX38.140); and two pieces of micro-debitage (AX38.14).

Plate 33: RD2, mid-excavation, showing possible capstone in ditch C77, looking north. The ditch C77 had a width of 0.66m-0.84m, a depth varying between 0.45m and 0.23m, and was cut directly into the subsoil as a single event. The cut had a sharp top break of slope and steep sides, while the base was “V” shaped. C77 contained two fills, F76 and F667 (Figures 143 and 144, Plate 33). Fill F76 was dark brown, friable, silt with a small amount of charcoal flecking and contained F667, an assortment of angular to sub-rounded stones, ranging in size from pebbles to fist sized. Their arrangement was similar to F31 in RD 1. A single, large elongated stone, F154, was recovered near the surface of F76, in the south-west quadrant (measuring 0.86m x 0.58m x 0.17m). It was a grey-blue, undressed local fieldstone (Figures 140 and 141, Plates 3234) and may have been a capstone for the primary burial.

Figure 140: Mid-excavation plan of the RD 2 outer ditch, with probable capstone in situ, arrowed, south-west quadrant. Central burial The upper, secondary central burial was in C86, (0.94m x 0.58m), an oval pit, 0.22m deep with a moderately sharp top break of slope, moderately steep sides and a slightly concave base (Figures 141 and 142, Plate 34). This cut contained a single fill, F82, grey-black, fine, friable, sandy silt, with

A number of artefacts were recovered from the fills. This included burnt bone from the south-west quadrant (FN#AE/04/77/75), the south-east quadrant (FN#AE/04/77/76), and the north-west quadrant

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completely remodelled. Tooth remains from this cremation suggested that he had suffered from a low grade chronic tooth socket infection. The cremated remains showed no sign of degenerative joint disease but the tooth loss suggests an age of over 35.

original burial (C153/F112) to create room for a later insertion F82 within C86. None of the bone fragments could be identified. The initial proposition of two separate burials C153/F112 being the first and C86/F82 being the second was confirmed by osteological analysis of the remains. There was duplication of bones and the second cremation was more robust and more eroded. Both were cremated in a high temperature pyre (between 645oC and 1,200oC) as the bones were white/pale grey.

The second cremation weighed 419.6g and had also been cremated in a high temperature pyre. A robust zygomatic arch suggested that this burial too was male. Osteophytes and porosity were identified on the thoracic vertebrae and enthesopathy of the rectus femoris tendon was identified on the anterior patella. This suggested that the male had the early stages of degenerative joint disease and a severe limp due to damage to the ligaments of the knee. This person was also likely to have been over 35 at death

The first cremation totalled 539.3g, suggesting that it was very incomplete – either a token burial or an incomplete collection. The robust occipital protuberance suggested that the cremation was male, who had lost all his right lower molars and his left 1st and 2nd molars prior to death, as the right sockets had begun to remodel and the left had been

Figure 143: East facing section through RD 2.

Figure 144: South facing section through RD2. had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a concave base with a “U” shaped profile cut directly into the subsoil. It contained two fills, F81 and F136. The outer, F81, was dark brown, friable silt with numerous packing stones within it but no charcoal or artefacts. This surrounded F136, the post pipe: dark brown, friable silt with 0.7g of unidentifiable burnt bone and negligible flecks of charcoal.

Four postholes The four postholes, C83, C84, C85 and C87, in the central platform area formed a c.1.9m square around the central burial (Figures 140 and 141, Plate 34). Posthole C83 lay c.0.80m south of the nearest point of C77. It was oval in plan (0.41m x 0.28m), orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.21m. The top break of slope was sharp, the sides were steep and the base was concave with a “U” shaped profile. The posthole was cut directly into the subsoil and contained a single fill, F79; dark brown, friable silt with no charcoal or artefacts.

Posthole C87 was c.0.80m east of C77 and was oval in plan, 0.40m x 0.34m, orientated north-east to south-west, with a depth of 0.26m. C77 had a sharp top break of slope with steep sides, a concave base and a “U” shaped profile cut directly into the subsoil. It contained a single fill, F78, brown, friable silt with high charcoal content.

Posthole C84 lay c.0.40m east of C77, was oval in plan (0.32m x 0.27m), orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.14m. The cut had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a concave base with a “U” shaped profile cut directly into the subsoil. It contained a single fill, F80; dark brown, friable silt with a high charcoal content and fragments of burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/81). These fragments weighed 0.3g and were unidentifiable.

The fragmentary remains of burnt bone in two of the postholes may indicate deliberate ritual deposition although the amounts involved are so small that chance contamination is more likely. The primary burial was most probably associated with the four postholes. These were positioned to form a square c.3.80m across. This was a very similar pattern to the four-poster burial described below. Furthermore, the possible date for this feature, overlaps significantly with the four-poster burial between RD 6 and

Posthole C85 was c.0.80m north of C77, oval in plan, 0.38m x 0.25m, orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.22m. It

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certainly caused the damage to the urn. While the archaeological evidence indicated later disturbance of the central burial, the osteological evidence did not identify a second individual. Therefore, the later disturbance was not associated with a second burial, and other causes must be considered, such as later accidental disturbance, or later deliberate disturbance associated with desecration or veneration.

Figure 146: West facing section through RD 3. 2.4.5

Ring Ditch 4 (RD4)

RD 4 lay at the south-western end of the four aligned ring ditches. As with the other ditches it had a central burial (Figures 6, 147 and 148). The ditch, C117, was circular with a diameter of c.3.15m. The width varied between 0.22m and 0.46m, yielding an internal diameter of c.2.47m. There was considerable variation in the survival depth of the ditch from 0.20m to 0.08m, which may be due to initial topography or differential disturbance. C117 had a sharp top break of slope on all sides except the west, which was gradual. The sides were steep in the south and east, and gradual in the north and west. The base was flat, while the profile of the ditch cut was “U” shaped, cut directly into the subsoil. C117 contained a single fill, F116, which was brown, compact, silty clay, with little charcoal but numerous angular and subangular stones with similar sizes and positions to those recovered in RD 1. Within F116 a number of artefacts were recovered. From the south-east quadrant there were: two pieces of burnt quartz (FN#40); a bipolar core (AX38.155); a scalar flake (AX38.156); and a flint scraper (FN#37 AX38.157). From the north-west and south-west quadrants were: a struck cortical flake (FN#38 AX38.159); and a fragment (FN#39 AX38.159). Also recovered were sherds of a Bronze Age pottery vessel (FN#AE/04/77/41), (a vase food vessel), from the north-west quadrant.

Figure 147: Post-excavation plan of RD 4. A radiocarbon determination from the upper fill of the central burial pit produced a measurement of 2750±70BP (Beta-216909) giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma, of 1000 to 790 Cal BC (Figure 8). As the central burial was disturbed in prehistory, a second date was determined using a sample of bone from the burial. This produced a measurement of 2810±50BP (Beta-223392) giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1190 to 900 Cal BC (Figure 8). This overlap of 100 years is within the range of statistical error for radiocarbon dating. However, one of two explanations remains possible. The first is that there was a second token insertion at a very similar time to the primary (urn) burial though a second individual was not identified from the bone residue. The second possibility is that the disturbance was later and was not associated with funerary activity. Only the south and east sides of C183 survived but it had almost certainly originally been circular in plan, as it was the cut for the urn and had a diameter of 0.60m and a surviving depth of 0.35m. It had a sharp top break of slope with very steeply sloping sides, a flat base and, if complete, the profile would have been “U” shaped. There was a single fill, F146 within C183: grey-black, loose, ashy silt, with a high charcoal content. This was around and within the pot, and also spread to the north, partially covering F168, beneath

Plate 36: RD 4 post-excavation, looking east. Central burial The central burial was defined by two cuts, C183 and C118 (Figures147-149, Plates 36-38). C183 was the cut that produced an undecorated domestic coarse ware urn funerary vessel (FN#AE/04/77/28, Figures 149, Plates 37 and 38) which contained the primary burial. There was a secondary intrusion, identified as C118, which cut C183 and almost

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1020-800 Cal BC for the lower fill, F201 (Figure 8). A radiocarbon determination from the fill of the ring ditch produced a measurement of 2800±35BP (Chrono UB-7287) giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1044 to 845 Cal BC (Figure 8). These dates overlap and are similar to that obtained for RD 4 and suggest that the ring ditch was probably constructed after 1000 BC.

analysis and the results indicated that its constituents were not consistent with Bronze Age glass (Warner 2006 pers. comm.). F115 was light grey-brown, loose, ashy silt with a high charcoal content. This was the upper fill of C118 and partly overlay F146, which was associated with C183. It contained small fragments of cremated bone (FN#AE/04/77/35). The bone weighed 3.9g and contained, “5 human cranial vaults” (Appendix 3). Other artefacts recovered were 10 sherds of pottery (FN#AE/04/77/33) from the urn. There were various quartz and flint fragments (FN#34 and 45) which included: a quartzite polishing stone (AX38.150); burnt micro-debitage (AX38.151); micro-debitage (AX38.152); quartz scalar flakes (AX38.153); and a quartz bipolar core (AX38.154). These probably indicate deliberate deposition, “grave goods are scarce although flint flakes and animal bones were deposited in some graves” (Cooney and Grogan 1997, 65), commenting on burial practices in the developed middle Bronze Age.

Plate 39: RD 5 post-excavation, looking south.

Figure 150: Post-excavation plan of RD 5.

Plate 38: Reconstruction of the funerary urn FN#AE/04/77/28 recovered from RD 4, central burial C183. 2.4.6

The ditch was circular with an outer diameter of 2.80m, a width of 0.60m and a depth of 0.40m. The top break of slope was sharp, with steep sides, a concave base and a “U” shaped profile cut as a single event directly into the sub-soil. There were five associated fills, the basal of which, F180, was brown, mottled, friable silt, 0.10m-0.15m wide and 0.01m0.02m thick, with no charcoal but containing a single sherd of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/77/103). This layer was deposited during the initial silting up of the open ditch. F143 was above F180 and was orange, friable, silty sand, containing a few small stones but no artefacts or charcoal and

Ring Ditch 5 (RD 5)

RD 5, C129 lay 2m south-east of RD 4, and was the second from the north-west of the four aligned burial ditches (Figures 6, 150and 151, Plate 39). The radiocarbon dates from charcoal in the central burial, C131, produced measurements of 2860±70BP (Beta-217352) and 2760±60BP (Beta 213589) giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma, of 1140-820 Cal BC for the upper fill, F147, and

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south-east of RD 6. It also contained a cremation associated with a funerary vessel, an undecorated domestic coarse ware urn. Both the urn and its contents were undisturbed prior to excavation. A radiocarbon determination for the central burial produced a measurement of 2921±34BP (Chrono UB7289) giving a date range, when calibrated to 2 sigma, of 1258 to 1012 Cal BC (Figure 8).

also gradual. The base sloped from north to south and was deepest at the southern end. C122 was filled by F121, mottled, dark brown, compact, silty clay, with reasonable amounts of charcoal and a quantity of burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/93). A heavily utilised bipolar core (FN#342, AX38.169) and a flint sub-circular scraper (FN#113, AX38.172) were recovered in the immediate area south of RD 6, as surface finds. These may have been the result of truncation of RD 6 and its associated features.

Plate 43: RD 7 post-excavation, looking west.

Plate 42: RD 6 central burial C122, mid-excavation, looking south. External pit Lying 0.50m to the east of RD 6 was a small oval pit, C169 (Figure 198), orientated north-east to south-west (0.34m x 0.23m and 0.11m deep). The cut was not fully defined, although there was an angled overhang to the north, possibly as a result of an angled stake being wiggled when inserted or removed. The fill, F155, was black, compact, silt with a high charcoal content concentrated towards the centre of the fill. It also contained a few small burnt stones.

Figure 155: Post-excavation plan of RD 7. The total weight of bone was 670.3g and the grey-white colour of the bone indicated that it had been cremated in a high temperature pyre (between 645o and 1,200oC). According to the osteological report the bone represented a single individual aged approximately 13-18 (Appendix 3).

Figure 154: South facing section through C169. 2.4.8

Ring Ditch 7 (RD 7)

The ditch, C159, was almost circular in plan (4.20m x 4.08m), orientated roughly east to west and with a width that varied from 0.80m to 1.20m and varied in depth from 0.35m to 0.50m. The top break of slope was sharp and the sides

RD 7, C159, was the fourth of the group of four aligned ring ditches (Figures 11 and 155, Plate 43) and lay 5m to the

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were near vertical. The base was concave to the north-west and south-east, with a “U” shaped profile while to the northeast and south-west the base was narrow with a “V” shaped profile. There were numerous stones embedded in the subsoil, following the line of the cut. The relationship between ditch fills in C159 was similar to those found in RD 1: however, there was evidence of secondary activity preserved in the ring ditch, which was believed to be associated with the central burial. This is discussed below.

AX38.179). The flint artefacts have been identified as being typical of the Bronze Age (Appendix 1). There were also unidentifiable burnt bone fragments recovered (FN#AE/04/77/63 and 65). The charcoal concentration within F158, and its associated artefacts, may represent a secondary token deposition. The diffused nature of the artefacts within F158 indicated that the deposition had not been placed in a well cut and defined pit, although it is possible that they were deposited within an organic container which has not survived. It is impossible to state categorically whether they were deposited in the ditch fill deliberately or arrived there due to the erosion and slumping of a central mound.

The basal fill, F670, was virtually stone- free, friable, brown, silty clay, with some flecks of charcoal. Fills F158 and F699 were probably originally part of the mound above the central burial. Above F670 was a second fill, F158; brown, friable, silty clay, with a high charcoal content. The depth varied from 0.35m to 0.50m. Some of the charcoal survived as unidentifiable pieces of burnt wood. F158 also contained a quantity of angular and sub-angular grey stones (F669) of various sizes (from 0.03m to 0.25m). The stones were not spread evenly throughout F158 but occurred toward the middle and inner edge of the ditch cut, possibly indicating slumping of the central mound. Fill F158 also indicated slumping had occurred, following initial silting up. There was a concentration of charcoal in the north-west quadrant of F158, within which were a number of artefacts, including 15 sherds of Bronze Age pottery FN#AE/04/77/46, 60, 64), three of which were identified as Vessel 183. There were also seven assorted pieces of flint consisting of: two bipolar cores (FN# 47, AX38.175 and AX38.180); two flint fragments (FN# 57, AX38.176); two broken flakes (FN#57 AX38.181 and FN#58 AX38.182); and a sub-circular scraper (FN#58 AX38.183). There were also several quartz finds including: a burnishing stone (FN#59, AX38.174); two bipolar cores (FN#61, AX38.173 and FN#57 AX38.177); a scalar flake (FN#57 AX38.178); and a fragment (FN#57

The charcoal concentration within F158, and its associated artefacts, may represent a secondary token deposition. The diffused nature of the artefacts within F158 indicated that the deposition had not been placed in a well cut and defined pit, although it is possible that they were deposited within an organic container which has not survived. It is impossible to state categorically whether they were deposited in the ditch fill deliberately or arrived there due to the erosion and slumping of a central mound. A second charcoal concentration, F224, lay in the westsouth-west quadrant of the ditch. This was 0.50m sub-square with a thickness of 0.18m, which appeared to have slumped into the ditch. It was friable, brown-black, silty clay, with a substantial charcoal content and containing a flint scraper (FN#AE/04/77/58). This material formed a lens within F158, but it was not defined by a clear cut. This may be the result of a discrete feature which slumped with F158 into the ditch from the central burial area, rather than a deliberate deposition.

Figure 156: South facing section through RD 7. cut and an un-worked flat stone, F199, sealed the urn and its contents. This stone measured 0.28m x 0.28m x 0.05-0.12m.

Central burial The central burial cut, C161, was almost circular (1.23m x 1.20m), with a depth of 0.18m to 0.20m (Figures 155 and 156, Plate 43). C161 had a sharp top break of slope leading to steep sides and a flat base. A second cut, C198, was centrally located within C161 and contained a funerary urn (FN#AE/04/77/48), the in situ capstone (F199), and fill F197. C198 was circular with a diameter of 0.48m and a depth of 0.30m. It had a sharp top break of slope with steep sides, a concave base and a “U” shaped profile. The funerary urn (Figure 157, Plates 44 and 45) was positioned within this

Within C161 were two fills, F196 and F160. F196 was the lower and covered F197, the upper fill of C198. Fill F196 also covered the capstone F199. F196 was very similar in composition to F197 in all aspects but colour: it was light brown silt with some orange mottling, some small stone inclusions, but no charcoal or artefacts. The upper fill, F160, was friable, brown, silty clay with a high charcoal content and contained two artefacts: one sherd of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/77/29); and a burnt flint fragment (FN#30 AX38.184).

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nodule (FN#317 AX38.186); a burnt fragment (FN#314 AX38.188); and a single utilised burnt flake (FN#314 AX38.1890). All of these artefacts were consistent with Bronze Age activity.

funerary vessel; in this case a vase. The vase had been truncated in prehistory when is unknown and its contents were disturbed prior to excavation; however, a significant quantity of cremated material survived. A large pit was found underneath the eastern quadrant of the ditch, C312. A radiocarbon determination from the central burial produced a measurement of 2871±34BP (Chrono UB-7290) giving a date range, when calibrated to 2 sigma, of 1190 to 927 Cal BC (Figure 8).

Plate 46: RD 8, mid-excavation of entire ditch C164, looking south-west. The ditch, C164 was 4.20m in diameter, 1m wide and 0.50m deep. The top break of slope was sharp with near vertical sides except to the north-west and south where it was initially gradual, rapidly becoming steep to near vertical, with a “U” shaped profile. The ditch C164 contained four fills. The basal fill, F187, was compact brown silt, c.0.15m thick, with frequent inclusions of sub-rounded stones (0.100.30m in size) and occasional flecks of charcoal. There were two fills overlying F187: F186 and F163. F186 was a moderately compact, black silty loam with a high charcoal content, which contained c.50% small sub-rounded stones (Plate 46) and produced a single artefact: a sherd of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/77/70).

Figure 158: Mid-excavation plan of RD 8 prior to removal of pit C312. There was sufficient evidence of slumping to indicate abandonment and not deliberate infilling. The fill of RD 8 was similar to that of RD 1, RD 2, and RD 7, containing a significant quantity of stone within the ditch fill. F188 was the upper fill of C164 and sealed all the lower fills, it was brown, compact, silty loam with occasional charcoal flecks.

F163 was compact, dark brown, silty sand, with a low charcoal content and a high percentage of stone inclusions. There were several artefacts recovered from this context: a sherd of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/77/71); a bipolar quartz core (FN#314 AX38.187); and four flint items: a burnt and damaged scraper (FN#317 AX38.185); a split

Figure 159: West facing sections through RD 8.

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0.20m in size. F308 was yellow-orange compact silt with frequent flecks of charcoal and small sub-rounded stones 0.14-0.40m in size. However, post-excavation analysis suggests that C313 was a continuation of C311. Both F309 and F308 were re-deposited layers of disturbed subsoil relating to the activities surrounding the excavation and backfilling of C312. F310 was either soil packed around a post to steady it or backfill associated with a post’s removal (the two are not mutually exclusive). The slope to the west of C312 may also have been scarped to aid insertion or removal of a large timber.

the upper third of the fill. Cut C312 was dug as a pit, possibly to accept a large post. The top break of slope was truncated by C311.

Plate 49: RD 8, pit C312, post-excavation, looking northwest.

Figure 161: North facing section through C312, pit beneath RD 8.

Plate 50: RD 8 and pit C312, post-excavation, looking north-west. Cut C312 was truncated by C311, which was filled by F308. The sides of C311 sloped gradually, cutting C312 and part of F310, at which point it was in turn truncated by C164. F308 was very compact, yellow-orange, sandy silt, with frequent flecks of charcoal. There were 30% inclusions of subrounded stones (0.15-0.20m in size). This fill was almost certainly re-deposited or contaminated subsoil. The cut C164, of burial RD 8 was the last of these cuts. Therefore, C312 was dug and backfilled prior to the digging of the ditch, C164.

Figure 162: Post excavation plan of RD 8, showing associated pit C311-C313. 2.4.10

Four-Poster Burial

The ninth discrete burial within the complex resembled the five spots on a dice, with the burial in the centre (Figures 6, 163-165, Plate 51).

The relationships to the west were more complicated. Cut C311 appears to truncate C313, which was filled by F309. F309 was compact, grey-brown, silty clay, with charcoal flecks and inclusions of sub-rounded stones measuring 0.05-

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post pits and was oval in plan, (0.70m x 0.55m, with a depth of 0.30m). The cut was orientated north to south, with a sharp to moderate top break of slope, gently sloping sides and an elongated “U” shaped profile. Cut C138 contained three fills, F149, F151 and F123. The basal, F149, was friable, brown-black silt, with some charcoal flecking and stone inclusions, and a maximum thickness of 0.22m.

Plate 51: Four-poster burial, post-excavation with stone replaced in C139, looking east. Ballintaggart four-poster was immediately north-west of RD 7: the two monuments respected each other. The radiocarbon determination based on charcoal from F123, the upper fill of the central burial, C138, produced a measurement of 2860±70BP (Beta-213586) giving a date range, when calibrated to 2 sigma of 1270 to 850 Cal BC (Figure 8). This fill was considered to have been the least disturbed. This date may be earlier than RD 4, RD 5 or RD 6 though it is more uncertain as regards RD 7. Therefore, it is likely that at least three of the row of the ring ditch burials respected the four-poster. The four post pits C139, C140, C141 and C142 were located to the south-east, north-east, north-west and south-west of the central burial cut, C138 (Figures 164-165). The maximum span across the outer pits was 2m. The central burial cut, C138, was positioned equidistant from the four

Figure 163: Post-excavation plan of four-poster burial.

Figure 164: South-west facing section through C141, C138 and C139.

Figure 165: South-east facing section through C142, C138 and C140.

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Post pit C141 (Figure 164) was located to the north-west of the central burial, orientated north to south and oval in plan. It measured 0.40m x 0.30m with a depth of 0.25m. The top break of slope was sharp with steep and undulating sides, a concave base and an irregular profile. C141 contained a single fill, F125; friable, brown silt with a low charcoal content, c.10% small stone inclusions and 0.4g of unidentifiable bone.

There were fragments of hazelnut shell (FN# AE/04/77/19 and 22) and pieces of burnt human bone recovered from F149 including teeth and skull fragments, which weighed 272.6g (approximately 10% of that expected from a complete adult cremation). The body had been cremated in a high temperature pyre (between 645oC and 1,200oC). The individual represented was aged approximately 25-45 and was probably female.

Post pit C142 (Figure 165) lay located to the south-west of the central burial. It was oval in plan (0.40m x 0.30m), orientated north to south and 0.30m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope leading to steeply sloping sides, with a sloping base. C142 contained a single fill, F126; brown, friable silt with no charcoal and some stone inclusions. F126 also contained several possible packing stones and fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone weighing 0.4g.

Above F149 was F151, 0.20m thick, friable, brown silt containing occasional small stones and lightly flecked with charcoal. F151 also contained very small fragments of burnt bone. The fragments weighed 12.2g and were human. They were “4 human parietal, 1 human occipital, 5 human cranial vault and other fragments” (Appendix 3). As fill F123 was slightly darker this may indicate that F151 was a unique fill and, therefore, an earlier deposit. The upper fill, F123 had sealed the pit, completely covering F151 and F149. F123 was dark brown, friable, gritty silt with charcoal flecking and stone inclusions. There were also burnt human bone fragments, including teeth, (weight 452g) representing a second individual (FN#AE/04/77/21 and 23) cremated in a high temperature pyre (between 645oC and 1,200o C). This individual was a male aged approximately 25-45 (Appendix 3). The Osteological Report could not definitively either connect or separate the bone recovered from F123 and F151. It suggests that F123 was bone from a second cremation deposit, while F151 was cremation material used to re-seal the lower burial.

There was no evidence of a post pipe within any of the post pits. Evidence of replacement, possibly symbolic, was recorded in post pit C139 suggested by the deposition of the stone F172. 2.4.11

Other Bronze Age Features

There were a small number of additional features in the immediate area of the cemetery (Figures 6 and 135). Pit C20 and Pit C21 Feature C20 was a shallow, oval, north-west to south-east orientated pit. It measured 0.80m x 0.52m and lay c.5m to the south of RD 1 (Figure 166). C20 had a depth of 0.15m, a sharp top break of slope with very gradual sides and a flat base, and an elongated “U” profile cut directly into the subsoil. Two fills were recorded, F24 (lower) and F19 (upper). F24, fine brown silt, was archaeologically sterile. F19 was dark brown silt containing some charcoal flecks (particularly towards the base of the layer), some stones and 15.6g of human burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/4). The bone fragments were from one sub-adult. While the appearance of the fill suggested it had washed in, the presence of a unified bone collection and its proximity to RD 1 suggests it may represent a poorly preserved token burial. Alternatively, if there had been significant disturbance or level reduction it is possible that a ring ditch could have been ploughed out, leaving very little trace. However, this is purely conjecture. This feature was most likely the result of Bronze Age funerary activity.

Post pit C139 (Figure 164) lay to the south-east of the central burial. It was circular in plan, with a diameter of 0.38m and a depth of 0.30m. It had a sharp top break of slope, with steep sides a flat sloping base and a “U” shaped profile. There were some collapsed packing stones at the base of F127, which was friable, brown silt containing a small amount of charcoal, some small stone inclusions and some unidentifiable bone fragments (FN#AE/04/77/20). The concentration of bone was at the base of the fill. F127 also enclosed a single large trapezoidal stone, F172, (0.30m x 0.26m x 0.32m), which projected above the reduced ground level of C139. It appears to have been a deliberate insertion after the removal of the post and was the only post pit to preserve such activity. Post pit C140 (Figure 165) lay to the north-east of the central burial. It was roughly circular in plan with a diameter of 0.30m and depth of 0.20m. It had a sharp top break of slope leading to steep sides and a sloping flat base with a “U” shaped profile. It contained a single fill, F124, which was brown, friable silt with low charcoal content and some small stone inclusions.

Feature C21 was a shallow, irregular, pit orientated northeast to south-west, 0.90m x 0.60m and 0.15m deep (Figure 167). It had a moderate top break of slope leading to very gradually sloping sides and a rounded base, cut directly into the subsoil. C21 contained one fill, F18, which was dark brown, compact, sandy silt, with charcoal staining and

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produced two artefacts: a sandstone hammerstone, pecked with use (FN#2 AX38.132); and a broken polished siltstone axe (FN#11 AX38.130, Plate 52). The artefacts recovered may be associated with either the Neolithic or the Bronze Age but are not diagnostic enough to be certain without a radiocarbon date.

deposited subsoil and contained F7 in its matrix. F7 was comprised of unsorted stones. There were approximately 200 stones, angular and sub-angular, ranging in size from 0.05m to 0.30m in diameter. These may be packing stones to have helped support an upright stone or post. There were no associated artefacts.

Figure 166: East facing section through C20.

Figure 168: North facing section through C25.

Figure 167: North-west facing section through C21.

Plate 53: East facing section of C25 and F7. Pit C257 Feature C257 was an oval pit, (0.43m x 0.31m), orientated north-east to south-west. It lay 40m north of RD 8 and had a depth of 0.07m (Figures 6, 135, 224-226). The top break of slope was sharp, with steeply sloping north-eastern, eastern and southern sides, while the slope to the south-west was insignificant and the base was concave, cut directly into the subsoil. C257 was the remnant of a pit containing an extremely truncated pot (Figures 224-227) with only part of the vessel base surviving. The coarse nature of the fabric, similar to the other funerary vessels, indicated a later Bronze Age date. C257 contained a single fill, F256: light brown, friable, silty clay with charcoal flecking and sherds of the vessel base (FN#AE/04/77/29 and 105).

Plate 52: Broken polished siltstone axe. Both of these features can be reasonably compared to the token burials from Area 9, Derrycraw (AE/05/14), discussed in Chapter 3, and could tentatively be associated with the more formalised burials within the cemetery complex. However, the amount of bone uncovered within these features suggests that they have been badly truncated. Pit C25 Feature C25 was a pit 1.50m in diameter and 0.10m deep (Figure 168, Plate 63). It had a sharp top break of slope leading to gradual; smooth sloping sides and a flat base, with an elongated “U” shaped profile cut directly into the subsoil. Two fills were contained within the cut, F7 and F26. F26 was loose, brown, silty clay which appeared to be re-

Figure 169: South-east facing section of C257 showing pot FN#AE/04/77/29 and 105.

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the same funerary process and again may be the physical remains of a mortuary house, cenotaph, pyre foundations or excarnation platforms, over which the barrow was later constructed. These possibilities will be examined in more detail later.

were cut deep into the subsoil. This sequence also is applicable to the Area 9, Derrycraw barrows.

The nine monuments were in close proximity within a 900m2 square area (Figure 135, Plate 56). Four of the burials, RD 4, 5, 6 and 7, were aligned on a south-east to north-west axis in a row 20m in length. This alignment pointed toward the lowest point, a dip, in the nearby hillside to the south-east. This appeared to correspond to a sunrise at mid-winter (Plate 57) and also appeared to parallel the Neolithic stone row whose sockets remained (C182, C191, C179, C194, and C170).

Plate 56: North facing section through C56. Figure 171: Map showing likely extent of Lough Brickland and The Brown Bog during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. In addition to the eight ring barrows, another cremation burial lay between RD 6 and RD 7, which was respected by both and was generally contemporary with the row of barrows. This cremation was formally marked by four postholes surrounding the central burial and was initially thought to be a form of ‘four-poster’ burial, a stone circle type common in central Scotland, although these are defined by stones, not timber posts (Burl 1998). Its location and dating imply that it is more probable that these posts represent the remains of a pyre structure upon which the dead were cremated prior to interment, a mortuary house, a cenotaph marking the burial or an excarnation platform upon which the deceased were exposed to the elements prior to cremation or other disposal. This may suggest that interment in a barrow was the end of a process beginning with exposure and ending with disposal of the cremation. A second four-poster structure lay 12m to the south-west below RD 2, again indicating that it and the barrows were part of

Plate 57: Cemetery looking south-east, RD 4 to RD 7 aligned on the gap between Water Hill and Ballintaggart Hill. This apparent continuity of belief systems over a millennium or more is not surprising as the people occupying the site in

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both the Neolithic and Bronze Ages were farmers who were intimately concerned with the progression of the seasons for survival. Mid-winter sunrise would likely have been an important point in their year, with the promise of longer days to come. It is apparent that this point in the landscape was the only place in the vicinity to observe the sun rising at midwinter marked by a dip in the hill. The site, being surrounded by water and marsh, may have been seen as a physical manifestation of a threshold (a liminal site) between the current world and the next. This may have contributed to its suitability for ritual activities - it is suggested (Pryor 2003, 289) that such sites became increasingly important in the later Bronze Age. The cemetery’s location on an isthmus may also have acted as metaphysical barrier deterring conflict between neighbouring tribes or clans.

20 and 25 years) so it is clear that the burials do not represent the whole population of the surrounding area for this period. Either this is recognition of a special place, claimed and hallowed by occasional burials, or this was a choice burial site for certain select individuals. Furthermore, when the various dates are put onto a time line at 2 sigma, they fall into two groups (Figure 8). RD 3 falls outside the range for the rest of the burials with a mid point around 1520 BC while the others’ midpoints group between 1230 BC and 980 BC. This may indicate a break in continuity and, therefore, reuse and recognition of the place over time. It is interesting to note too, that RD 3, the earliest, is also substantially the smallest of the barrows. Within these barrows, four of the cremations were contained in an individual funerary vessel while the remaining cremations were within long decayed organic containers or were direct insertions into a central pit. All the funerary ware was undecorated coarse ware, associated with the middle/late Bronze Age, Killymaddy Phase to Roscommon Phase (1500-900BC). Three different styles were represented, a bucket-type urn, a vase and two urns. Several of the burials contained evidence of disturbance, consistent with the later insertion of a second burial.

Ring ditches 1, 2 and 3, lay to the south-west and were approximately parallel to this alignment, and RD 8 lay some 10m to the north-east. The dating sequence for the Ballintaggart cemetery was as follows: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

RD 1: Beta 216911 3020±50 BP 2 sigma calibration 1380 to 1020 BC; RD 2: Beta 213587 RD 2 2990±70 BP 2 sigma calibration 1380 to 920 BC; RD 2: Beta 224301 RD 2 2830±50 BP 2 sigma calibration 1040 to 820 BC; RD 3: Beta 213584 RD 3 (F72) 3230±60 BP 2 sigma calibration 1620 to 1390 cal BC; RD 4: Beta 216909 RD 4 (central burial) 2750±70 BP 2 sigma calibration 1000 to 790 BC; RD 4: Beta 223392 RD 4 (bone) 2810±50 BP 2 sigma calibration 1190 to 900 BC; RD 5: Beta 213589 RD 5 (C131 lower fill) 2760±60 BP 2 sigma calibration 1020 to 800 BC; RD 5: Beta 217352 RD 5 (C131 upper fill) 2860±70 BP 2 sigma calibration 1140 to 820 BC; RD 5: Chrono UB-7287 RD 5 ditch 2800±35 2 sigma calibration 1044 to 845 BC; RD 6: Beta 216906 RD 6 2760±70 BP 2 sigma calibration 990 to 780 BC; Four Poster: Beta 213586 4 poster 2860 ±70 BP 2 sigma calibration 1270 to 850 BC; RD 7: Chrono UB-7289 RD 7 2921±34 2 sigma calibration 1258 to 1012 BC; RD 8: Chrono UB-7290 RD 8 2871±34 2 sigma calibration 1190 to 927 BC.

During the excavation of RD 8 (C164) a large pit, C311 and C312, was exposed below the eastern quadrant of the ring ditch. Its function and relationship to the ring ditch, C164, were difficult to interpret, and several alternatives were considered, which are discussed below. The primary cut, C312 was sub-circular in plan with a diameter of c.1.25m, depth of 0.90m, vertical sides and a “U” shaped base. It was concluded that C312 was dug to hold a large upright timber. If pit C312 did contain a large timber it is likely that it protruded 3-6m above the ground surface. It is also interesting to note that the central interments of the two fourpost burials are aligned on this pit and spaced at 12m intervals to the south-west. If a large timber was positioned in this pit it would be the most prominent feature in the site and may have acted as a marker post for the cemetery. This post may have been intricately carved or decorated and may have acted as a focal point for the commemoration of the dead. Parallels for such a post can be found at Gransha, Co. Londonderry where a large late Bronze Age pit was uncovered which originally held a timber that protruded a minimum of 3.75m above the ground (total length 5m) and weighed at least 284kg. This feature was cut by a slightly later ditch enclosing an unusual cist cemetery (Chapple 2003, 33). Here too, it was speculated that the post was richly decorated with carving or painting. It is also possible that the present row aligned upon Brickland Barrow (Dow 034:075), overlooking the site to the north-east.

Use of the land as a burial site extended over many generations with a potential period of use ranging from the earliest date for RD 3 at 1620 BC to the latest for RD 6 being 780 BC (at 95% confidence, 2 sigma). This gives a potential maximum period of use for these barrows of 840 years, with a minimum of c.500 years. This would be some 35 to 40 generations (with a generation taken to be between

Could it be more than just a barrow cemetery? There are some features present which may suggest that

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something other than ‘normal’ Bronze Age activity was taking place at Ballintaggart in addition to barrow raising.

British Isles are referred to as a four-poster setting. The first dated to the Bronze Age and, as the name suggests, is a rectangular or sub-rectangular setting of four upright stones with the corner stones usually placed on the perimeter of a circle, aligned on the cardinal points and graded in height. The second dates to the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods, are commonly found at hillfort and farm sites, and take the form of square arrangements of postholes, approximately 2m-4m square. Some are thought to have supported a raised granary or a haystack while other theories suggest they were the remains of chicken sheds, workshops, beehives, watchtowers, or excarnation platforms. This latter theory is examined in detail below.

Two of the burials were distinct from the others. These were the four-post structure with a central burial under RD 2 and the four-post structure between RD 6 and RD 7. Within RD 2, the four postholes, C83, C84, C85 and C87, in the central platform area formed a c1.90m square around the central burial while the remains of three stake holes C90, C89 and C88 survived in a line roughly between postholes C83 and C87. It is not possible to say with certainty if these stakes were contemporary with the postholes, were present beforehand or were later additions, though sub-barrow features such as this are not uncommon, having been found at Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire and Guiting Power, Gloucestershire among others (Woodward 2003, 26; and Schmidt 2007, 2-5). The ninth burial within the complex was initially identified as a ‘Scottish’ Four-Poster Burial. The remains of this structure were patterned like the five spots on a dice, with the burial in the centre. The radiocarbon date, from charcoal from F123 the upper fill of the central burial C138, was (Beta-213586) Cal BC 1270 to 850 and may be earlier than RD4, RD 5 or RD 6 (Figure 8). If it is it suggests that the ring ditch burials intentionally respected the four-poster, suggesting that it was the location of a known or marked grave or other visible structure such as an excarnation platform. The four post pits C139, C140, C141 and C142 lay to the south-east, north-east, north-west and south-west, respectively, of the central burial cut, C138 and the maximum dimensions spanned by the outer pits were 2m. The central burial cut, identified as C138, was positioned equidistant between the four post pits and was oval in plan. There was evidence of symbolic replacement, recorded in post pit C139 by the deposition of the stone F172. Possibly, the builders of the later ring ditch burials still respected the site of this burial. There were small quantities of burnt, possibly human, bone in two of the post pits. These may have been associated with the original burials, or were deposited after the posts were withdrawn or burnt.

The term ‘four-poster’ was first used by Coles and Simpson (1965, 34-57), when their investigations in the Strathtay area of Scotland revealed a number of stone circles consisting only of four stones - although they may have been recognized by Knox in Yorkshire in the 1850s. The most comprehensive modern survey is by Burl (1988). It is generally accepted that the four-poster tradition grew out of the recumbent-stone circle tradition of Aberdeenshire in the Early Bronze Age (Berrybrae 1500±80 BC giving a calibrated date of destruction prior to 1760BC) where circles have been found ranging from very large (50m in diameter) to very small (5m in diameter). Four-poster stone circles are most common in Scotland, particularly Perthshire and Aberdeenshire, but also occur on the Isle of Arran, in southwest Ireland, in Wales, Brittany and in England, where as elsewhere, they are confined to high ground. The distribution may be largely the result of differential survival in non-intensively populated areas but they usually occur as part of a wider Bronze Age landscape. Today surviving four-poster stone circles are generally located between 247m and 450m O.D., often positioned on a north or north-east facing slope, overlooking water and with a good view over the surrounding area, a situation which does not occur at Ballintaggart. Size varied considerably, the area enclosed by the rectangle ranging from 12m2 to 345m2, often with sides aligned north to south and east to west and the height of stones varied from 0.66m to 2.80m on those sites known.

The second four-poster structure was located some 12m to the south-west below RD 2, again indicating that it and the barrows are part of the same funerary process. These posthole marked structures formed a square approximately 2m square and may have been one of five things: A. B. C. D. E.

The four-poster building tradition is thought to have spread south from Scotland into England and south-west towards Ireland. Many believe (Burl 1988) that it was in Perthshire that the four-posters became refined into neat squares, placed on prominent sites on mounds with cists or cremations near the north-eastern stone. It is uncertain why there are so many four-posters in Perthshire, but the only other four-posters between Perthshire and Ireland are on Machrie Moor on the Isle of Arran. The earliest Scottish four–posters have been dated to the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age, by association with sherds of all-over-corded beakers at the four-poster stone circle of Lundin Farm South-East, Perth (all-overcorded beakers are dated to 2500-2150 cal BC to 1800 cal

Four-poster stone circle or representation in wood Excarnation platform Pyre structure Mortuary house Grave marker

A Four-poster circle Two different structures found almost uniquely within the

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BC), although this pottery may have been residual at the time of deposition. Sherds of collared and cordoned urns recovered from excavations at Carse Farm North, Craighall

Mill and others have suggested an earlier Bronze Age date for the Scottish four-poster stone circles.

Figure 172: Reconstruction of four-poster circles. (S. Godden). In Ireland, outside the south-west, there are two confirmed four-posters, both on the east coast. One at Mullaghmore, Co. Down, less than 20km south-west of Ballintaggart (Burl 2005, 193), the other at Robinson Great, Co. Waterford suggesting a route of diffusion down that side of the island, to the region around County Cork, where another proliferation occurs. The radiocarbon dates for this southern group are later than those from Scotland, confirming that the form of construction featuring a higher and wider southern or south-west stone, like a miniature recumbent from the recumbent-stone circles, is a later development. Dates from these southern circles straddle start of the first millennium BC (Cashelkeelty 2, 1000BC Bohonagh, 1004-844BC; Waddell 2000, 169). Beginning in the Scottish north-east the tradition appears to have spread to other parts of the British Isles by the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Other fourposters have been dated by their association with cairns and field systems thought to date to the Bronze Age. The overall duration of the tradition may be up to 1000 years if the dates from Munster are considered.

Northumberland (Burl 2005, 73)) suggesting construction by extended families. They may have been orientated to the sun and moon positions which presumably symbolized life or rebirth, but they were probably primarily local burial monuments, as appears to be the case at Ballintaggart, rather than observatories, though few have been excavated so confirmation is lacking. Unfortunately there is no evidence for four-posters being made out of wood or occurring in association with late Bronze Age barrow cemeteries, and none have been as small as 4m2 in area. The situation at Ballintaggart is also not usual for a four-poster, being much lower than usual, and in a valley. It is very unlikely that a classic four-poster stone circle is what we are dealing with at Ballintaggart (Figure 172). B Excarnation Excarnation was certainly carried out in the British and Irish Neolithic and Bronze Age as most of the bodies found in long barrows and megalithic tombs were disarticulated and incomplete with long bones and skulls gathered separately. Many of the small bones are under-represented while the long bones are weathered, as at Fussells Lodge, Wiltshire

These monuments appear to be a diminutive form of stone circle and it has been estimated that less than a dozen people would be required for their erection, (Three Kings,

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have been intended to be some form of natural mummification with the heat and wind desiccating the body. The second method involved the bodies being open to the elements and wildlife and involved secondary disposal of the remains in an ossuary either in a charnel house or by burial in the tribal mound. The method of construction of scaffolds among the Yanktonais is related as follows:

procedure, monks may chant prayers around the body and burn juniper incense — though usually ceremonial activity takes place the day before. Disassembling of the body is usually by rogyapas ("body-breakers"). All eyewitness accounts remarked on the fact that the rogyapas did not perform their task with gravity or ceremony, but rather talked and laughed as during any other type of physical labour. This is consistent with reports that Tibetans see the body simply as a leftover to be dealt with appropriately. This may seem gruesome to modern Western societies but to the Tibetans after the soul has departed the body becomes nothing more than meat. We have no real idea how the body was regarded after death during much of the Bronze Age but there does seem to be a differentiation between those deposited within cemeteries and the general population who may have been left to nature and the elements.

"These scaffolds are 7 to 8 feet high, 10 feet long, and 4 or 5 wide. Four stout posts, with forked ends, are first set firmly in the ground, and then in the forks are laid cross and side poles, on which is made a flooring of small poles. The body is then carefully wrapped, so as to make it watertight, and laid to rest on the poles…I noticed many little buckets and baskets hanging on the scaffolds. These had contained food and drink for the dead. I looked at the hundreds of ravens perched on the scaffolds and could account for what became of most of the food and water." (Life of Belden, the White Chief, 1871, p. 87).

There is also pictorial evidence of excarnation in Anatolia at Çatal Höyük c. 6500BC in the Vulture Fresco, which shows vultures eating bodies exposed on wooden platforms (Figure 234). The remains were subsequently buried beneath the house floors (Clark 1977, 63 -72; Renfrew and Bahn 2004, 46-47). Zoroastrians believe that on the fourth day after death, the human soul leaves the body and the body remains as an empty shell (Kellens, J. 2002). Zoroastrians considered a dead body, and other related items such as hair to be unclean, and therefore, too polluting to be burned or buried. As such they disposed of their dead by leaving them on open-topped enclosures, called Dokhmas. Vultures and the weather would clean the flesh off the bones, which were then placed into an ossuary at the centre of the Dokhmas. Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC about the background to the Persian wars refers somewhat obliquely to excarnation as carried out by the Persians (Herodotus 1, 140). In Zoroastrian doctrine, the practice is only attested in the Vendidad, a Magi (or Magi-influenced) composition of the Parthian (141 BC-224 AD and Sassanid (226-651 AD) eras. In Parsi Zoroastrian tradition, exposure of the dead is additionally considered to be an individual's final act of charity, providing the birds with what would otherwise be destroyed or lost.

This description, along with those that follow, may hint at how the Ballintaggart site might have appeared during its period of use in the middle to late Bronze Age, with a body on a platform awaiting the ministrations of scavengers prior to being cremated and a barrow raised for burial. Amongst the Blackfeet, John Young, an Indian Agent presented a similar account of tree-burial within the tribe. “If the body was that of a squaw or child, it was thrown into the underbrush or jungle, where it soon became the prey of the wild animals. The weapons, pipes, &c., of men were enclosed, and the small toys of children with them.” Among the Blackfoot it seems that there was a sexual differentiation in burial practice with the remains of males treated differently to females and the young. As far as we can tell at Ballintaggart there is no sign of this as the cremations within the barrows represent male and female, and young and old individuals. However, evidence of grave goods was present with the cremations and the flint tools recovered may only be a small percentage of the goods originally left with the body prior to cremation and it possible that the slate discs and the thumb pot uncovered at Ballintaggart may be the remains of similar toys.

The excarnation or aerial sepulchre method of disposal of the dead was practised commonly among the Native Americans, generally amongst those tribes of the mid-West Plains and southern Pacific Coast. The most common methods, tree burial, boxes on stilts and scaffold burial, were practiced within living memory (Yarrow 1880). The choice of this mode depended greatly on the facilities present, where timber was plentiful, trees were used; if absent, scaffolds were employed. There appear to have been two basic methods. In one the body was tightly wrapped and placed on a platform of some kind to prevent interference by wild animals. As much of the country where this method of disposal of the dead was practised was warm and open it may

Keating (Footnote: Long's Exped. to the St. Peter's River, 1834, p. 392) describes burial scaffolds: "On these scaffolds, which are from 8 to 10 feet high, corpses were deposited in a box made from part of a broken canoe. Some hair was suspended, which we at first mistook for a scalp, but our guide informed us that these were locks of hair torn from their heads by the relatives to testify their grief. In the centre, between the four posts which supported

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the scaffold, a stake was planted in the ground; it was about six feet high, and bore an imitation of human figures, five of which had a design of a petticoat, indicating them to be females; the rest, amounting to seven, were naked, and were intended for male figures; of the latter four were headless, showing that they had been slain; the three other male figures were unmutilated, but held a staff in their hand, which, as our guide informed us, designated that they were slaves. A number of small bones of animals were observed in the vicinity, which were probably left there after a feast celebrated in honor of the dead…After the corpses have remained a certain time exposed, they are taken down and buried…An Indian hearing that his son had died came to take charge of the remains and convey to his place of abode, but on his arrival he found that the corpse had already made such progress toward decomposition as rendered it impossible for it to be removed. He then undertook, with a few friends, to clean off the bones. All the flesh was scraped off and thrown into the stream, the bones were carefully collected into his canoe, and subsequently carried down to his residence.”

with grave goods? If the afterlife was very different from the material life why bother with food or tools? What we cannot be certain of was whether the belief in an afterlife was purely for the elites, as seems to be the case in early Pharaonic Egypt, or if everyone was entitled to the next stage of existence. That a vast range of archaeologically invisible organic goods may have accompanied the burial can be illustrated by this next account. The account of a burial case discovered by Dr. George M. Sternberg, U.S.A. given to the Army Medical Museum, Washington, D.C. relates to the Cheyenne of Kansas and illustates that even a very wealthy burial may leave little tangible material in the archaeological record. "…elevated about eight feet from the ground by four notched poles, which were firmly planted in the ground. The cradle was wrapped in two buffalo-robes of large size and well preserved. Within appeared other buffalo-robes folded about the remains, and secured by gaudy-colored sashes. Five robes were successively removed, making seven in all. Then we came to a series of new blankets folded about the remains. There were five in all, two scarlet, two blue, and one white. These being removed, the next wrappings consisted of a striped white and gray sack, and of a United States Infantry overcoat, like the other coverings nearly new. We had now come apparently upon the immediate envelopes of the remains, which it was now evident must be those of a child. These consisted of three robes, with hoods very richly ornamented with bead-work. These robes or cloaks were of buffalo-calf skin about four feet in length, elaborately decorated with bead-work in stripes. The outer was covered with rows of blue and white bead-work, the second was green and yellow, and the third blue and red. All were further adorned by spherical brass bells attached all about the borders by strings of beads. The remains with their wrappings lay upon a matting and upon a pillow of dirty rags, in which were folded a bag of red paint, bits of antelope skin, bunches of straps, buckles, &c. The three bead-work hooded cloaks were now removed, and then we successively unwrapped a gray woollen double shawl, five yards of blue cassimere, six yards of red calico, and six yards of brown calico, and finally disclosed the remains of a child, probably about a year old, in an advanced stage of decomposition. The cadaver had a beaver-cap ornamented with disks of copper containing the bones of the cranium, which had fallen apart. About the neck were long wampum necklaces with dentalium, unionida, and auricula, interspersed with beads. There were also strings of the pieces of "Haliotis" from the Gulf of California, so valued by the Indians on this side of the Rocky Mountains. The body had been elaborately dressed for burial, the costume consisting of a red flannel cloak, a red tunic, and frockleggins adorned with bead-work, yarn stockings of red and black worsted, and deerskin bead-work moccasins. With the

This report suggests that the scaffolds, as well as being a method of protecting the dead from predators, acted also as an indication of who the person was, their role and status within society and provided a focus for commemoration of the deceased with ritual and feasting. The platform may also have provided an outlet for grief by giving the family and the tribe a place to go where they can ‘connect’ with the dead person. It also seems that the bones, being tangible remains, appeared to be the focus of veneration and that the flesh simply was discarded as just so much rotting meat. This may parallel the processes observed in the British Neolithic where the bones were the object of ceremony and veneration and the flesh was discarded, and the Mediaeval European practice of the veneration of the bones of saints. We could picture the body being laid out on the platform with a selection of possessions and decorated to indicate their role or rank in life. Although few artefacts were uncovered with the cremations at Ballintaggart it should be remembered that the range and richness of grave goods which can accompany burials are unlikely to survive long exposure to the elements or burial, even without undergoing cremation. The status in life of the deceased - or the status of the living relatives responsible for the burial - can be illustrated in death with a rich array of grave goods, such as food, clothing, leatherwork, basketry and paint, most of which is likely to be organic (Parker Pearson 2003, 9). We cannot know how the bodies at Ballintaggart were dressed, painted or what goods were sent with them into the afterlife and so it is through the descriptions of similar processes that we may be able to picture dimly how these people may have understood or dealt with death. If there was no belief in an afterlife why bother

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remains were numerous trinkets, a porcelain image, a China vase, strings of beads, several toys, a pair of mittens, a fur collar, a pouch of the skin of "putorius vison", &c…The face, neck, and hands are thickly painted with vermilion, or a species of red earth found in various portions of the Territory when the vermilion of the traders cannot be had. The clothes and personal trinkets of the deceased ornament the body…and for ornament, when available, a bright-red blanket envelopes all other coverings, and renders the general scene more picturesque until dimmed by time and the elements…”

were cleaned and deposited either in the earth or in special structures called by the early writers "bone-houses". A parallel may be drawn in the multi-phase disposal of the Ballintaggart cremations with possible exposure, cremation, pulverisation and either partial or token burial within a barrow. Roman (Footnote: Hist. of Florida, 1775, p. 89) relates the following concerning the Choctaws: "The stage is fenced round with poles; it remains thus a certain time... A certain set of venerable old Gentlemen who wear very long nails as a distinguishing badge on the thumb, fore and middle finger of each hand, constantly travel through the nation…the day being come, the friends and relations assemble near the stage, a fire is made, and the respectable operator, after the body is taken down, with his nails tears the remaining flesh off the bones, and throws it with the entrails into the fire, where it is consumed; then he scrapes the bones and burns the scrapings likewise; the head being painted red with vermillion is with the rest of the bones put into a neatly made chest (which for a Chief is also made red) and deposited in the loft of a hut built for that purpose, and called bone house; each town has one of these; after remaining here one year or thereabouts, if he be a man of any note, they take the chest down, and in an assembly of relations and friends they weep once more over him, refresh the colour of the head, paint the box, and then deposit him to lasting oblivion”.

It should be noted that regardless of the (mainly organic) wealth of this burial little would have survived exposure or burial and the same is true for its Bronze Age equivalents. It must be remembered that the apparent paucity of grave goods uncovered at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw may not represent actuality but rather those few items that have survived exposure, cremation, burial and the passage of three millennia. In conjunction with practices like this, various Native American tribes carried out rituals such as the supply of food and goods to the deceased, the destruction of all the deceased’s possessions, the cutting of hair as a mourning observance and scarification. We have no way of knowing if any of these practices were carried out in conjunction with the Ballintaggart burials but as it appears that only a very small percentage of the population made it into a barrow it is likely that there was some ceremony attached to these burials, if not to the average disposal of the general population. The possessions of the dead person may have been seen as polluted or there may have been some form of social display relating to the removal of these valuable items from the material world into the next similar to the way in that people today spend large amounts of money on coffins or elaborate funerals (Parker Pearson 2003, 11).

Following the excarnation process, many societies retrieved the bones for burial or some other form of ritual. Prior to their Christianisation in the late 1970s the Asabano of New Guinea often retained bones of distinguished ancestors to protect them, aid them in hunting or advise them (Lohman 2003, 1-19). C Pyres During cremation the body is placed in or on a pyre (Figure 174) and incinerated at an optimum temperature of 760oC to 1150°C. During the cremation process, a large part of the body (especially the organs) and other soft tissue is vaporised and oxidised due to the heat, and the resultant gases are discharged into the atmosphere. In modern open air cremation, such as that carried out by Hindus, aromatic woods, herbs and spices are burnt with the body in an attempt to mask the smell. It is possible that this was the case in prehistory. In Hinduism the eldest son is required to immerse the cremated remains in the River Ganges. A similar situation may have prevailed in Bronze Age Ireland (and Britain) with the vast majority of the population being cremated and scattered in water with an elite – for example, the priesthood and the aristocracy - being placed in barrows (Parker Pearson 2003, 7).

Tree-burial and scaffold-burial was also recorded among the nations of antiquity. Herodotus related that the Colchians enveloped their dead in sacks of skin and hung them from trees; he also states that the ancient Scythians had similar rituals. How accurate this is impossible to state though it may be a garbled record of some form of excarnation platform. In many cases the disposal of the corpse was not a one-step, simple process. In the Neolithic many of the remains were exposed and curated afterwards, prior to being sorted and placed in a tomb where they may have been visited and used over the course of several centuries (Reilly 2003). This curation was also visible in Native American funeral practice. Often the burial process consisted of first depositing the bodies on scaffolds, where they were allowed to remain for a variable length of time, after which the bones

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Figure 174: Reconstruction of funeral pyre. (S. Cannon). The entire process usually takes several hours. All that remains afterwards are dry bone fragments (mostly calcium phosphates and minor minerals) and occasionally charcoal, although a large pyre may take 12 hours or more to cool enough for retrieval of the remains. These represent roughly 3% to 5% of the body's original mass (2.5% in children, but these figures vary greatly due to body composition). Because the weight of dry bone fragments are so closely connected to skeletal mass, their weight varies greatly from person to person (Appendix 3). After cremation the remains are generally pulverised as bones tend not to be reduced to small manageable pieces by burning. This practice appears to have been carried out across the world and throughout history, probably to facilitate whatever form disposal took, from being buried in an urn to scattered in a lake or river.

heat alteration of the subsoil, as occurred in the protected Guiting Power 1 old ground surface, associated with either of the four-post structures at Ballintaggart, the subsoil may have been protected from the heat by the thickness of the topsoil (0.3-0.5m thick). Experimental archaeology deduced that the four posts supporting the outside of a latticework (Schmidt 2007, 1-2) pyre prevented early lateral collapse from spilling the corpse out of the structure. If smaller timber is used in the pyre centre in conjunction with this technique, the body can be caused to collapse into the centre of the pyre and, therefore, burn more efficiently (and discretely). Experimentation indicated that one tonne of wood will cremate the corpse and convert the pyre to a heap of ashes in under two hours. This experiment also indicated that the area directly under the pyre was somewhat protected from the radiant heat by the ashes collapsing onto the ground surface.

Below Guiting Power 1 barrow, Gloucestershire (Schmidt 2007, 3) evidence for the base of a large ring pyre was uncovered in the heat-altered old ground surface through which the primary cremation was inserted, with a rectangular four-post structure thought to be evidence for the box pyre of the secondary cremation. Though there was no evidence of

Evidence of structured pyres was also uncovered at Grave 8, Hohmichle tumulus group near the Heuneburg, in Wurttemberg (Arnold 2002). A level platform was prepared

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and a structured pyre constructed. The pyre platform foundation was observed as a ditch-like feature marked by iron staining/mineralization along its edges, running southwest out of the east profile wall. The ditch ultimately proved to extend into the north-east quarter, where an identical ditch was discovered running parallel to the first. The two ditches were roughly 3m apart, and about 3m long, orientated with the ditches at the magnetic north and south sides of the rectangle, the ‘open’ ends facing east and west. At their maximum extent they were about 0.40-0.45m wide, suggesting that they were dug to receive timbers of considerable size which presumably served to anchor the construction of the funeral pyre platform. Both ditches had rounded ends slightly wider than the body of the ditch, suggesting that there may have been uprights at each corner.

a south-east facing entrance. The structure measured 1.98m x 2.30m with a central posthole. The location of this structure in such close proximity to the ring ditch and cremation pit suggests that it was not domestic in function. A circular row of postholes may have formed a palisade around the structure, which may have had a demarcation purpose rather than a defensive one. This too, may have been some form of mortuary enclosure surrounding a charnel house. The size of the structure at Charlesland is similar to those at RD2 and the four-post structure at Ballintaggart. As well as four possible structural supports the possible mortuary house below RD 2 had a series of stakeholes (C88, C89 and C90) defining one wall. E Grave Marker It has been suggested that several features uncovered during monitoring along the A1 road may be evidence for grave markers. These include the large pit, C312 below RD 8 at Ballintaggart, and the large pit, C218, associated with the Pit Burial at Derrycraw. The two four-post structures uncovered at Ballintaggart may represent something similar in nature and may be associated with pit C312 (Figure 175). Evidence for multiple grave markers associated with ring barrows has been uncovered elsewhere in Northern Ireland.

D Mortuary House Mortuary enclosures or houses are usually associated with the Neolithic but have also been uncovered beneath or in close proximity to Bronze Age Barrows. They are usually associated with excarnation and defleshing of bodies but may sometimes have formed the cores of barrows. Barrow 51, Amesbury, Wiltshire contained the remains of a mortuary house with squared corner timbers dating to the Beaker period. At Lockington, Leicestershire a circular wooden palisade enclosed a mortuary enclosure around the remains of a pyre (Woodward 2000, 37-41). At Guiting Power 3, Gloucestershire a ring of 65 posts was uncovered below the barrow (Schmidt 2007, 2). This had an entrance in the south-east and may have held a screening wall. Opposite the entrance was a cluster of four posts, possibly the remains of a mortuary house, pyre base or excarnation platform. Prior to the raising of the mound the screening wall was removed and the cremated remains of an adult female and foetus buried in the centre. At Ballyvleesh, Co. Tipperary a grave containing the remains of two adults and three children was uncovered at the centre of a ring ditch and was surrounded by the remains of a timber structure interpreted as a mortuary house (Waddell 1998, 148). Further evidence for mortuary structures in the Irish Bronze Age has been seen in disarticulated inhumations in cists at Moneen, Co. Cork where there is evidence of a mortuary house (Waddell 1985, 30). Another possible example was uncovered at Charlesland, Co. Wicklow (Molloy 2004). Site F was located on the summit of an east-facing slope. Topsoil stripping exposed a ring ditch, a large cremation pit, a structure and clusters of stakeholes and postholes. The ring ditch enclosed an area measuring 5.60m x 5.39m with no evidence of any burial within the ditch. The remains of a mound were visible within the enclosed area so it was unlikely that the site was considerably truncated. This would indicate that ring ditch did not have a burial function and may have had a symbolic purpose. A small structure was also identified on this site, visible as a small circular hut with

Cut into the base of the north-western quadrant of the Magheramenagh, Co. Londonderry ring ditch (Gilmore 2000) were four postholes. The postholes were regularly spaced, the centres of the two outermost, being 1.6m apart. The northernmost posthole was partially overlain by the stone packing which comprised the upper fill of the ring ditch. All of the postholes were filled by soft, grey sand suggesting that the posts had been withdrawn and the remaining holes had silted naturally. The two inner postholes were 0.6m deep and two outer postholes were 0.4m deep. As the topsoil here was approximately 0.3m deep this could be added to the depth of the postholes giving a true depth from the surface of the two inner postholes of 0.9m-1m and the two outer postholes of 0.7m-0.8m deep. If there were posts in these holes the general ratio would be a quarter of the post below ground to three-quarters of the post above ground. This suggests that the inner posts would be approximately 3m in height with the two outer posts slightly less. The setting sun in midsummer would have cast shadows across the centre of the mound. The builders may have seen these as pathways or connections between this world and the next. The radiocarbon date (Beta 186553) was 3130±50 BP, giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma, of 1450 to 1260 BC, comparable to those at Ballintaggart. The posts at Ballintaggart may have stood to a height of between 2m and 3m and may have been carved or decorated, similar to Native American totem poles while the larger pits C312 at Ballintaggart and C218 at Derrycraw may have held much more substantial timbers.

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Figure 175: Reconstruction of grave markers aligned on Brickland Hill barrow. (S. Cannon). Potential alignments Several features in the cemetery appeared to align with each other and with various landscape features around the barrow cemetery at Ballintaggart (Figures 135 and 176, Plates 5860). Taking into account latitude, horizon altitude and declination to check the astronomical potential of the lines, the alignments did not correspond to any specific astronomical feature but some potential alignments may be worth noting nonetheless (Adam 2007 pers. comm.).

Sites and Monuments Record (S.M.R.) as dating to the Bronze Age. There is also a possible initial cross-shaped arrangement with perpendicular RD 2, four-poster, RD 8 and four-poster, RD7 and RD 1. However, it does not appear to be aligned on anything in particular (Figure 237). Of the options suggested some form of scenario involving a mortuary structure is probably the most likely. However, one still cannot account for what became of the large percentage of the population apparently not afforded a formal burial. It is, therefore, likely that more cremations (or excarnation) took place on this site than just those who ended up in the barrows and that their remains lie in Lough Brickland or Brown Bog. It seems, however, that whatever these structures were there is a strong possibility that they were aligned, along with pit C312, on the barrow at the top of Brickland Hill.

Possible alignments include the barrow row RD4, RD 5, RD6, RD 7, C25 and the dip in the hill, although this does not correspond exactly with mid-winter sunrise but could be aligned upon the summer solstice sunset to the north-west. A line going through RD 2, four-poster and pit C312 below RD 8, has monuments equally spaced and seems to be aligned on an earthwork feature, Water Hill Fort on Brickland Hill (Dow 34:075, J11574060) to the south-west of Lough Brickland (Figures 236 and 237). This unexcavated site is probably a large barrow with a well preserved ditch and outer bank some 25m to 30m in diameter and is recorded in the

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Plate 59: Brickland Barrow looking north-east from the site of Ballintaggart Barrow Cemetery.

Figure 176: Angles of alignments.

Plate 60: Brickland Barrow looking north-east. The adults died between 25 and 45 years of age, suggesting an average life expectancy of 33 years. Only three interments appear to represent a complete or nearly complete individual, RD 4, 7 and 8. Where identification of gender was possible, there were four female and three males accounting for slightly less than 50% of the sample population. The sex of the remaining three adults could not be determined. There were five sub-adults, of these one was a newborn, one was between 3 and 6, one was between 8 and 14, one between 10 and 15 and one between 13 and 18 years at death. With these sub-adults there was no gender identification possible. Several pathological conditions were uncovered by Murphy. Degenerative joint disease was identified, in the form of osteophytes (bone spurs produced at points of arthritic damage in an attempt by the body to relieve stress) in vertebrae and ribs on the male from RD 2, the adult from RD 5, the adult female from the four-poster, the male from the four-poster and the female from RD 7.

Plate 58: Cemetery looking south-east, with the point of mid-winter sunrise indicated. Pathology Murphy identified 15 individuals from the excavated nine cemetery structures and 14 contexts. All were cremated which reduced greatly the potential information to be gained from the remains. Of the 15 cremations, 10 were adults; of these, four were estimated to be between 25 and 35, two were 35+ and four were 25 to 45 at death.

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burials being disturbed and dispersed by ploughing, erosion or because the cremations were initially a token deposit. It is not possible to be certain.

There was also evidence of iron deficiency anaemia in the form of cribra orbitalia revealed in the RD 5 child and female from RD 2. Cribra orbitala is a pathological lesion of the roof of the eye socket (orbit) which has been associated with iron deficiency anaemia. It causes pitting, porosity of the smooth bone in the orbit, and sometimes new thickened bone growth. It is particularly prevalent in children, and the degree of the condition is often greater in the very young. This could be caused by several factors, such as poor diet, and manifests as:

Murphy noted that five of the nine burial sites produced remains of more than one individual: RD 4, 6 and 8 were the only ones containing the remains of a single individual. RD 3 contained a single sub-adult with two fragments of a more weathered (and less well cremated) adult. The osteoarchaeologist suggested that this was one of two things; either the cremated adult body parts were held back to be buried with the sub-adult, possibly as an ancestor or other relation acting as a guide into the next life, or they are residue from an earlier cremation on site and were accidentally included. This may be more likely if it is the case that all those cremated in the vicinity of this cemetery did not make it into the barrows but were either scattered across the landscape or deposited into the lakes in the vicinity. It is certainly the case that the full remains of those in the barrows were not recovered from within. Of the individuals in RD 3, 4, 6 and 8 only one was of a determinable sex, the adult female.

“Blood loss, (through excessive bleeding or parasitic infestation), dietary deficiency during periods of accelerated demand, insufficient absorption of iron (diarrhoea) or nutritional deficiencies.” (Appendix 3, 44)

Evidence of dental problems was also present, with one individual displaying the ante-mortem loss of the 1st and 2nd mandibular molars from the left, three mandibular molars from the right and evidence of chronic low grade socket infection of the frontal teeth. The left tooth sockets had remodelled (healed over) while the right sockets were in the process of doing so. Tooth sockets will remodel over a period of between 6 months and 2 years after the tooth is removed (pers. comm. Dr Lucy Jaffa BDS 2006) suggesting that the individual had a sequence of dental problems in the year or so before death. Another individual suffered from enthesopathy of the rectis femoris of the quadriceps tendon. This presented as stress changes to the anterior patella and would have led to pain, difficulty in walking and reduced use of the affected leg.

The remains from four sites appeared to represent multiple insertions. In RD 1 both burials were 25 to 35 year old adults, one of which was possibly female, in RD 2 and its associated four-poster both were middle aged males, in RD 5 the first burial was a 8 to 14 year old child, and the second an adult of indeterminate sex between 25 and 45, within the four-poster the first burial was a possibly female 25 to 35 year old and the second was a male between 25 and 35. RD 7 contained three individuals, a female between 25 and 45, a child between 3 and 6 and a newborn, all buried within a single context. This suggested that these three individuals perished at the same time in a related event. These burials had been poorly fired at a temperature below 285oC leaving the bones dark brown with white tinges. It was suggested by Murphy that the pyre may have been lit in inclement weather or that poor cremation may be the visible signal of a catastrophe such as an infectious disease which not only caused the three deaths but fractured the community in such a way that those left to dispose of the bodies had a reduced fuel collecting ability either through illness or massively reduced numbers.

Murphy stated that most of the cremations were carried out between temperatures of 645oC and 1200oC leaving white or pale grey bones. However, the two dark grey frontal bones recovered from RD 6 were cremated at a temperature between 285oC and 525oC and the three persons from a single context in RD 7 were cremated at a temperature below 285oC. Subsequent to burial all the cremation residue was pulverised to reduce particle size and buried, a common practice making handling of the remains easier, which is recorded from the Bronze Age to the present day. The weight of an average male cremation is 2288g with a range of between 1534g and 3605g, and the average female is 1550g with a range of 952g to 2278g. Of the 10 adult burials only three are close to these values: the adult from RD 4 with 1042.9g; the female from RD 7 with 1210.2g and the female from RD 8 with 1602.7g. It is likely that these represent deposition of complete cremations. The remaining seven adults range in quantity from 272.6g (the four-poster) to 616.4g (RD 1, F5). This may be due to later disturbance relating to agricultural use of the land over the past several thousand years with the upper layers of the barrows and

Organics and Artefacts Organic material recovered from the barrows (Appendix 6a) was limited and the only such material recovered other than carbonised wood was seeds, unlike the similarly dated site at Killymoon, Co. Tyrone (pers. comm. D. Hurl 2007; Hurl 1995, 84) where, hair, cloth, rope and vast quantities of burnt barley were recovered. However, Killymoon was not a funerary site, although a great deal of burning did occur.

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The only large wooden item from the cemetery area came from RD 8 and was a 0.03m diameter (Alnus sp.) alder branch with 10 annual rings and an asymmetrical centre (probably a branch rather than a coppice stem). There were also smaller pieces of charcoal with 4-5 annual rings from a large alder branch. As Dunne states it is impossible to know whether this is a remnant of the funeral pyre or was part of some form of substructure within the barrow, either remains of a mortuary structure, excarnation platform or footing for the pyre. Characteristic of wet situations and a natural colonist of fens and marsh, it is interesting to note that alder is a preferred wood for charcoal making, possibly suggesting that charcoal as well as wood was used during cremation. The alder was probably derived from the locality from which it was recovered, close to the shores of Lough Brickland or Brown Bog. The wood is also traditionally used for smoking fish and meat, though in modern times has been replaced by other more common wood such as oak and hickory. It was an important coppice wood and durable under water (Whitton 1979, 80-81). A Late Bronze Age alder shield mould from Kilmahamogue, Co. Antrim is on display in the National Museum of Ireland (Mallory and McNeill 1991, 132). In Norse mythology alder was seen as a symbol of resurrection, and it may be that a similar belief was held in the Bronze Age, hence its use on a pyre.

use in the cremation process. The small quantity of hazelnut shell fragments can also be seen as evidence of either a food resource or fuel material. The occurrence of oats in small quantities at the Neolithic structures and the cemetery may be derived from different sources. While their cultivation in the Neolithic cannot be ruled out, they are probably weeds of cultivation although Dunne suggests later contamination associated with the Bronze Age funerary activity in the area (Appendix 6a). This contamination would be most unlikely considering that the Neolithic houses are probably 2000 years earlier and no remains would have been obvious on the surface. The occurrence of wheat and barley in the Bronze Age ring ditches may be the result of disturbed material from the earlier Neolithic activity on the site, though the barley grains from RD 5 may indicate that it was used as a supplementary crop to oats. Six flint scrapers were derived from seven ring-ditches and it is perhaps significant that although the central burial of RD 5 did not contain a scraper, it did contain a polished stone axe. Although the main type-fossil derived from the Bronze Age contexts are scrapers, these are often cruder than their Neolithic counterparts. They tend to be roughly equal in length and breadth, tend towards the sub-circular and have an average thickness of 6-8mm (Appendix 1a). Neolithic scrapers show much more variability and are often much thinner and longer than their Bronze Age counterparts. O’Hare identifies the majority of scrapers from Ballintaggart as Bronze Age, apart from the end-of-blade scraper from the Neolithic house. The axe from RD 5 is a possible butt portion of a heavily damaged polished stone axe of mudstone/shale (AX38.160). Examples of the polished stone axe associated with earlier Bronze Age graves and from funerary contexts of the Middle Bronze Age are common (Harbison 1973). O’Hare notes tht polished stone axes are known from Monasterboice, Co. Louth, where a porcellanite type was found associated with a cist burial and sherds of cordoned urn. At Inch/Ballyrenan 1, Co. Down, a schist axe was found within the ring-ditch. This feature had radiocarbon dates centring around 1400 BC (McManus 1998, 132). Other later Bronze Age contexts such as a penannular ring-ditch at Carnkenny, Co. Tyrone, produced Late Bronze Age radiocarbon dates and coarse ware (Lynn 1973, 17-31) along with an assortment of well struck, worked flints and a polished porcellanite stone axe.

Other than charred wood, seven areas of Bronze Age funerary activity produced plant remains, five ring ditches and two posthole burials. In total, 360 individual charred plant remains including fragments were recovered from 18 samples from 14 individual contexts. The dominant species was oats followed by very small amounts of bread wheat, naked barley, one example of hulled barley and a range of cereal fragments. Dunne suggests that the presence of oats in the ring ditch deposits and the posthole burials may provide evidence for a shift from the barley and wheat cultivation which predominated during the Neolithic. She further states that if the oats from Ballintaggart are cultivated oats their presence and that of the wheat and barley in the ring ditches and posthole burials can either suggest that they are the remains of food utilisation, food offerings for the dead, or possibly that straw or hay was used in the cremation process as kindling to enable the pyre to be lit. Dunne argues that the charred hazelnut fragment may suggest that the cremation in RD 1 took place in the autumn or early winter using hazel wood as fuel, some of which retained the nuts or that nuts were part of a funerary feast. The use of hazelnuts, both as a stored food resource and a ready-made food is shown by its presence in large quantities at the Late Bronze Age site of Haughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh (McComb and Simpson 1999, 1-16).

O’Hare states that the deposition of flint and stone tools is a very common practice in Irish late Bronze Age burial tradition, where the lithic material recovered is usually primary with a single (perhaps significant) secondary (modified piece), usually scrapers, but occasionally polished stone axes, flint knives and arrowheads. It appears that in the Irish Bronze Age generally, and the middle to late Bronze Age in particular, bronze or gold artefacts are rare in a funerary context (Waddell 2000, 143; O’Kelly 1989, 178-

Dunne suggests that the cereal remains at these funerary monuments may be seen as either food offerings or as the detritus of crop utilization which were part of the material for

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84), unlike the Early Bronze Age in Wessex. Artefacts recovered in Ireland from funerary deposits were mostly flint or stone (Waddell 1998, 143). It should be recalled that while most lithic material will survive in all ground conditions and cremation, organic material will decay in the earth or perish in the cremation.

ditches produced pottery, representing 13 vessels, 11 of which dated to the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age pottery comprised two vase food vessels (vessels 180 and 204), four vase urns (vessels 184, 202, 203 and 205), one of which was similar to a perforated vase urn (vessel 1) recovered from Derrycraw (Area 9) and five undiagnostic Bronze Age vessels (178, 179, 181, 182 and 183). Four of these were reconstructed and comprised three vase urns (vessels 202, 203 and 205) and one vase food vessel (vessel 204, Plate 61). One rim sherd was recovered (vessel 180) which displayed limited decoration in the form of a series of short vertical lines on the exterior surface of the rim.

O’Hare states that the lithic material from the seven out of eight ring-ditches from Ballintaggart Area 2 can be directly paralleled with the neighbouring excavation at Derrycraw (Area 9), which again, from the lithics, appears to be Bronze Age (Appendix 1a). The nature of the lithic collection is typical of Bronze Age material from many other ring-ditches, such as the ring-ditch at Timakeel, Co. Armagh, AE/03/76 (O’Hare 2005a). The ring-ditch at Urbalreagh, Co. Antrim associated with bowl type food vessels (Waterman 1968, 2532), dating from c. 2300-2000 BC, compares directly with the quantity, nature, dimensions and deposition of lithic material (O’ Hare 2005) though is nearly a millennium older. All these sites have produced scrapers as their primary modified pieces. For example the ring-ditch at Kerlogue, Site 5, Co. Wexford (McLoughlin 2002, 16-19), a region which is relatively impoverished in terms of size of the available flint, still produced well over 100 split pebble/bipolar pieces and several scrapers. Based upon the nature of the tool types, predominantly scrapers, a mid to later Bronze Age date is more likely.

Plate 61: Refit of vase urn vessel 204 from RD 1. Dunne notes that based on the ceramic assemblage (Appendix 2a) there is a break in the occupation sequence after the abandonment of the Neolithic areas of activity and the early Bronze Age site at the northern end of Area 2. Occupation is not resumed until the middle Bronze Age as indicated by the material derived from the ring ditches and associated activity of a domestic or funerary nature. A range of 19 undecorated wares of vase food vessel/vase urn type, a single decorated rim sherd and a miniature Bronze Age cup were recovered in the vicinity of the ring barrows dating to the middle/late Bronze Age. The assemblage was primarily composed of body sherds with rims, shoulders, base sherds and four reconstructed vessels. The sherds appeared weathered and abraded suggesting exposure to the elements and the surface finish was limited to basic wet smoothing, though some irregularities protruded giving a rough exterior surface. Dunne notes that the vessels were all coil-built with the exception of the miniature Bronze Age cup (vessel 207) which was pinched. All fabrics were hard and coarse in texture and contained basalt/dolerite, granite and sedimentary grits, indicating manufacture using locally available clay deposits, possibly derived from Lough Brickland or Brown Bog. Charred residues were noted on three Bronze Age vessels (vessel 176 which was a vase food vessel; vessel 183 which was an undiagnostic vessel; and 184 which was a vase urn). Dunne states that the local manufacture of pottery suggests that there was settlement in the vicinity. Seven ring

Plate 62: Refit of vase food vessel from RD 4. RD 4 produced a vase food vessel sherd from C116; a vase urn (Plate 62) and two sherds of an undiagnostic Bronze Age vessel were recovered from C146. This vase urn vessel represents either a container for food or for holding cremated remains. The lack of charred residues suggests it was utilised as the latter. RD 7 produced a vase urn (Plate 63) from C198 and a single sherd of undiagnostic form from

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change in the burial rite or the deposition, as domestic refuse, of a vessel associated with cremation activity. The deposition of two sherds of undiagnostic Bronze Age vessels in a pit in the cemetery area would seem to confirm this idea of domestic refuse. The sherds of incomplete vessels accompanying the cremations or scattered in pits with small quantities of unidentified bones may in many cases be due to erosion of earlier burials, but in some cases it may be deliberate. Dunne suggests that they may have accompanied the dead on the pyre with a range of organic possessions which have not survived, possibly as containers of food or drink or they may have been smashed afterwards and scattered about the site with only a proportion being buried with the deceased.

C158. This vase urn from RD 7 was likely manufactured to hold cremated human remains, rather than food as there was no sign of burnt food residue surviving. RD 8 produced a vase urn (Plate 64) from C132, and 16 sherds of a vase urn vessel and a (reconstructed) vase food vessel. Both the vase urn and the vase food vessel may have been used to hold cremated remains but the 16 sherds representing a vase urn (vessel 184) all have charred residues on the interior which may indicate that this vessel was primarily used for cooking possibly as part of a food offering, with any potential funerary use being secondary.

Plate 63: Refit of vase urn from RD 7. Plate 64: Refit of vase urn from RD 8. Dunne states that in the published literature undecorated Bronze Age vessels comparable with those from Ballintaggart are classed as “Anomalous or unclassifiable pots” (O’ Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 31). Recently many sites, especially in the northern part of Ireland have yielded just such undecorated vessels, which suggested that the distinctly decorated assemblages so diagnostic of the early to middle Bronze Age do not represent the complete range of Bronze Age ceramics. Dunne notes that parallels for the range of undecorated Bronze Age ceramic forms also occur at the sites of Derrycraw Area 9 (A/05/14) and AE/04/55 located in the neighbouring townlands to Ballintaggart. Other parallels occur at Lough Enagh, Co. Londonderry (MacSparron 2005, 1-15) and at Woodside Road, Co. Londonderry (Dunne, unpublished specialist report).

Barrows and their place in the landscape Long barrows and megalithic tombs were normally indicative of a Neolithic date and were more usually associated with interment rather than cremation. Around 2500 BC we see the emergence of the round barrow as the major burial monument in the archaeological landscape of the British Isles (Woodward 2000, 23). While in Britain there is evidence for their construction from at least the late Neolithic, in Ireland they appear to have been constructed from the start of the Bronze Age (2500-600 BC) up to the end of the Iron Age (600 BC-300 AD) (O’Kelly 1989, 205-9; Waddell 2000, 161). The earliest evidence of round barrows in the British Isles is from the Neolithic around 3000 BC at Grindale, Humberside and continued through until the late Iron Age in Ireland in the early centuries AD as at Clogher, Co. Tyrone (Raftery 1994, 230). The peak of popularity was during the early/middle Bronze Age (2200 to 1000 BC).

The assemblage of Bronze Age vessels from the ring ditches represents funerary activity associated with the cremation and deposition of human remains. Some of the reconstructed vessels held cremated remains while other vessels may have held other material such as food offerings to accompany the dead or may simply represent the detritus of the funerary ceremony. Dunne argues that the occurrence of the vase food vessel in a pit in the north-east area may suggest a

The deposition of individual burials, both cremated and inhumed in round barrows, appears to signal a departure from the Neolithic custom of depositing the remains of the dead en masse in earthen long barrows and megalithic barrows to a more individual practice, possibly suggesting

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the emergence of a more stratified society (O’Kelly 1989, 205-9). Round barrows are burial monuments consisting of hemispherical mounds of earth surrounded by a ditch, sometimes with an external bank. They have been divided into many sub-categories but all have the same basic form. These include central mounds containing or above the burial, outer ditches and a bank outside the ditch. Any of these may be present or absent. The central mounds could be low or absent (as with ring ditches) though some barrows, known as bowl barrows may have mounds up to 6m in height. Bowl barrows display a roughly hemispherical mound comprising turf, soil, and bedrock, covering one or more graves or burial deposits sometimes contained within wooden or stone structures. They are the ‘classic’ form of Bronze Age barrow and are typically between approximately 3m and 65m in diameter, and range from 0.3m to over 6m in height. Barrow construction methods range from an almost random accumulation of soil and stone through to a structured arrangement involving kerbs, and internal subdivisions. They occur both as individual barrows and cemeteries consisting of up to 30 or more. The grandest barrows appear to have been constructed in the early Bronze Age (up to about 1500BC).

probably safe to say that barrows became less grand and burial practice tended towards cremation as the middle and late Bronze Age proceeded. Barrows were constructed both individually and in groups. A barrow cemetery is defined as a group of five or more closely spaced barrows comprising examples of one or more of the following classes: bowl barrows, fancy barrows, pond barrows and ring cairns. Other possible components include urnfields, flat graves and the subsurface features of individual barrows. Barrow cemeteries may also contain groups of upstanding barrows, cropmarks representing distinctive components of flattened barrows (e.g. ring ditches), or a combination of the two (Parker Pearson 1993, 91). The exact number of round barrow cemeteries in the British Isles is not at present known, but a rough estimate suggests that over 500 examples have been recorded, the majority of which lie in southern England. No formal estimates of total barrow numbers are available for the British Isles as whole, although south-western England is well served by the county surveys compiled by Leslie Grinsell (1941, 73-113). Atkinson has estimated that in England and Wales as a whole there must be between 20,000 and 25,000 round barrows, the majority of which are likely to be bowl barrows.

Ditches are a feature of many upstanding barrows, and occur where the bedrock is relatively soft, as in south-west England, or where the subsoil is of sufficient depth. Ditch size varies considerably, usually in direct relation to the required size of the mound, but they are typically between 0.5m and 5m in width and up to 3m deep. Most are steepsided and have a U-shaped profile but all are set very close to the edge of the mound with no appreciable berm between.

Most of the kinds of landscape occupied in Neolithic and Bronze Age times contain barrows, although many of the most well-known and most finely preserved examples lie in areas that were only lightly settled in post-prehistoric times, as for example the downlands of Wessex, the heathlands of southern England and East Anglia, the wolds of Yorkshire, and the upland moors of northern and western England. Round barrow cemeteries are generally found on elevated ground and local eminences, although not necessarily always on the top of hills. Hill-slope and false crest locations are also fairly common; examples in river valleys often lie on gravel ridges or on a similar location. These upland barrows may have survived better than lowland examples due to lack of agricultural improvements and ploughing which may give a false distribution pattern. Examples do certainly occur in river valleys or relatively low lying land, as at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw (c.100m O.D.), although in most cases they have either been ploughed away or are covered in alluvium so are only uncovered by chance or development.

Today few if any upstanding round barrows survive in pristine condition. Many have lost some or all of their components through erosion, human interference or agricultural practice. In many cases the central mounds and ditches are now so slight as to be almost imperceptible and the monument will only be identified when uncovered by topsoil stripping, by low-angle sunlight or by the ditches showing up as darker marks in ripening crops. These eroded features are known as ring banks, ring barrows or ring ditches, though it appears that many ring barrows, especially in Ireland, may not have had a central mound and are a separate class of round barrow. The ditches can be annular or penannular, the latter having an entrance through any surrounding bank and a corresponding causeway across the ditch, often on the eastern side and intermittent examples are known. Examples with two opposed entrances are known, as are a few elaborate ring barrows with multiple banks and ditches (Woodward 2000, ibid). These ditched monuments are widely distributed across the British Isles and western Europe, and are difficult to assess as a body since overall classification is difficult and because construction occurred across such a wide area and period of time. But it is

The spacing of barrows varies considerably, but few barrows in cemeteries are over 150m from their nearest neighbour while most will be much less than 100m apart especially if the group is composed of a series of small monuments as at Ballintaggart or Derrycraw. The area occupied by the series of nine burials at Ballintaggart is no more than 1600m2, and about 500m2 at Derrycraw, although it is not known what percentage of the cemetery was uncovered in this latter instance (it may extend beyond the area stripped in advance

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according to the kinds of burials they were designed to receive, but all are less than about 1.5m deep and some are little more than scrapes in the ground. Pits containing cremations tended to be smaller than those for inhumations and were more often round or oval in outline, as occurred at both Ballintaggart and Derrycraw. The cremated remains were buried loose in the pit or contained within a pot, a wooden box or organic bag. These cremation burials occurred, often in token form (as may have occurred at Ballintaggart where only three out of 15 cremations containing anything like the full cremation remains) either as solitary burials or inside ring works. In some cases a fire was lit over the top of the grave after the burial had been deposited but before the barrow was built. There is evidence of the cremation pyre underlying some barrows, as possibly happened at Ballintaggart RD 2. Guiting Power 3, Gloucestershire (Schmidt 2007, 3) contained evidence of a circular pyre in the form of baked subsoil below the barrow. In direct contrast to many of the British early Bronze Age burials, the Irish examples usually contained little or nothing in the way of grave goods. Elsewhere grave goods accompanying burials ranged from everyday items such as pots and flint tools, through personal objects such as dress fittings and ornaments, and on to what can only be described as luxury or prestige items such as gold cups, fine weapons, and very high quality ornaments best illustrated by the material recovered from Bush Barrow, Wessex. In the case of cremations such grave goods were sometimes burnt with the body. The cremation deposits were often made along the inner edge of the bank, within the internal mound or in an internal pit circle. Due to the ravages of time and ploughing, funerary deposits are often dispersed or destroyed along with the bank and central mound. This often leaves a circular ring in the subsoil with little or no dating evidence (Gilmore 2000; Dunlop 2007 pers. comm.) leading to claims of ‘cenotaph’ barrows although this term can only really be given credence if the vast majority of the upper works survive.

of development). This is much less than the area occupied by the average Wessex Barrow cemetery. The largest cemeteries contain up to about 30 barrows, as at Oakley Down, Dorset (Woodward 2000, 55-8), are usually of several different sizes, and the burial deposits include both ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ graves as measured in terms of the wealth of associated grave goods. Often, however, there are similarities between barrows within a cemetery seen most clearly in burial rituals and construction techniques. At Simons Ground, Dorset for example, all seven bowl barrows had penannular ditches. Ashbee (1960, 34) identified three main types of round barrow cemetery (linear, nuclear and dispersed) on the basis of the arrangement of the component barrows, and this basic scheme has generally been followed by subsequent writers. The Ballintaggart cemetery is probably best classified as linear with probably two lines of graves nearly at right angles to each other. In Ireland, the disposal of the dead is relatively poorly represented in the archaeological record from the Late Bronze Age through to the Early Christian period, a time span of nearly two thousand years (Waddell 1998, 140-161; Herity and Eoghan 1977, 210; O’Kelly 1989, 189-214). A variety of burial forms from cist burials to mounds and ring barrows was used, but the evidence from circular ring barrows or ring ditches indicated one primary funerary pattern from the mid 2nd millennium BC to the early centuries AD. Cremation seems to have been the almost exclusive rite, at least in the middle and later Bronze Age, though inhumation appears in the Iron Age (sometimes accompanied by small but significant items of glass or bronze). This tradition appears to be similar to that of northern Britain, and does not appear to have the exceedingly wealthy burials that occurred in Wessex in the early Bronze Age. Irish metalwork tends to be uncovered in hoards, suggesting votive offerings to the gods in watery environments. This also occurs increasingly in Britain as the Bronze Age progresses (Pryor 2003, 290) and a major campaign of excavation in Brown Bog and Lough Brickland might be very rewarding in light of the proximity of the barrow cemetery to both.

Irish ring ditches vary in size. A few are very large, exceeding 30m in overall diameter such as the central barrow at Carnreagh, Co. Antrim (Rice 2007, forthcoming) Knockmore, Co. Down (Nicol 2007, forthcoming) or Brickland Barrow, Co. Down (Water Hill Fort, Dow 034:075), but most ring barrows seem to range in overall diameter from approximately 1.5m to 25m. Some are small, such as those at Ballybeen, Co. Down (Mallory 1984, 1-4), Magheramenagh, Co. Londonderry (Gilmore 2000), Castle Upton, Co. Antrim (Gahan 1997), Inch, Co. Down (McManus 1998, 32) or the satellite burials at Carnreagh, Co. Down (Rice forthcoming). The Ballybeen ring is a small annular ring ditch just under 3m in diameter surrounding a late Bronze Age burial. It is very simple, just the remains of a cremated individual placed on the ground. Around the burial a small ring ditch had been dug, and filled with

The remains were usually interred in pits, sometimes contained within upright pots of the type used in domestic contexts (although a ring barrow excavated at Ballygortgarve, Co. Antrim by one of the authors contained a cremation burial within an inverted Collared Urn). All the burials uncovered at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw were deposited in upright pots. This is the most common kind of burial found in round barrows of whatever form. They occur as primary burials, satellite burials, and intrusive burials either singly or in groups from the early Neolithic right through to the late Bronze Age. The pits varied in size

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charcoal, probably from the cremation fire. A radiocarbon date was obtained showing construction dating to between 900-755 BC. The Magheramenagh ring ditch was 4m in diameter, with a stone-packed ditch covering four postholes cut into its base on the north-west side. The stones, which may have been the remnant of a ploughed out central mound, had been deliberately imported, as the locality was stone free. The postholes were contemporary with the ditch and may have held marker posts or poles with the two central posts being deeper than the outer. The radiocarbon date (Beta 186553) was 3130±50 BP, giving a date range, when calibrated at 2 sigma, of 1450 to 1260 BC, comparable to those at Ballintaggart. At Castle Upton, Co. Antrim three ring ditches (Gahan 1997, 29-30) were uncovered ranging from 6.5m in internal diameter with a 1m deep ditch to 2m in internal diameter. Again the artefacts were similar, including Bronze Age pottery porcellanite axes, arrowheads and primary flint. At Inch, Co. Down five ring barrows between 3m and 5m in diameter were uncovered along with several associated unenclosed cremations. These too were artefact poor and were dated to the late Bronze Age (McManus 1998, 32). The ring ditches at Ballintaggart ranged in size from 1.5m to 6m in diameter, again consistent in both size and dating with the aforementioned.

of the Bronze Age and may be evidence of continuity of belief and tradition. A cemetery of four ring ditches was excavated at Ballydavis Co. Laois (Keeley 1996). The largest was 16m in diameter with an entrance on the east. The central burial deposit consisted of a cremation with grave goods comprising a small cylindrical bronze box with an iron mount on the lid decorated with red enamel, a bronze fibula of Nauheim type dating to the late La Tène in the 1st century BC, bronze wire and over 80 stone and glass beads. The ditch produced an iron blade, nails, part of a bronze bracelet and pin, evidence of iron working and cremated bone, all of which seem to represent several phases of activity. A smaller ring ditch to the east measured 8m in diameter with an entrance on the south-east. Material recovered included an iron blade, a fragment of bronze and a bronze fibula. Two small ring ditches at the site were each 6m in diameter. One was annular with a ditch which contained charcoal, burnt bone, glass beads and decorated bone, the other had an entrance on the north-west with charcoal in the ditch fill. This seemed to reflect a long continuity of funerary practices and although grave goods appear to be more spectacular than those of the later Bronze Age, not enough have been excavated to be certain. It does appear that ring barrows are the most common Iron Age form of burial in Ireland with origins in the Bronze Age. They appear at any rate to have been a dominant type, as illustrated by the presence of no less than 35 examples at the royal site of Cruachain, Co. Roscommon (Raftery 1994, 189). These small and unspectacular ring barrows may be Early Iron Age, but as most were unexcavated it is impossible to be certain. However those excavated at the royal site of Clougher, Co. Tyrone produced dates ranging from 300 BC to 500 AD.

Some of these individual barrows seem to have contained a single burial and some seem to have been used over a period of time, perhaps as family or tribal cemeteries. The largest Irish Bronze Age cemeteries uncovered to date are the Mound of Hostages at Tara, Co. Meath with over 40 burials in a reused Neolithic passage grave with over 350 original interments (Waddell 1985, 30) and Knockast, Co. Westmeath, again with over 40 burials. Carrowjames, Co. Mayo (Raftery 1939, 18 and 1940, 19) was a classic Irish ring barrow with 25 burials in the mound, concentrated towards the centre in three main phases of burial activity. Only nine contained accompanying artefacts, most of which were beads, metal rings and a variety of small objects of bronze. The mound was one of 10 in a cemetery, and artefacts recovered dated at least eight of these barrows to the middle Bronze Age (1500 to 1200BC). At Grannagh, Co. Galway (McCallister 1917, 505-510) a 13m diameter ring barrow contained at least six interments, the earlier ones in the centre, and four in the silted-up ditch. The grave goods included bronze fibulae, beads of glass and bone and other small items. At Oran Beg, Co. Galway (Raftery 1994, 187; Rhynne 1970, 10) three cremations were found in the ditch and one in central mound. The principal grave goods were glass beads.

Prior to the onset of developer funded archaeology in Northern Ireland only three isolated ring ditches or barrows had been excavated in Co. Down. The first individual site was beside the Mullaghmore stone circle, Co. Down (Mogey and Thompson 1948, 82-88; 1956, 11-18). It consisted of a barrow 25m in diameter which had been built over a pit, surrounded by a bank and internal ditch. The pit contained numerous late Bronze Age potsherds, a very small blue glass bead and the cremated bones of at least four individuals. The second of these was at, Ballykeel, Co. Down (Woodman 1985, 128-130). It was a ring ditch 8.2m in diameter with no evidence for a mound, bank or burial and only a single, isolated Bronze Age pottery sherd was recovered. The third site was a large multiple cist cairn excavated at Mount Stewart, Co. Down. It was recorded as being 2-3m high, may have been 20m in diameter and contained a rectangular central cist and 15 smaller cists grouped in a quadrant to the south-west and south-east. Each contained a food vessel at their western ends, with cremated bone and charcoal. Late Bronze Age ring barrow sites uncovered as a result of developer funded archaeology in Co. Down include

As well as dating to the later Bronze Age, a number of Irish ring ditches have been identified as being late Prehistoric/Iron Age in date (Raftery 1994, 189), and whether they once had low external banks, internal mounds or neither, they are evidently a related phenomenon to those

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Ballintaggart AE/04/77, Derrycraw AE/05/14, Castle Upton, Carrowreagh and Inch, Co. Down.

either pottery or bone may be the remains of mostly destroyed ring barrows. The examination of these degraded barrows shows that a considerable amount of information survives as deposits within subsoil cut features, the main contexts being the ditches, central burials and sub barrow structures (Ballintaggart RD 2). This excavation has shown that even though the cemeteries were totally invisible on the surface enough material survived to provide information relating to the environment around the site when in use and during its decay, the dating of the site, and evidence of reuse or multiple use and possible pre-barrow activity (such as the pits below Ballintaggart RD 2). The burial deposits are in many senses the most important evidence from barrows, contributing not only information on patterns of ritual, burial rites, physical anthropology, diet, pathology, and disease, but also a corpus of information on patterns of association and deposition.

The excavations at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw clearly demonstrate that the structure and use of a barrow can only be properly understood if some or all of the above ground works survive as they stratigraphically link all the other components to each other, and may indeed contain some important components (e.g. Ballintaggart RD 2). However, these upper works were most vulnerable to erosion and deliberate destruction as they stand above ground level, and because of this destruction there is no indication of what form they took at Ballintaggart or Derrycraw. It is impossible even to know if they contained central mounds or outer banks enclosing the ditches. As the only part of the barrow structure that survives is cut into the subsoil, no more than 10% of the monument may remain and a great deal of evidence about the construction and phasing of the site may have been lost. The materials used to build the mound may have preserved the old ground surface that the barrow was constructed on which could have contained evidence of previous land-use such as environment, settlement, agriculture or ritual activity. At Roxton, Bedfordshire, three of the barrows covered earlier settlement remains (Woodward 2000, 77). Preservation of the upper works may have provided clues as to how the form of the ground surface had altered in the three thousand years since the barrows were constructed, or whether the cremation had been carried out on the site now occupied by the barrow as may be postulated at Ballintaggart RD 2. With the loss of this upper structure, evidence on how each barrow was constructed has also been lost: whether for example they were multi-phase structures, and whether or not they contained more secondary burials than the ones inserted into the central grave pits of some. This destruction of the upper works means it is not known whether the mound was raised over the burial or the burial inserted into the mound. Evidence of the pyre altering the old ground surface was preserved under the barrow at Guiting Power I, Gloucestershire (Schmidt 2007, 1-3), unfortunately any similar evidence at Ballintaggart or Derrycraw has long since been destroyed.

Stratification of Society and Barrows To what extent barrows were the burial places of an elite group, and if so what qualifications were required for entry into this group, is not known. Even though there are tens of thousands of barrows known, thousands of which are now destroyed, as well as probably a greater number waiting to be uncovered, we are dealing with a monument class with a duration of construction of 1500 to 2000 years, so it is obvious that they do not contain the remains of more than a small percentage of the population who lived during this time span. Even though the total number of interments present in a large cemetery often exceeds one hundred, the timescale of construction of these cemeteries probably runs to several hundred or more years so again two questions remain: • •

How did one qualify for burial in a barrow? What happened to the rest of the population?

It must be assumed that some sort of selection procedures were in operation. All types of barrow appear to include the burials of both males and females of all ages so it was not simply gender or age that determined place of burial. Possible qualifications for interment in a barrow include wealth, status derived from their social class, family or place in the religious hierarchy or an undetermined ceremonial or religious reason. It is unknown how a barrow cemetery operated in terms of ownership, access, location or ceremony.

The cut features such as the bases of burials and any surrounding ditches are the least vulnerable as only wholesale disturbance of the subsoil or bedrock will destroy them. It must, however, be noted that some barrows may have had no components that penetrate the subsoil at all; many of these types may have already been lost without trace. Many of the ring-ditches that are thought to have been barrows but which upon excavation appear to be ‘empty’ probably represent the last vestiges of barrows in which the only surviving deep component is the encircling ditch (Derrycraw RD 1 and Derrycraw RD 2). This too has been a problem at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw and it is likely that several other excavated features such as C257 which contain

A barrow burial is an elaborate method of individual burial. Solitary burial in a very obvious tomb suggests that the individual was beginning to become more important than the community and signals a major sociological change. It may also suggest that wealth was being accumulated in individual hands rather than held in common within the community and that society was becoming more stratified.

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been practiced for hundreds, if not, thousands of years. Such peoples included the Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw and the various Salishanspeaking peoples. The potlatch is a combination of governance, economy, social status and continuing spiritual practices. A potlatch could occur at a celebration of births, rites of passages, weddings, funeral, or honouring of the deceased and could involve a feast, with music, dance, theatricality and spiritual ceremonies. Through political, economic and social exchange, it is a vital part of these people’s culture. Within it, hierarchical relations within and between clans, villages, and nations, are observed and reinforced through the distribution of wealth, dance performances, and other ceremonies. Status of families is raised, not by those who have the most resources, but by who distributes the most resources. The host demonstrates their wealth and prominence through giving away the resources gathered for the event, which prominent participants reciprocate when they in turn hold their own potlatches. The most sacred ceremonies are usually observed in the winter. Before the arrival of the Europeans, gifts included storable food, canoes, and slaves, or income-generating assets such as resource rights. Some groups, such as the Kwakwaka'wakw of British Columbia, used the potlatch as an arena in which highly competitive contests of status took place. In rare cases goods were actually destroyed after being received. The catastrophic mortalities due to introduced diseases laid many inherited ranks vacant or open to remote or dubious claim, providing they could be validated with a suitable potlatch. Europeans saw it as the epitome of conspicuous consumption, but it was much more than that. To give a potlatch enhanced one’s reputation and validated social rank, the rank and requisite potlatch being proportional, both for the host and for the recipients by the gifts exchanged. Prestige increased with the lavishness of the potlatch and the value of the goods given away in it.

It is with these individual round barrow burials, starting in the early Bronze Age that the first evidence of conspicuous consumption or individual display in death becomes visible in the archaeological record. The first gold and copper objects appear in round barrows around the start of the 2nd millennium BC, (Woodward 2000, 38) these items must have belonged to the extremely wealthy at the top of the social pyramid. Very wealthy burials culminate with those found in southern England (Ashbee 1960, 95-129) which date from a short period between 1600 and 1400 BC, contemporary with the richest period of Breton burials, which provide a number of parallels for the British material (Bender and Caillud, 1986 35 to 43). This group of rich early Bronze Age graves in England is sometimes called the Wessex Culture and is typified by the Bush Barrow inhumation on Normanton Down which contained a collection of gold and copper/bronze regalia and appears to be the burial of a ‘chieftain’ or member of some form of elite group. Grave goods during the period range from gold jewellery and bronze weapons to exotic material such as necklaces of beads, faience and amber as well as pottery and organic material. Many of the items uncovered in the graves of the elite of this period are not locally derived. It seems that the fascination of items with an exotic pedigree, something that no one else has, that is common today was equally common in the Bronze Age. This included faience and amber pins from the Únëtice region of Central Europe. The similarity of goods between Breton and Irish objects suggests some sort of contact, not only within the component islands of the British Isles but with the Continent as well (Bender and Caillud, 1986; Eoghan, 1983, 1-12). This may mean that the material recovered from the wealthy burials of southern Britain is an indicator of how the elite lived across the British Isles, rather than how they were seen after death. Dating for these richest graves is within the first five hundred years of the second millennium BC and after that a gradual decline in worldly goods is seen, although barrows are still used to cover the graves and the goods tend to appear as hoards or votive deposits in lakes or bogs.

This theory does not explain Parker Pearson’s original premise however. ‘Rich’ graves were covered by barrows but few barrow burials, at least in Ireland, were ‘rich’ which means that one cannot be equated with the other. ‘Poorer’ graves would have few or none of the items mentioned above. Many would include a pot or two, sometimes only a cremation vessel which could be placed in a hole in the ground or as a secondary burial in the mound of an alreadyexisting barrow and a few pieces of flint as was found at Ballintaggart. It must be remembered however that these ‘poor’ graves may have been the last resting place of members of society a rung or two down the social scale from the exceedingly wealthy Wessex-style burials and may have been buried or cremated with a wide range of organic possessions, now burnt or long decayed. Alternatively, the barrow indicated the high status of individuals who were not always well endowed with many worldly goods but had an innate status separate from wealth. It should also be

It has been suggested by Mike Parker Pearson that the deposition of very wealthy grave goods was intended as a striking display of social standing to distinguish between a series of families of approximately similar social standing, rather than examples of a hierarchical chiefly society (Woodward 2000, 103; Parker Pearson 2003, 117). However, the two are not mutually exclusive, as is illustrated by the discovery of a series of hoards of the middle and late Bronze Age in Ireland (Eoghan, 1983, 1-12), and by the elites of European feudal society’s gifts to the church for advantage in the next life and the potlatch ceremony of the Pacific north-west. Potlatch (Beynon 1945; Rathje 2000) is a highly complex event or ceremony among certain indigenous peoples that has

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remembered that several hundred hoards of bronze and gold jewellery, tools and weapons dating to the middle and late Bronze age have been uncovered from both dryland and wetland deposition sites (Eoghan, 1983, 1-12) suggesting some kind of ritual deposition. It may be that burial was not the place to be accompanied with weapons or jewellery rather you did your giving to the gods while alive and went out of the world with little or nothing accompanying you in the hope that it would be there waiting for you in the afterlife.

two in some cases. The addition of secondary burials to existing barrows within a round barrow cemetery often represented the latest phase of use. At Simons Ground, Dorset (Woodward 2000, 43-45), most of the round barrows were constructed between roughly 1200 and 1000 BC but the deposition of urn cremation burials seems to have continued the life of the cemetery down to about 600 BC. The flat cemetery of 14 graves at Keenogue, Co. Galway (Waddell 2000, 157) returned radiocarbon dates spanning a period of between 500 and 760 years, again illustrating that long term use of a small cemetery was not uncommon, with only a couple of burials, at most, taking place each generation. This site too, had multiple interments. The great variation of burial methods, grave goods and presumably rituals throughout the Bronze Age had the common feature that only a small proportion of the population was formally buried in a barrow, ring ditch, flat cemetery or cemetery mound. It has been suggested that the mixture of pottery types such as that found at Ballintaggart, Derrycraw or at Harristown, Co. Meath illustrates some form of specific ritual, possibly social or political rather than just funerary in nature (Waddell 2000, 161). It is just as likely to be that as time passed and fashions changed so did pottery types and that a cemetery with a period of use of several hundred years is likely to contain the record of these changing fashions.

The use of barrow cemeteries constructed over a period of decades or centuries may initially suggest that they are burials of members of the same family, clan or social group but it may be the site which is important, with the occasional deposition of a burial validating possession or honouring the person so buried. It is possible that the Ballintaggart barrows are so placed to act as a barrier between one tribe’s territory to the west of Lough Brickland and Brown Bog and another’s to the east. The positioning on an isthmus may act as some form of ritual ‘fence’ preventing clashes across an easily accessible route. One thing however is certain, that in barrows at least there is no obvious sexual or age dichotomy. It is possible that women in Bronze Age society ranked in importance alongside men, as some of the finest and largest barrows were raised over the graves of women as at Manton Barrow, (Woodward 200, 114). The inclusion of neonates, children and sub-adults in barrows both at Ballintaggart, Derrycraw and across the British Isles argues strongly that it is who you are that counts, rather that your achievements.

The cremation burial of an individual in a barrow represents a considerable investment of time and energy. Timber has to be collected for the funerary fire, the cremation is collected afterwards, a central burial pit is dug, and the mound is raised by digging an enclosing ditch. In spite of this effort there were few surviving grave goods associated with the burials, except occasional pottery sherds, flint flakes and occasional flint artefacts and this paucity of grave goods appears to be reflected island wide.

The 15 individuals buried at Ballintaggart and the five at Derrycraw represent both sexes and persons of all ages. This does not, however, suggest that there was any egalitarianism within the group using the barrows if it is considered that these interments appear to have been made over a period of 800 years at Ballintaggart (Figure 13) from 1620 BC (earliest date at 2 sigma for RD 3) to 780 BC (latest date at 2 sigma for RD 6) and 600 years at Derrycraw from 1760 (earliest date at 2 sigma for the pit burial) to 1140 BC (latest date at 2 sigma for RD 2). Even though it is possible that the actual period of use of both these cemeteries is much less, the inescapable fact remains that these groups represent only a portion of those who would have died over the period that the cemeteries were in use.

It may be that any pomp and ceremony associated with the cremation is mostly invisible, occurring in the ritual associated with the burial, the goods that accompanied the deceased that were consumed by the pyre or the commemoration afterwards that may have involved feasting, ritual mutilation, tattooing or some other method of remembering the dead. The burial effort too, may have been an expression of the status of the deceased. This, too, suggests the people buried regardless of age or gender had status either directly in their own right or by association as a relative of someone worthy of veneration. This can be illustrated in the examination of 19th century descriptions of Native American excarnation rituals (see above).

At other sites it seems that burials accumulated over a period of perhaps several centuries as at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw. At Barrow Hills, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (Woodward 2000, 91), a cemetery of 17 round barrows included examples ranging from the late Neolithic and Beaker periods through to the middle Bronze Age. Other examples, such as the one excavated on Shaugh Moor, Devon, with just six barrows, are suggested to have been used over a more limited period, perhaps only a century or

As noted above during the Bronze Age only a small percentage of the population were interred in a recognisable monument so what happened to the rest? Funerary rituals for the majority can only be speculated upon - did they involve

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funeral fires by the side of major rivers and later dispersal, as with Hindus or did they involve excarnation, the burial practice adopted by some societies of removing the flesh of the dead, leaving only the bones? Excarnation may be achieved through natural means, involving leaving a body exposed for animals to scavenge, or it may be purposefully undertaken by butchering the corpse by hand as in Tibet. Examples can range from exposure en masse as in the 'Towers of Silence' of the Parsees, to the traditional burial practice of many of the Native American tribes or the extreme version practiced by the Tibetans.

conflict (or at least a barrier via that route). It has also been argued that, during the Bronze Age, bowl barrows were frequently set in what are described as ‘sacred areas’ or ‘ritual areas’ in which a variety of burial and ceremonial monuments are to be found to the exclusion of other classes (Parker Pearson 2003). This may be the case at Ballintaggart, a liminal site, between two watery areas, and close to a (possibly) still extant stone row with a possible alignment to a large barrow on Water Hill (Dow 034:075). The extended period of possible use to deposit just 15 cremations also indicates that barrows certainly had other functions than just a repository for human remains left behind after excarnation or cremation.

If excarnation was part of the Bronze Age death rites, it may have been part of everyday life to see dogs and other scavengers gnawing on human corpses, reducing most of the bones to small fragments in the process, though it is possible that this type of rite took place in a carefully circumscribed area separated from the community at large (Prior 1998, 135136; Pryor 2001, 140). The site at Ballintaggart may be one such, a liminal (or threshold) area between land and water and thus between the world and the afterlife. If burial in a barrow was reserved for an elite (however determined), and the common funereal customs involved excarnation, then beliefs might have involved the body and soul of the dead being consumed and carried skyward by birds. As animals and birds carried off the smaller skeletal bits, it was usually only the long bones and the skulls that survived the excarnation process after which they could be cremated and buried, or curated and perhaps used in ceremonies. It is possible that Brown Bog and Lough Brickland may have received the cremated or excarnated remains of those not suitably qualified to end up in a barrow. In India and other places, people still excarnate their dead today. In the vicinity of Naples, Italy, bodies are disinterred after they have become desiccated and are then stored in communal charnel houses where they are visited annually and ceremoniously rewrapped in fresh cloths for the coming twelve months, (Parker Pearson 2003, 51). In parts of New Guinea today the dead are paraded through the village and shown the changes that have taken place over the last twelve months or parts of a revered ancestor are kept by individuals to ensure success in battle, and ensure the growth of crops or success in the hunt (Lohman 2003, 1-19). Clearly the idea that the ancestors should be respected and shown consideration as though they still remained part of the community and had something to contribute is still current today.

Feature C257 was an oval remnant of a pit located some 40m to the north of RD 8, containing an extremely truncated pot with only part of the vessel base surviving. The coarse nature of the fabric, similar to the other funerary vessels, indicated a later Bronze Age date. Based on the reconstruction of the vessel’s base a projected height of the complete pot was c.400mm and its base diameter was c.190mm (pers. comm. M. Fry, Conservation Officer, Department of the Environment NI). With less than 100mm of pot and feature remaining this suggests that original ground levels in this area were considerably higher, possibly as much as 1m above the existing post topsoil stripping ground levels. If this were the case a ring barrow similar to the eight found to the south could have existed here prior to the alteration in levels. This possibility of major truncation of features was also discussed in connection with C20 and C21 but due to the nature of the surviving evidence must remain purely speculative. However, the possibility of major truncation may suggest that the barrow cemetery may have originally contained several more ring barrows than the eight excavated. Pit C25 was located c.5m south-east of RD 7 and continued the south-east alignment created by RD 4, RD 5, RD 6 and RD 7. Although it contained no artefacts it is likely to have been associated with this alignment and, therefore, was Bronze Age in date. This feature lay just to the south of a projected line from the Neolithic stone alignment some 15m to the north-east and with its stone packed fill it has been suggested that it may be a stone hole filled with packing stones and part of this row. Only a radiocarbon date will determine which is correct. 2.5

Conclusions The barrows at Ballintaggart are out of the ordinary as they were situated on an isthmus between two lakes linking two areas of higher land. This isthmus location may have been chosen to act as a spiritual barrier between two clans or tribes. A similar practice may be seen in the Irish Early Christian period with church sites being situated close to tribal boundaries, presumably as a barrier to intertribal

Un-dateable Features from Ballintaggart

The features recorded within this section were not related to any other dateable feature and contained no dateable artefacts or sufficient charcoal to date. 2.5.1

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C263 contained a single fill, F213; brown, friable silty sand with no charcoal or artefacts.

This series of features lay in the northern part of Area 2, Ballintaggart, 11.5m to the north-east of Neolithic House 2 and 18m north of Bronze Age RD 4 (Figure 6). The majority of features in this area were postholes, though a single linear feature connecting two of the postholes was also recorded. Feature C250 (Figure 177) was a circular posthole, with a diameter of 0.37m and a depth of 0.21m. It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and an irregular base. It contained a single fill, F211: brown, friable sandy silt which contained a deliberately polished pebble (FN#52 AX38.136) and a quartz bipolar core (FN#52 AX38.137).

Figure 177: East facing section of C250.

Approximately 1.25m to the west of C250 was C251 (Figure 178); a shallow circular posthole with a diameter of 0.21m and a depth of 0.11m. It had a sharp top break of slope, with steep sides and an irregular base. C251 contained F210: brown, friable sandy silt which contained two pieces of worked quartz (FN# 53AX38.138).

Figure 178: East facing section of C251.

Located 3m to the north-west of C250 was C253 (Figure 179); a sub-circular posthole with a diameter of 0.21m. It had a depth of 0.10m, a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It contained F252: light brown, friable sandy silt which contained no visible charcoal inclusions or artefacts.

Figure 179: West facing section of C253.

Feature C254 was 1m to the east of C253 (Figure 180). It was an oval posthole, 0.30m x, 0.22m, orientated north to south and 0.17m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides, except to the south where the slope was gradual, and a slightly concave base. C254 contained F215; brown, friable loam with some stone inclusions. Feature C258 was 1.50m to the north-east of C254 (Figure 181). It was a circular posthole with a diameter of 0.36m, a depth of 0.19m, with a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base. It contained F214; brown, friable sandy silt which contained some fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/51). This posthole was at the western end of linear feature C263 (see below).

Figure 180: South facing section of C254.

Feature C262 was 1.2m to the east of C258 (Figure 182). It was a circular posthole 0.27m in diameter, 0.18m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flat base. It contained F212; brown, friable sandy silt with charcoal inclusions but no artefacts. This posthole was at the eastern end of linear feature C263 (see below).

Figure 181: East facing section of C258.

Feature C263 (Figure 183) was a linear feature, orientated east to west, measuring 1.20m x 0.14m and 0.08m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides, a concave and irregular base and a “V” shaped profile. At either end of this cut there was a posthole, C258 to the west, C262 to the east.

Figure 182: East facing section of C262.

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Feature C65 (Figure 186) was a large pit 0.55m x 0.50m, and 0.21m deep. The top break of slope was sharp with vertical sides, except to the north where the slope was gradual, with an irregular, slightly concave base. C65 contained a single fill, F52; light brown, friable sandy loam, with moderate charcoal inclusions and a large number of stones, including several found lining the edge of the cut. These may have been the remains of packing stones. It also contained unidentifiable fragments of burnt bone surviving in the upper portion of F52, while three unidentifiable fragments of burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/7) were recovered beneath a large flat basal stone.

Figure 183: East facing section of C263. Discussion Although the function of this series of pits, postholes and linear feature was unclear, it is possible that they were the remains of a truncated structure. Postholes C258 and C262 were joined by C263, which may have been the remains of a wall slot or drip trench, with two further postholes C250 and C251 2.50m to the south of this arrangement and a further posthole C254 to the south-west of C258. Although these remains may be identified as structural in nature, a function and date cannot be easily established. There is little evidence to link this complex of features with either the Neolithic houses to the west or to the Bronze Age ring ditches to the south: equally it is not possible to show a link with the area of Early Bronze Age activity in the north-east of the site.

Feature C97 (Figure 187) was a shallow, sub-circular, truncated pit, 0.35m long by 0.30m wide, with a depth of 0.15m and orientated north-east to south-west. The top break of slope was sharp with steep sides, a concave base, and the profile formed an elongated “V” shape. C97 contained a single fill, F71; dark brown, compact, sandy silt, with moderate flecks of charcoal, mainly in the upper portion of the fill, with a number of stones throughout. Feature C206 (Figure 188) was a shallow sub-oval feature measuring 0.60m x 0.36m, 0.8m to 0.14m deep, with an east to west orientation. The top break of slope was gradual with gradually sloping sides, a concave base and the profile formed an irregular elongated “U” shape. C206 contained a single fill, F204; dark brown, fine, friable sandy silt, with flecks of charcoal throughout, while 10% to 20% of the volume of the fill was taken up by small stones. There were several associated artefacts: burnt bone (FN#AE/04/77/44); a piece of quartz and two pieces of flint (FN#AE/04/77/50); and a nail (a modern intrusion) (FN#AE/04/77/49) occurred close to the surface. Without the artefacts, it is unlikely that this feature would be considered archaeological: after excavation it seemed more likely to be a natural depression that had silted up over time.

The major problem is the lack of any dating evidence from this area. The features produced nothing in the way of datable material either in the form of charcoal from the fills or by artefacts recovered. These features could be the very truncated remains of a fourth Neolithic house or even a structure associated with the builders of the Bronze Age ring ditches, but without any dating material with which to tie the features to a specific period interpretation is difficult. 2.5.2

Other Features

The following are features which were located within Area 2 but did not appear to have any association with the other features (Figure 6). They are listed here for completeness.

Feature C259 (Figure 189) was a stakehole 0.15m x 0.13m and 0.18m deep with a sharp top break of slope and steep sides leading to a concave base. C259 contained a single fill, F247; light brown, fine silty clay with few charcoal inclusions and occasional angular stones, some of which survived at the edge of the cut, which may be the remains of packing stones.

Feature C44 (Figure 184) was a pit with a diameter of 0.20m, a depth of 0.11m, a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base. It contained a single fill, F37, which was brown, friable sandy silt, with a moderate amount of charcoal. Feature C45 (Figure 185) was an oval pit or posthole 0.64m x 0.58m, orientated east to west and 0.23m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides, and a concave base and contained a single fill, F34: which was dark brown, loose, sandy silt, with some charcoal inclusions. The bulk of the fill was comprised of stones, mainly c.0.20m in diameter, with one large example 0.70m in diameter, possibly the remains of packing stones for a post. There were no associated artefacts.

Feature C273 (Figure 190) was a stakehole 0.10m long by 0.09m wide, 0.09m deep, with a sharp top break of slope steep sides and a concave base. C273 contained a single fill, F249; light brown, fine grained, silty clay with few charcoal inclusions and occasional angular stones. Discussion These seven features were scattered throughout Area 2 Ballintaggart and show no pattern in relation to either each

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other or any of the other features on the site. Due to their sporadic nature and the lack of any dating evidence their function remains unclear.

Figure 189: South facing section of C259. Figure 184: North facing section of C44.

Figure 190: North facing profile of C273.

Figure 185: South-east facing section of C45.

Figure 186: West facing section of C65.

Figure 187: North-west facing section of C97.

Figure 188: North-east facing section of C206.

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Figure 192: Post excavation site plan.

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Figure 193: Plan showing archaeology overlaid on road take.

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3.2.1

moderate amounts of medium sized stones. The lower fill F122 was dark brown, moderately compact, silty clay, with moderate charcoal flecking, occasional large angular stones and frequent small sub-angular stones. Fill F122 from the ditch was dated (Beta 217351) Cal BC 1650 to 1300. A piece of carbonised timber was recovered from this fill (FN#AE/05/14/49). Upon examination, it was identified as Alder, (Alnus sp.) and it appeared as a split sheet, 10-20 mm thick, which was described as unusual, as Alder does not split easily (Appendix 4b).

Ring Ditch 1 (RD 1)

RD 1 (Figures192 and 194, Plates 66 and 67) was the larger of the two ring ditches, and lay 2m north-west of RD 2 and 2.50m south of RD 3. This ditch, when radiocarbon dated, produced a measurement of 3240±80 BP (Beta-217351), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1650 to 1300 cal BC (Figure 8). The ditch, C45, was slightly oval in plan, orientated south-east to north-west and measured 7.70m x 6.90m. The width of the ditch was 1.30m and the maximum depth was 0.40m with a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave base, cut as a single event.

Plate 66: RD 1 mid-excavation, looking west. Figure 194: Post-excavation plan of RD 1.

Figure 195: West facing section of C45. Below F122 at the outer slope of C45 was F281, orange silty sand. The fill was 0.40m wide and had a depth of 0.10m. A similar fill on the outer edge of C45 represented primary silting of the ditch, either during use or after abandonment. This fill was also identified in the south-east and south-west quadrants and was representative of a similar process rather than a single event.

Plate 67: RD 1 post-excavation, looking north-west. There were a number of fills associated with the ditch, C45, some of which occurred in particular quadrants. Each quadrant will be discussed individually, and then summarized as an overview.

Fill F284 was a lens of dark brown, silty sand, which contained small discrete concentrations of charcoal some of which were suggestive of pieces of burnt timber or branches. This fill occurred between F121 and F122 localised in the south of this quadrant. However, a similar fill was identified as F294 in the north-west quadrant and as F92 in the northeast quadrant.

South-west quadrant The southwest quadrant (Figure 195) showed some variation in fills associated with this part of the ditch. The predominant upper fill was F121, light brown, moderately compact, sandy clay, with occasional flecks of charcoal and

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South-east quadrant The south-east quadrant recorded less variation in the associated fills and had a similar stratigraphy to the southwest quadrant. However, F281 extended to the width of the ditch for part of this quadrant, being about 0.10m thick suggesting there was variation in the primary silting process within the ditch base. F284 again lay between F121 and F122 as in the south-west quadrant.

F294. F294 had an extremely high charcoal content and was sitting on F122, in a similar location to F92. This quadrant also contained a lens of material, F305, dark brown, silty clay, with very occasional flecks of charcoal but no artefacts. The fills F121 and F122 associated with this quadrant of the ditch were the same as in the other quadrants.

North-east quadrant The northeast quadrant (Figures 196 and 197) showed even less variation than in either the south-west or south-east quadrants. Figure 198: East facing section of C45, with part of F121 and F122 removed (Note: the lip in the base of this section was a protrusion of bedrock). The position of the fills within the ring ditch strongly suggests natural silting up and slippage of the central mound began to infill the ditch shortly after the construction of the monument, a result of weather action and gravity. Within the fills there were some associated finds, they did not however, occur in discrete locations. From F122, there were a number of lithic pieces: a scraper (FN#88 AX39.9), a blade (AX39.10), a scalar flake (FN#58 AX39.8), a bipolar core and fragment (FN#29 AX39.6) and two quartz bipolar cores (FN#30 AX39.7). There were also unidentifiable fragments of burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/32, 57), the total weight recovered was only 3.2g. From F121, there were more lithic finds, a flint bipolar core refit, (FN#28 AX39.2), three bipolar quartz cores, and a quartz scalar flake (FN#30 AX39.3), a scalar flake (FN#59 AX39.5) and a piece of flintlike quartz (FN#60 AX39.4). No pottery was recovered from any of the associated fills of this ditch.

Figure 196: North facing section of C45, after partial removal of fills.

Figure 197: East facing section of C45. These sections were very similar to the previously excavated sections. The only variation was F219; a localised anomaly between lower fill F122 and upper fill F121; orange-yellow, compact, silty sand, with no charcoal and few stone inclusions. Above F121 was another localised fill, F92 which was dark brown, silty sand, which contained small discrete concentrations of charcoal.

The fills from RD 1 record evidence of silting up of an open ditch. There were indications of some slumping from the central mound; however, it was not as pronounced as in the fills recorded for the eight ring ditch burials excavated in Area 2, Ballintaggart. The deliberately split and burnt plank may relate to cremation material used within a central mound or may have been evidence of an organic container for the occupant.

A large slippage of F281, from the outer boundary of the ring ditch, was preserved in this quadrant (Figure 197). Interestingly F122 appears to have interpenetrated F281, possibly an indication of the central mound material falling en masse, accompanied by wash-in from outside of the ring ditch.

Three features were uncovered within the central area of RD 1, C47, C57 and C111 (Figure 257). Of these, C111, proved to be the remnants of a modern field boundary while C47 and C57 were small pits which were initially considered to have possibly been the remains of burial pits, though they did not contain any visible human remains. However, the level of truncation of this feature suggests that any feature containing human remains may well be long destroyed.

North-west quadrant The north-west quadrant (Figure 198) recorded variations in fills similar to those found in the other three quadrants. The fills of the north-east quadrant and the north-west quadrant were differentiated by an additional upper fill,

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Internal pits C47 (Figure 199) was a rectangular pit measuring 0.95m x 0.6m, orientated east to west with a depth of 0.14m. The top break of slope was gradual, as was the slope of sides with a flat base. C47 contained two associated fills, F2, and F46. F46 was mid-brown, sandy clay, with occasional charcoal flecks. The second fill, F2 appeared to be caused by an adjacent stone being dragged or disturbed from the pit area and subsoil deposited in the void which would have made the pit appear larger. The true pit dimensions may have only been 0.40m east to west. There was a surface find of a single sherd of pottery (FN#AE/05/14/7) but this was not secure.

possibly the central burial of the barrow. A number of features lay directly west; C241, C304, C318, C321, and south of this ring ditch, C187. They had no direct association and are discussed separately below.

Figure 200: North-west facing section of C57 and C111.

Figure 199: South facing section of C47. The two remaining features, C57 and C111 were adjacent to each other (Figure 200). Of these C57 was the smaller, with an irregular oval shape measuring 0.47m x 0.26m and was orientated north-east to south-west, with a depth of 0.16m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a deeply concave base. C57 contained fill F56, brown, firm, silty sand, with a moderate charcoal content. From the surface of this context a leaf-shaped arrowhead (FN#34 AX39.20, Plate 68) was recovered. As it was on the surface it could not be regarded as totally secure. However, F56 produced a radiocarbon measurement of 4940±50BP (Beta-217350), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 3780 to 3640 cal BC (Figure 13). The leaf-shaped arrowhead is typical of the Irish Neolithic. This artefact and radiocarbon date indicate that this pit was not contemporary with the ring ditch and indeed was some two thousand years older. The superimposition of the ring ditch around the Neolithic activity must be seen, without evidence to the contrary, as a matter of chance. There is no evidence that the Bronze Age barrow builders were aware of previous Neolithic activity. This date is very similar to dates for the Neolithic houses uncovered in Area 2 and as such we can consider this as further evidence of Neolithic activity in west County Down.

Plate 68: Arrowhead found close to C57, F56. 3.2.2

Ring Ditch 2 (RD 2)

RD 2 (Figures201, Plate 67), C128 and C286 were smaller than RD 1, with a ditch diameter of 4.50m. The carbonised timber from F226 produced a radiocarbon measurement of 3090±70BP (Beta-213588), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1500 to 1140 cal BC (Figure 8). The date range overlapped with RD 1, suggesting that that they may have been contemporary. The width of the ditch varied between 0.60m and 0.70m with a depth between 0.25m and 0.30m, a sharp top break of slope and steep sides. The concave base had a narrow slot, C286, which was deeply “U” shaped and ran intermittently through the base of the ditch but did not occur in the eastern quadrant. The ditch was cut as a single event.

C111 (Figure 200) was the remnant of a modern field boundary, which crossed the site east to west, passing through RD 1. It was 0.70m wide and survived to a maximum depth of 0.15m. C111 contained one fill, F110, mid brown, friable, sandy silty clay, with very occasional flecks of charcoal and small irregular stones. Two bipolar cores were recovered from this fill (FN#79 AX39.21) and 1.3g of unidentifiable-burnt bone. These finds indicated the field boundary disturbed an earlier Bronze Age feature,

The ditch contained a number of fills; F127, F227, F230, F231, F287, F298 and F297. F127, F227 and F230 were upper fills, F287 only occurred in slot C286 and was the base fill where it occurred. F227 was the main upper fill. F230 only occurred on the surface in the western quarter, F127 only occurred in the northern quadrant, above the carbonised timber F226.

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deep, which covered the carbonised oak timber F226. It extended laterally to a distance of c.2m, and filled the width of the ditch. Recovered from this fill was a sherd of prehistoric pottery (FN#AE/05/14/20). It was sitting on top of F226, sealing it. F226, the timber, was 1.35m x 0.30m with a thickness of 0.03m, (Figure 271, Plate 69) and was confirmed as oak (Quercus), originally part of a substantial timber (see Appendix 5). Beneath F226 was F227, orangebrown, compact, silty clay, very similar to the subsoil. This was probably slope wash or slump from the central mound whilst the ditch was open.

Plate 68: RD 2, post-excavation, looking north-west.

Plate 70: RD 2 west facing section showing C128, F127 and narrow trough cut C286 at base, looking east. West quadrant The next quadrant excavated was that to the west (Figure 203, Plate 70). It was within this section that the first evidence of the narrow slot, C286; running round the centre of the ditch was first discovered. This cut ran intermittently round the base of the ditch but was mainly absent to the south and east. Its dimensions varied with a width ranging from 0.07m to 0.22m and a maximum depth of 0.15m. The slot was given a separate cut number; however, it was almost certainly a single event, part of the main ditch cut possibly designed to hold a palisade to keep out the casual observer. It was not possible to determine if this was a slot for stakes or timber planks, as no evidence survived. The cut, C286, contained a single fill F287, light grey-brown, friable, silt, which had a moderate charcoal content.

Figure 201: Post-excavation plan of RD2 and Pit burial C194 and C218.

Plate 69: RD 2 Burnt timber within C128 and F226, looking north. North quadrant F127 only occupied a small area in the north quadrant of RD 2 (Figure 202), but did reappear in the south quadrant and was brown, compact, sandy silt measuring 0.90m to 0.12m

Figure 202: East facing section of C128.

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Figure 203: South facing section of C286.

Plate 71: Bronze Age pottery including one sherd of decorated vase urn from F230 (far left).

Figure 204: West facing section of C128 and C286, after removal of F127.

Figure 205: South facing section of C128. The fill of the ditch in this area, F230 was dark brown, friable, silt which contained a moderate charcoal content, some of which survived as small chunks. A small number of stones were also recovered, identified as F129. The fill extended laterally a distance of 1.50m, had a thickness of 0.30m and contained Bronze Age decorated pottery sherds (FN#AE/05/14/63, Plate 71), burnt clay (FN#AE/05/14/64) and 1.5g of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/65). South quadrant Two localised fills F297 and F298 (Figure 204), occurred in the southern quadrant and were basal fills of C128. They lay below F127 (see above) and were fine yellow-white clay. The probable source of F297 was the central interior surface of RD 2, while F298 originated from the exterior surface. Both of these fills were slope-wash derived.

Figure 206: Bronze Age Perforated Vase Urn Sherds from F231. From this quadrant it was possible to see that F297 washed in during the initial silting up of the ditch, prior to the more

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probably was the remnants of the primary silting up of the ditch.

substantial later in-filling, but after the central slot, C286 partially silted up (Figure 204). East quadrant In the eastern section of the ditch the principal fill was F227, however when this was removed a small deposit of F231 was exposed (Figure 205). F231 was dark brown, compact, clay sand, with flecks of charcoal and contained a deposit of 34 Bronze Age pottery sherds, from a perforated vase urn (FN#AE/05/14/48, Figure 206, Plate 71). The vessel appeared to have been deliberately smashed prior to burial, and was incomplete. 3.2.3

Ring Ditch 3 (RD 3)

The third ring ditch to be excavated was RD 3, located c.2.50m east of RD 1 (Figures 192). The outer ditch, C24, was severely truncated (Figures 206, Plate 72).

Figure 207: Post excavation plan of RD3. Central burial The central burial C22 had a diameter of 0.40m, a depth of 0.11m (Figure 211) with a sharp top break of slope, gradual sides and a flat base. It was filled by F21, brown, compact, sandy loam, with a moderate charcoal content as flecks. There were three associated finds, a piece of flint (FN#AE/05/14/27), a burnt piece of flint (FN#AE/05/14/26) and burnt human bone (FN#AE/05/14/25). The recovered burnt bone suggested that the pit, and by extrapolation the burial, had been much more substantial in the past. The total weight of bone recovered was 49.5g. The individual represented was probably 7-15 years old (Appendix 3).

Plate 72: RD 3, post-excavation, looking west. RD 3 contained evidence of a central burial, C22. When the material from this burial was radiocarbon dated it produced a measurement of 2930±70BP (Beta-217349), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1360 and 1320 to 920 cal BC (Figure 8). This associated burial was probably later than the dated barrow activity of RD 1, 1650-1300 Cal BC and RD 2, 1500-1140 Cal BC. The outer ditch C24 was roughly circular, measuring 1.80m x 1.95m. The maximum surviving depth was 0.10m while the average width of the ditch was 0.15m. Most of the southern arc of the ditch had been removed, possibly as the result of ploughing or other modern disturbance. The surviving top break of slope was gradual, as was the slope of the sides. The base varied from “U” to “V” shaped.

Figure 208: North facing section of C24.

The fill of the ring ditch, F23, was mid-brown, compact, sandy silt which contained no charcoal and only a few stones 0.08m-0.10m within the fill (Figures 208-211). This Figure 209: West facing section of C24.

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Approximately 1.50m north-west of C51 was posthole C266 (Figure 214). It was orientated north-west to south-east (0.57m x 0.46m) with a depth of 0.33m, a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a concave but uneven base cut into bedrock. It was filled by F267, dark brown, moderately compact silt with a moderate charcoal content as flecks and lumps and a vast number of stones, possibly packing stones for the post.

Figure 210: South facing section of C24.

Figure 211: North facing section of C22. 3.2.4

Ring Ditch 4 (RD 4)

Approximately 5m east of RD 3 was a group of related features; postholes C51, C266, C262 and C264 which were the remnants of a ditch. These features may have been the badly truncated remains of another ring ditch (Figure 212, Plata 73). Unfortunately this feature did not contain enough charcoal to provide a radiocarbon date.

Figure 212: Post-excavation plan of RD 4.

Figure 213: South facing section of C51. Plate 73: RD 4 pre-excavation, looking east.

Cut C262 (Figure 215) was crescent shaped pit, 0.90m x 0.40m, with a depth of 0.08m, a gradual top break of slope and sides with a concave base. It contained one fill F263, orange-brown silt with orange flecks of clay and very occasional flecks of charcoal.

C51 (Figure 213) was a substantial linear pit (2.04m x 1.10m), sub-rectangular in plan, and was orientated north to south, with a depth of 0.60m. It had a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and an irregular but concave base. F331 was the upper fill grey-black, moderately compact, silty clay, with a moderate charcoal content, numerous unsorted stones and two finds; unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/37) and two prehistoric pottery sherds (FN#AE/05/14). These were both from the surface and were not secure. The lower fill, F345 was mid brown, moderately compact, sandy clay, with a very high unsorted stone content.

C264 (Figure 216) was an irregularly shaped feature with a north to south orientation and is thought to be a continuation of C262. It was 1m x 0.40m, and had a poorly defined cut with an undulating base with a depth of 0.03m-0.12m. The fill F265 was brown, moderately compact silt, with orangebrown clay flecks and occasional flecks of charcoal. F265 was very similar to F263 and was, therefore, likely to be a contemporary fill event.

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width of 0.56m, and a depth of 0.28m. The top break of slope was gradual while the slope of sides was steep to the west and moderate to the north and south, and the base was flat, except to the west, which was “V” shaped. C211 contained two fills F212 and F414. F212 was the upper fill, brown, moderately compact, sandy clay, with occasional charcoal flecks and numerous unsorted stones. Below this, but only occurring on the western side was F414, light brown-grey, sandy clay with charcoal flecking.

C262 and C264 formed a crescent, which if it was continued to form the suspected ring ditch then C51 would have lain inside the cut and C266 would have lain outside, to the west. The packing stones in C266 suggest that it was a post-hole rather than a burial pit so the absence of any human remains is not surprising. Any internal burial must have been destroyed by the later activity which truncated this feature.

Figure 214: North facing section of C266.

Plate 74: RD 5 pre-excavation, looking south-east.

Figure 215 West facing section of C262.

Figure 216: South facing section of C264. 3.2.5

Ring Ditch 5 (RD 5)

RD 5 survived as a pennanular ditch, C211 (Figure 217, Plate 74), which had posthole at each of its eastern terminal ends, C28 and C41. In the centre was a large pit, C30, which contained human bone fragments. A posthole, C34, lay 0.50m to the north-east; it was not directly part of RD 5 but its proximity suggests that it may have been a contemporary feature. The bone from the central pit when radiocarbon dated produced a measurement of 3170±70BP (Beta-2116910), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1520 to 1250 cal BC (Figure 8).

Figure 217: Post-excavation plan of RD 5 and C34. C28 and C41 (Figures 218 and 220) were a pair of substantial circular postholes of similar size, which were located at the south-eastern facing terminals of the pennanular ditch and may have supported posts defining an entrance to this feature. C28 (Figure 219) had a diameter of 0.49m, with a depth of 0.45m, a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flat base. The fill F27 was the only associated fill and was grey-

C211 (Figurers 218 and 220) was crescent shaped, 3.90m long orientated north-west to south-east, had a maximum

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fragments. It contained numerous human bone fragments, mainly in the upper surface. The total weight of bone recovered was 329.2g, derived from an adult of indeterminate sex, aged c.25-35 at the time of death (see Appendix 3).

brown, loose, fine silty clay, with a moderate to high charcoal content, a great deal of stones (20-40%) and unidentifiable fragments of burnt bone, (FN# AE/05/14/124) and flint (FN#AE/05/14/125).

Also within the fill were stones with one flattened side. These were identified on excavation as possible rubbing stones, suggesting deliberate deposition and confirmed by the lithic report (FN#33 AX39.19) as two sandstone and one schist rubbing stones. That they were unburnt indicates they were not from the funerary pyre and were probably grave goods interred with the cremated remains. There was also one large stone centrally located, (0.40m x 0.50m x 0.30m), which may have been a capping stone on the burial below.

Figure 218: South facing section of C211. A second posthole C41 (Figure 220) was 0.25m north-east of C28. It was circular, with a diameter of 0.55m, a depth of 0.50m, a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flat base. It was filled by F40, brown, friable silty loam, containing flecks of charcoal and numerous small and medium sized stones.

Figure 221: East facing section of C34. Approximately 0.80m north-east of RD 5 was C34, a shallow pit with a diameter of 0.50m and a depth of 0.26m (Figure 221). It had a sharp top break of slope, the sides were steep and it contained two fills, F33 (the upper fill) and F170 (the lower fill). F33 was dark, grey-black, ashy silt, with a very high charcoal content and fragments of quartz and flint (FN#AE/05/14/14), while F170 was a black, organic silt, with a very high charcoal content and fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/15). This pit did not form part of RD 5 but its proximity may suggest an association.

Figure 219: West facing section showing the relationship of C28 to C41.

3.3

Pit Burial and Associated Features

West of RD 2 and south of RD 1 was a large, irregular, north to south orientated cut C194 (Figures 192 and 222). It measured 1.70m x 1.40m with a depth of 0.60m, a sharp top break of slope, and steep sides on all except the west, which was gradual. The charcoal from this pit when radiocarbon dated produced a measurement of 3370±70BP (Beta2116908), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1760 to 1440 cal BC (Figure 8).

Figure 220: North facing section of C30 and C211. The central pit, C30 (Figure 220), was a large pit, measuring 0.94m x 0.50-0.65m, orientated north-east to south-west, with a depth of 0.37m. It had a sharp top break of slope, gradual sides and a flattish base with a central “V”. Within C30 were two associated fills, F29 and F225. The lower fill F225 was loose, orange silt. This fill was similar to the subsoil, but finer, with no coarse inclusions or finds. It was probably re-deposited subsoil or slope wash slumped into the pit before it was filled.

This cut was part of a complex burial, marked by a substantial posthole C218, which was contained in C194. Revetted into the wall of C218, was C233, which contained a complete, undisturbed upright funerary urn (FN#AE/05/14/37), with a capstone in place (Plate 75 ans 76). The urn contained the cremated bones of a single

F29 was the upper fill and occupied the majority of the cut. It was black, friable silt, with a high charcoal content, with some pieces of the charcoal identifiable as burnt wood

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individual with the total weight of bone recovered, 1176.3g, likely to represent the remains of a complete adult. This was confirmed in the osteological report, which also established that the remains were probably of a male, who died between the ages of 25 and 45 (Appendix 3).

with a diameter of 0.24m. The fill surrounding the urn, F232 was light brown, very soft, silty soil, with moderate charcoal flecking and containing a quantity of burnt human bone. As the urn was intact and a capstone covered the mouth, it may have been a second cremation. Alternatively, it was externally deposited material associated with the urn cremation used to fill the pit. This may suggest that the pits were open, ready to receive the remains at the time of cremation, and the ash and bone became incorporated when the pits were backfilled and tidied. The fill also contained a number of packing stones, including a flattish base stone beneath the urn.

Figure 222: Post-excavation plan of C194 and related features.

Plate 75: Pit C194 and funerary urn FN#AE/05/14/37, looking north.

Figure 223: South-west facing section of C194, C214, & C218. The excavation evidence suggested this burial was a deliberate multi-staged process and was marked by a substantial post. This may reflect a person of importance and or a claim to territory.

Plate 76: Funerary urn FN#AE/05/14/37 looking north.

The primary cut was C194 (Figure 223). This large pit appeared to provide two related functions as this was, almost certainly, a single event episode. The large size of the pit provided access to place the urn burial. C194 was recut in the north, C233, forming a ‘shelf’, upon which was placed the funerary urn (Figure 222). C233 measured 0.50m x 0.40m, with a depth of 0.50m, and had a flat base and vertical sides. The urn (vessel #13) was 0.28m in height,

Cut C218, a large posthole immediately to the south-west of C233, was also contained within C194 (Figure 222). It had a diameter of 0.60m and a total depth of 0.90m. It appeared that pit C194 had been dug initially, and then C233 was cut for the urn. The post-socket, C218, was then dug and the post slid into position and made upright by F215, redeposited orange-yellow, friable, silty sand with occasional charcoal flecks, being packed around the post, with additional packing

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stones. These fills secured the post and also sealed the urn. The lower fill of this posthole, F217 had a depth of 0.30m and was soft, grey, clay silt, containing charcoal flecks and human bone fragments. It was likely to have been basal silting derived from collapse of surrounding soils prior to the period when the post was in place. The charcoal and bone within F217 were probably derived from disturbed earlier fills during the insertion or removal of the post or may be pyre debris incorporated when the pits were back filled and secured. The upper fill F208, was back filled or collapsed material when the post, which appeared to have been withdrawn in antiquity, was removed. F208 was soft, brown, silty clay, which contained moderate charcoal flecking and a number of large packing stones, approximately 30% by volume. The fill also contained some pieces of burnt bone, (FN#AE/05/14/45) and a sherd of pottery (FN#AE/05/14/121). These finds may have been deliberately deposited, and possibly associated with the bone deposition in F232. The bone in F208 weighed 7.5g and was human.

Plate 77: Pit C228 post-excavation, looking west.

Cut C214 was a roughly circular pit which was cut into F215 and respected the edge of what would have been the upright post within C218. It was 0.70m in diameter and had a depth of 0.28m with a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base. It was filled by F193, black, friable, silty clay, with mottled orange and cream clay lenses, a high charcoal content as flecks and fragments of poorly preserved unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/43). As there were several token burials elsewhere on site it was possibly a token burial; however, the bone could not be identified as human. C221 and its associated F220, located to the south of C218 were the result of bioturbation from root activity, and not associated with the burial activity. 3.4

Plate 78: Pit C228 containing remains of basket, FN#41.

Basket Enclosed Cremation

C228 (Figure 192, Plates 77-79) was a circular cut, into a cairn-like structure, F118. C228 had a diameter of 0.35m, a depth of 0.40m, a sharp top break of slope, steep sides and a flat base. The cremation fill of C228 was F15, a black, silky ash, with a high charcoal content. This fill was not in direct contact with the cut, but ‘contained’ within a ‘basket’ like container, F283 (FN#AE/05/14/41). This presented as charred wood adhering to the sides of C228. It appeared to be the interwoven remains of a wicker ‘basket’ or some form of other organic container. It consisted of thin strands (0.05– 0.10m in width) running around the interior curve of F228 with vertical rods of similar dimensions. Towards the base were some larger concave pieces of what appeared to be bark. These may have lined or been woven into the ‘basket’ to provide a more secure container.

Plate 79: Close up illustrating the wicker-like nature of the pit lining. The basket was burnt in situ, and also contained the remains of a cremation brought to the pit. The total weight of bone was 266.6g which probably suggests a token cremation, although data for adolescents is contradictory. The

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charcoal flecking and angular stones, while the upper, F240, was brown-grey, friable, sandy clay, with moderate amounts of charcoal pieces, occasional sub-angular and sub-rounded stones, two pieces of flint (FN#53 AX39.23), a bipolar core and a scalar flake, and fragments of unidentifiable-burnt bone.

osteological report identified the remains as from a sub-adult aged approximately 13-17 years (Appendix 3). When radiocarbon dated the charcoal in the basket produced a measurement of 3200±70BP (Beta-213585), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1620 to 1310 cal BC (Figure 8). Near the top, on the northern side (which was the best preserved) two strands of wicker curved downwards. This may be due to internal collapse or they may represent the fragmented remains of ‘basket handles’. If they are handles, this suggests a container, rather than simply a pit lining, indeed it would be easier to construct if it was a basket, later placed into the pit than constructed in situ.

Figure 225: North facing section of C241.

Small amounts of human bone were lodged between the charred wood F283 and the edges of C228. These may have worked themselves out between the weave of wicker. The charred wood fragmented badly during removal. This was partly due to its fragility and because some stones protruded in from the edge of cut C228 causing further damage. 3.5

South of C247 was a circular pit C304 (Figure 226). It had a diameter of 0.35m with a depth of 0.19m, a sharp top break of slope, steeply sloping sides, a concave base and containing three fills, F303, F302 and F257. The basal, F303, was pale grey-yellow, friable sandy silt, with a low quantity of charcoal flecking, the middle, F302 was mid brown, friable, sandy clay silt, with a low quantity of charcoal flecking and small to medium sized angular stones, while the upper, F257, was brown, friable, sandy silt.

Features south and west of RD 1

A number of features lay directly west of RD 1: C241, C304, C318, C321 while to the south was C187 (Figure 192). No function could be identified for these features or any direct associations between them other than that they probably had some function relating either to burial ritual or cemetery construction. They are grouped here by proximity to each other and are described numerically by context number. Approximately 0.80m south of RD1 was a single subcircular posthole, C187 (Figure 224). It was 0.40m x 0.35m and 0.25m deep. The top break of slope was sharp, the sides were steep, and the base concave and it contained two fills, F188 and F207. The basal, F188, was brown-grey, friable, sandy clay, with occasional charcoal flecking, decayed stone and small pebbles, while the upper, F207 was mid orangebrown, soft, sandy clay, with occasional charcoal flecking..

Figure 226: South-south-east facing section of C304. East of C304 was C318 (Figure 227), an oval pit, orientated east to west, 0.55m x 0.30m and 0.27m deep. The top break of slope was sharp, the sides were steep, the base was “V” shaped and it contained two fills F317 and F261. The basal, F317 was grey-orange, friable, sandy silt, with occasional charcoal flecking, and contained sub-angular and subrounded stones and three pieces of flint (FN#AE/05/14/62). The upper, F261 was brown, friable, clay silt, with occasional flecks of charcoal, inclusions of sub-angular and sub-rounded stones and three pieces of flint (FN#AE/05/14/61).

Figure 224: North facing section of C187.

Cut C321 (Figure 228) was a stake-hole, 0.15m in diameter, 0.28m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, steep to vertical sides, a concave base and contained two fills, F247 and F322. The lower, F322 was orange, friable sandy clay with minor charcoal flecking, while F247 was brown, friable sandy silt, with occasional charcoal flecking.

West of C304 was a shallow sub-circular pit C241 (Figure 225). It measured 1.10m x 1.05m and was 0.13m deep with a sharp top break of slope, moderately sloping sides, a flat base and it contained two fills, F311 and F240. The basal, F311, was grey-yellow, loose, silty sand, with occasional

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Figure 228: West facing section of C321. Figure 227: South facing section of C318.

Plate 80: Pit complex, post-excavation, looking south. 3.6

including several rounded boulder sized examples c.0.80m in diameter. There were 21 sherds of pottery (FN#AE/05/14/123) from one decorated Bronze Age bowl. The upper was F377; brown-grey, compact, slightly silty clay, with some charcoal flecking.

Pit Complex

A large pit complex was excavated north of the token burials (Figure 192, Plate 80). It resolved as several inter-cut pits and smaller, possibly related features.

Pit C443 (Figure 230) was cut into F377, in the east-southeast of the feature. This pit was rectangular, orientated north-east to south-west, 1.50m long, 0.60m wide and 0.62m deep. It contained a single fill, F442; brown-grey, compact, slightly silty clay with occasional charcoal flecking and stone inclusions.

Pit C378 (Figures 229-231) was circular, 2.80m in diameter and 1.02m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, steep but irregular sides and a flat base. It contained two fills. The basal was F400; grey-black, compact, silty clay, with a large amount of charcoal flecking and numerous stones, which were unsorted and ranged in size from medium to large,

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Figure 229: South facing section of C378.

Figure 230: East facing section of C378 and C443.

Figure 231: North-west facing section of C378 and C402. Small pit C402 (Figure 231) was also cut into F377. It was sub-circular, orientated north-east to south-west and was 0.43m x 0.31m and 0.28m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope with steep sides, a flat base and contained a single fill, F401; light grey-brown, moderately compact, sandy clay, with occasional small stones.

C454 was a small, angled post-hole, which was also cut into F377 at the south-east end of the feature (Figure 232). It was sub-circular, 0.25m in diameter, 0.20m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and a flat base. It contained a single fill, F455; dark brown, friable, silty clay, with a moderate to high amount of charcoal flecking. Approximately 1.50m to the north-west of C378 was another pit, C439 (Figure 233). It was sub-circular, orientated northwest to south-east, 1.20m x 1.10m and 0.50m deep. It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides, a flat base and it contained two fills; a lower, F441, and an upper, F440. F441 was light brown-orange, friable, silty sand, while F440 was light brown, friable, silty sand, with occasional charcoal flecking and stones. F440 extended beyond C439 for 1m to the south-east toward C378, becoming a spread.

Figure 232: South-east facing section of C454.

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Figure 235: North-east facing section of C395. Figure 233: North-east facing section of C439.

Discussion Due to the lack of formation or dating evidence these stakeholes lying to the west of RD 5 have no clear date or function. They may have held posts associated with the barrow cemetery which may have functioned as some form of marker.

There was no obvious function for this pit. It did not contain sufficient burnt bone for a funerary association; nor was there enough material for association with habitation waste such as broken pottery, flint or organic material. The secondary pits added further confusion to an unclear picture. None of the pits indicated either reason or function. Consideration was given to storage pits but this seemed unlikely, as most storage pits are smooth-walled, have a regular shape and are relatively near some form of building.

3.8

Cairn As with the features west of RD 1, no obvious function could be identified for these spreads and features or direct associations between them. Again they are grouped here due to their proximity to each other (Figures 192 and 236, Plate 81).

Possibly, there was extraction in this area, for stone or a particular soil used in the funereal activities. The upper fills were similar to each other and may be redeposited fill, from a common source. There was sufficient burial activity in the area to support such an idea, but without concrete evidence it must remain speculation. 3.7

Cairn and surrounding features

Features west of RD 5

Two stake-holes were located to the west of RD 5 (Figure 192). C366 (Figure 234) was a stake-hole 0.10m in diameter, 0.12m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, moderately sloping sides and a concave base. C366 contained a single fill, F367; brown, friable, sandy silt, with occasional charcoal flecking.

Plate 81: Cairn looking south east towards RD 1 and RD 2. Basal fill, F465, was cream coloured, soft, ashy silt, with very occasional charcoal flecks and had a maximum depth of 0.15m. Within this fill were three burnt bipolar cores and one burnt scalar flake (FN#112 AX39.28). Figure 234: North facing section of C366. F374 was dark brown, friable, silty clay, with a large amount of charcoal flecking. There was also a small quantity of small sub-angular stones. There were three finds recovered; a piece of flint (FN#AE/05/14/112), 1.8g of burnt human bone including two possible pieces of cranial vault (FN#AE/05/14/118) and hazelnut shell (FN#AE/05/14/127). F374 was a spread that covered F465 while to the east it

Cut C395 (Figures 235) was a stake-hole, 0.10m in diameter, 0.11m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides and “V” shaped base. C395 contained a single fill, F396; brown, friable, sandy silt.

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and pieces of degraded stone. This feature appears to have been a posthole, which had then been recut and reused as either a pit for a token cremation burial or a rubbish pit; however it has not been possible to identify the fragments of burnt bone as human.

0.10m-0.15m deep. It was sub-rectangular in plan and was orientated north-west to south-east. It was dark brown silty, loam with frequent charcoal flecking. This spread also contained a large quantity of stones, due to their concentration they were numbered separately as F14. These two layers overlay all the other spreads and fills in this area. Pit C18 Cut C18 (Figures 192, Plate 84) was an oval pit, orientated north to south, measuring 0.69m x 0.60m and 0.27m deep, dug into the cairn. It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides, the base was irregular but generally concave and it contained two fills F66, the upper and F17, the lower. F66 was brown, compact, silty clay with a number of medium to large stones inclusions measuring up to 0.25m in diameter and making up to 15% of the fill. There were 5.5g of unidentifiable fragments of burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/4) and two pieces of flint (FN#AE/05/14/5 and FN#5 AX39.36) recovered from this fill. F66 lay on top of but did not seal F17, a black, moderately compact silty ash with a high charcoal content, containing unidentifiable fragments of burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/3) and two pieces of flint (FN#AE/05/14/6). C18 was dated 3090±70 BP (Beta 217344) giving a date range at 2 sigma of 1440 to 1100 Cal BC (Figure 8).

Figure 238: East facing section of C18.

Figure 239: West facing section of C18 and C117. Pit C32 C32 (Figures 192 and 240) was another shallow pit cut into F118. It was 0.60m in diameter, 0.10m deep, the top break of slope and the slope of the sides were gentle and the base was very slightly concave. C32 contained a single fill, F31; dark brown, moderately compact silty clay, with a high charcoal content, few stone inclusions, a single piece of flint (FN#AE/05/14/19) and occasional flecks of unidentifiable burnt bone. This pit was dated (Beta 217348) 3080±60 BP giving a date range at 2 Sigma of 1500 to 1210 Cal BC (Figure 8).

Plate 84: Pit C18 post-excavation, looking north. C18 was cut into the cairn material F118 and into the fill, F116, of an earlier posthole C117 (Figures238 and 239). C117 was oval, cut into F118, orientated south-west to north-east, 0.40m x 0.26m and survived to a depth of 0.24m (although from the surface of F118 it would have been over 0.50m deep). It had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides, flat base and contained a single fill, F116; light brown, compact sandy clay with some occasional charcoal flecking

Figure 240: North facing section of C32. Features west of the Cairn

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0.16m. The top break of slope was sharp, the sides were steep, the base was “V” shaped and it contained a single fill, F417; dark grey-brown, friable, silt, with a low charcoal content.

C390 (Figures 192 and 241 was a circular posthole, 0.25m in diameter, 0.45m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, steep to vertical sides, a “V” shaped base and containing three fills, F387, F388 and F389. The basal was F389; mid greyorange, friable, sandy silt, with moderate amounts of subangular and sub-rounded stones and four lithic pieces: two flints (FN#AE/05/14/99 and FN#99 AX39.33), a quartz bipolar core and a quartz pebble. Next was F388; brown, friable sandy silt with some charcoal flecking. The upper fill was F387; dark brown, friable, clay silt, with a high quantity of charcoal flecking, occasional sub-angular and sub-rounded stones and a single piece of flint (FN#AE/05/14/103). F387 only covered F388 on its southern side.

C461 (Figures 192 and 245) was a sub-circular pit to the north of the cairn, 0.60m in diameter, 0.20m deep, with a moderate top break of slope, gently sloping sides, a concave base and containing two fills, F459 and F460. The basal, F460 was friable, orange clay silt, while the upper, F459 was friable, dark grey-brown, clay silt, with a high charcoal content, a moderate amount of small and medium, angular and sub-angular stones and two artefacts: a struck flint flake (FN#120 AX 39.35, Plate 85), and fragments of burnt bone (FN#AE/05/14/119).

Figure 242: West facing section of C404 and C412.

Figure 241: North-east facing section of C390. Posthole C404 (Figures 192 and 242) was 0.30m in diameter, 0.30m deep, had a sharp top break of slope, vertical sides, a concave base and contained three fills. The basal, F408, was orange, soft, sandy silty clay, while the middle, F407, was dark brown, soft, silty clay, with a high charcoal content and frequent sub-angular and sub-rounded stones. The upper, F403, was mottled, light orange-brown-grey, friable, sandy silt, with occasional charcoal flecking. C412 (Figures 192 and south of C404, with a 0.08m. The top break vertical, the base was F411; brown, friable, charcoal flecking.

Figure 243: North facing section of C423.

242) was a truncated stake-hole 1m diameter of 0.09m and a depth of of slope was sharp, the sides were concave and it contained one fill, sandy clay silt, with occasional

C423 (Figures 192 and 243) was a circular stakehole 2m to the north-west of C404 with a diameter of 0.10m and a depth of 0.18m. The top break of slope was sharp, the sides were steep, the base was “V” shaped and it contained one fill, F435; friable, brown silty clay, with high charcoal content and small angular stones. C416 (Figures 192 and 244) was a circular stakehole 2m to the west of C404 with a diameter of 0.07m and a depth of

Figure 244: North facing section of C416.

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Figure 246: South facing section of C202. Discussion The cemetery at Derrycraw (Plate 86) was located on the eastern side of a hill near the base of a shallow north to south running valley The hill on which the cemetery sits was surrounded to the west, east and south by poorly drained land (which may have been lake or bog in the Bronze Age, Figure 247) and lies less than 3km to the east of a major Iron Age tribal boundary, illustrating again the premise that cemeteries in the Bronze Age may have acted as some sort of ‘spirit fence’, keeping the dead away from the heartland of the tribe and acting as a barrier to outsiders. The cemetery may have continued uphill outside the land-take for the new carriageway, although further archaeological investigation would be required to be certain.

Figure 245: East-south-east facing section of C461.

Plate 85: Struck flint blade from C461/F459. 3.9

Other Features in Derrycraw

Approximately 4m north of C30 and C211 was a posthole C202 (Figures 192 and 246). It was 0.60m x 0.52m and 0.30m deep, with a sharp top break of slope, steep sides, except to the east which was vertical and a blunt “V” shaped base in section. It contained a single fill, F201; light brown, moderately compact, silty clay, with flecks of charcoal, while stones imbedded in the subsoil protruded into the fill. There were 14 sherds of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/05/14/96, 97) recovered from two separate vessels. They were: (vessel #4), a decorated Bronze Age urn and (vessel #5) a Bronze Age urn. Surrounding the posthole were large to medium sized stones, F224 and to the north of C202, from a depression in this material, an unidentifiable fragment of prehistoric pottery was recovered (FN#AE/05/14/1).

Plate 86: View of excavated area, looking north. The main features uncovered were identified as Bronze Age in date and were of a funerary nature (Figure 192). Two large circular ditches, RD 1 and RD 2, two smaller badly truncated ditches RD 3 and RD 4, a pennanular ring ditch RD 5, a pit burial C194, a basket burial C228 and a cairn F118 were uncovered. Of these only RD 3 and RD 5 had a confirmed central burial; RD 1, RD 2 and RD 4 had pits which, while they did not contain any identifiable human bone, may have been truncated burial pits. Although there was no evidence for surviving central burials, it is possible that any burial had either been placed on the original ground level or within a central mound which was then ploughed or eroded away over time, while the ditch silted up and/or filled with slump from the upper works of the barrow.

North of the area covered by F118 was a rectangular spread, F358. It measured 5m x 1.50m, was 0.08m deep and consisted of grey-brown, friable sandy silt, with very occasional small stones and charcoal flecking. Several lithic pieces were recovered; three bipolar cores (FN#73 AX39.25), two quartz chunks (FN#73 AX39.37), a quartz scalar flake, and eight quartzite rolled pebbles and quartz chunks (FN#74 AX39.26).

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BC (Figure 8). No pottery was recovered from any of the fills of this ditch, in complete contrast to RD2. However, a number of lithic pieces were recovered: a scraper, flint cores, flint flakes and fragments of flint. From the surface of F56 a leaf-shaped arrowhead (FN#34 AX39.20), typical of the Irish Neolithic was recovered. This fill was dated to 4940±50BP (Beta 217350), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 3780 to 3640 Cal BC, confirming pre-barrow Neolithic activity (Figure 8). RD 2, (C128 and C286) was smaller than RD 1, with a ditch diameter of 4.50m. This feature was dated by ditch fill F226, carbonised timber, to 3090±70BP (Beta 213588) giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1500 to 1140 Cal BC (Figure 8). The date overlapped with RD 1, suggesting that it may have been a contemporary construction. The concave ditch base was cut as a single event and had a narrow slot, C286, which was deeply “U” shaped and ran intermittently through the base of the ditch but did not occur in the eastern quadrant. It was not possible to determine if this slot was for stakes or timber planks, as no evidence survived. However, it was almost certainly cut as part of the main ditch and may have been designed to hold a palisade to keep out the casual observer, or to delineate a sacred space. RD 2 is the only barrow uncovered during these excavations to display such a structure. No burial was uncovered within this ring ditch so the possibility exists that it may have been some sort of mortuary enclosure as well as or instead of a barrow. Mortuary enclosures or houses are generally associated with the Neolithic but have also been uncovered beneath or in close proximity to Bronze Age Barrows. They usually are associated with excarnation and defleshing of bodies but may sometimes have formed the cores of barrows. Barrow 51, Amesbury, Wiltshire contained the remains of a mortuary house with squared corner timbers dating to the Beaker period. At Lockington, Leicestershire, a circular wooden palisade enclosed a mortuary enclosure around the remains of a pyre (Woodward 2000, 37-41). At Guiting Power 3, Gloucestershire, a ring of 65 posts was uncovered below the barrow (Schmidt 2007, 2). This had an entrance in the southeast and may have held a screening wall. Opposite the entrance was a cluster of four posts, possibly the remains of a mortuary house pyre base or excarnation platform. Prior to the raising of the mound the screening wall was removed and the cremated remains of an adult female and a foetus were buried in the centre. At Ballyleesh, Co. Tipperary, a grave containing the remains of two adults and three children was uncovered at the centre of a ring ditch and was surrounded by the remains of a timber structure interpreted as a mortuary house. Another possible example was uncovered at Charlesland, Co. Wicklow (Molloy 2004). Site F was located on the summit of an east-facing slope. Topsoil stripping exposed a ring ditch, a large cremation pit, a

Figure 247: Barrow cemetery at Derrycraw, showing wetland in the vicinity. The current ground surface is c.0.50m higher than the level at which the archaeological material was uncovered. There was no evidence of old ground surfaces surviving in the topsoil sections so it must be assumed that this soil represents the ploughed out upper works of the archaeological monuments in this area. The Derrycraw ring ditches were similar in size and nature to the ring ditches excavated in Area 2 at Ballintaggart. A large post and pit burial, which contained a funerary urn cremation burial was also uncovered. In addition, there was a cluster of stake holes, possibly related; a large pit, and a number of smaller individual features were excavated. RD 1, (C45) was the largest of the ring barrows and was located 2m north-west of RD 2 and 2.50m south of RD 3 (Figure 192). The centre of the barrow was destroyed by a field boundary and no remains were recovered from the centre other than scattered artefacts. The ditch, C45, was slightly oval in plan, measuring 7.70m x 6.90m. F122 from the ditch was dated to 3240±80 BP (Beta 217351) giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1650 to 1300 Cal

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structure and clusters of stakeholes and postholes. The ring ditch enclosed an area measuring 5.60m x 5.39m with no evidence of any burial within the ditch. The remains of a mound were visible within the enclosed area so it was unlikely that the site was considerably truncated. This would indicate that the ring ditch did not have a burial function and may have had a purely symbolic purpose. A small structure was also identified on this site, visible as a small circular hut with a south-east facing entrance. The structure measured 1.98m x 2.30m with a central posthole. The location of this structure in such close proximity to the ring ditch and cremation pit suggests that it was not domestic in function. A circular row of postholes may have formed a palisade around the structure, which may have had a demarcation purpose rather than a defensive one. This too, may have been some form of mortuary enclosure surrounding a charnel house.

size (0.45m in diameter and 0.40m in depth), located at the south-eastern terminals of the penannular ditch (Figure 290) and may have supported posts defining an entrance to this feature. Given that the postholes may have been 1m deep in total the posts may have protruded at least 2m or 3m above the ground surface. Structures defined by posts may have also have existed at Ballintaggart Area 2. The following dates were recorded for the ring ditches: • • • • •

RD 1, 1650-1300 Cal BC; RD 2, 1500-1140 Cal BC; RD 3, 1360-920 Cal BC; RD 5, 1520-1250 Cal B; RD 4 no material from was suitable for radiocarbon dating.

It is clear that these dates overlap, suggesting that the ring ditches, if not necessarily constructed at the same time, were certainly known about and in use during the same period. A suggested sequence of construction is as follows, RD 1, RD 5 and RD 2, then RD 3. These dates also overlap those from the barrow cemetery excavated in Area 2, Ballintaggart, though only at the later end of their date ranges. This suggests that this cemetery was in use prior to that in Area 2, possibly by several hundred years. General discussion of ring ditches has been included in the report on Area 2.

The third excavated ring ditch was RD 3 located c.2.50m east of RD1. The outer ditch, C24 was severely truncated. The central burial, C22 was dated 2930±70 BP (Beta 217349) giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1360 and 1320 to 920 Cal BC (Figure 8). This barrow probably dates to later than the barrow activity of RD 1, 1650-1300 Cal BC and RD 2, 1500-1140 Cal BC, although there is a substantial overlap within the date range. The outer ditch C24 was roughly circular, measuring 1.80m x 1.95m although most of the southern arc of the ditch had been removed, possibly as the result of ploughing or other modern disturbances. The recovered burnt bone from the central burial suggested that the pit, and by extrapolation the burial, had been much more substantial in the past. The total weight of bone recovered was 49.5g from a sub-adult between 7 and 15 years at death.

Located between RD 1, RD 3 and RD 5 were the remains of an oval mound orientated east to west composed of stone and earth (Figure 192). The mound measured 6m x 3m and was c.0.30m high, comprising the spreads of material, F13, F14, F118 and F374. The mound was dated from charcoal from F118 which returned a date of 3850±70BP (Beta 217353) which when calibrated at 2 sigma gave a date range of 2550 to 2540 and 2490 to 2140 Cal BC (Figure 8). This gives a very Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date for F118. Two artefacts were recovered from F118. The sherd of pottery from a Bronze Age Vase Urn would help to date this layer to the Early Bronze Age. This layer also produced a jet necklace spacer that is probably early to middle Bronze Age in date. There are, however, problems with these dates as the radiocarbon date suggests the feature is at least several hundred years earlier than the expected age of the pottery and jet bead. Several features, the ‘basket’ burial C228, C18 and C32, cut into the mound also indicate dates in the Middle Bronze Age, consistent with the expected dates of the pottery and bead and of those obtained from the ring ditches. This suggests that the radiocarbon date for F118 is not to be trusted as it is at odds with the other dating evidence for this feature and those cut into it. Apart from the anomalous Neolithic pit all the features at Derrycraw date to between the late early Bronze Age and the end of the middle Bronze Age with the possible exception of spread F118 and its associated spreads within the cairn. This cairn, if the radiocarbon date

Approximately 5m east of RD 3 was a group of related features comprising RD 4. C51 and C266 were postholes and C262 and C263 were the remnants of a ditch. They were likely to be the badly truncated remains of another ring ditch. Insufficient charcoal remained from a secure context to date this feature. RD 5 survived as a penannular ditch 1.90m in diameter, C211, which had a posthole at each of its eastern terminal ends, C28 and C41. In the centre was a large pit C30, which contained human bone fragments weighing 329.2g from an adult of indeterminable sex between 25 and 35 years at death. The central burial was dated to 3170±70 BP (Beta 2116910) giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1520 to 1250 Cal BC (Figure 8). Also recovered from within the fill of the central burial was a probable capstone to the burial and unburnt sandstone and schist rubbing stones. That they were unburnt indicates they were not from the funerary pyre but a post-cremation addition to the burial. C28 and C41 were a pair of substantial circular postholes of similar

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for this area and suggests that this may have been the first feature constructed and represented the site’s first use as a cemetery. There are similarities between this feature and the large pit uncovered beneath RD 8 at Ballintaggart, in that both were thought to have contained a large upright timber, the difference being that this pit also contained a cremation burial in an urn.

is correct, dates to the late Neolithic/very early Bronze Age and is therefore between 500 and 1000 years older than anything else on the site. The ‘basket’ burial C228, and the two cremations, C18 and C32, were cut into it so the cairn (or whatever it was) must have been an obvious and upstanding feature at the time of the main activity on site, although it is probably part of this Middle Bronze Age activity rather than an earlier feature dating to the late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. Dates recorded from the excavation at Derrycraw are as follows (Figure 8 and Appendix 7): • • • • • • • • • • •

Beta 217351 RD 1 3240±80 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1650 to 1300 BC; Beta 217350 RD 1 (Neo pit) 4940±50 BP at 2 sigma calibration 3780 to 3640 BC; Beta 213588 RD 2 3090±70 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1500 to 1140 BC; Beta 217349 RD 3 2930±70 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1360 to 1360 BC and 1320 to 920 BC; Beta 216910 RD 5 3170±70 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1520 to 1250 BC; Beta 216908 Pit burial 3370±70 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1760 to 1440 BC; Beta 213585 Basket burial 3200±70 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1620 to 1310 BC; Beta 217344 Cremation material, C18 3090±70 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1440 to 1100 BC; Beta 217347 Cremation material 3230±60 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1610 to 1380 BC; Beta 217348 Cremation material, C32 3080±60 BP at 2 sigma calibration 1500 to 1210 BC; Beta 217353 Base of spread, F118 3850±70 BP at 2 sigma calibration 2550 to 2540 BC and 2490 to 2140 BC.

Plate 87: Funerary urn FN#AE/05/14/37 looking north.

West of RD 2 and south of RD 1 was a large north to south orientated pit C194. It was 1.70m x 1.40m with a depth of 0.60m. This pit was part of a complex burial, marked by a substantial posthole C218, which was cut into the base of C194. Revetted into the wall of C218, was a complete, undisturbed funerary urn (FN#AE/05/14/37), with a capstone in place (Plates 87 and 88). The urn contained the cremated bones of one individual. The total weight of bone recovered was 1176.3g, likely to represent the remains of a complete adult male between 25 and 45 years at death (see Appendix 3). The excavation evidence suggested this burial was a deliberate multi-staged process and was marked by a substantial post. This may reflect a person of importance, a claim to territory or a foundation burial marking the beginning of the period of use for the cemetery. This feature complex was dated to 3370±70BP (Beta 216908), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1760 to 1440 Cal BC (Figure 8). This was the earliest secure Bronze Age date

Plate 88: Funerary urn FN#AE/05/14/37, after cleaning. C228 was the last burial excavated in this area other than the two cremations deposited in the cairn and took the form of a

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circular cut containing a cremation. This fill was not in direct contact with the cut, but contained within a ‘basket’like structure, F283, consisting of thin strands (0.05–0.10m in width) running around the interior curve of F228 with vertical rods of similar dimensions. Towards the base were some larger concave pieces of what appeared to be bark. These may have lined or been woven into the ‘basket’ to provide a more secure container. The basket was carbonised in situ, possibly from the contents still being hot when it was placed in the pit. The remains were from a sub-adult between 13 and 17 years at death. The total weight of bone was 266.6g, which probably suggests a token cremation, although data for adolescents is contradictory (Murphy pers. comm. 2006; Appendix 3). A radiocarbon date for the charcoal in the ‘basket’ was 3200±70BP (Beta 213585), giving a date range when calibrated at 2 sigma of 1620 to 1310 Cal BC (Figure 8). Near the top, on the northern side (which was the best preserved) two strands of wicker curved downwards. This may be due to internal collapse or they may represent the fragmented remains of ‘basket handles’. If they are handles, this suggests a container, rather than simply a pit lining, indeed it would be easier to construct if it was a basket, later placed into the pit than constructed in situ. Prof J Pilcher, examined the surviving material derived from C228, commenting;

the adults, it was possible to determine the sex of two of the three, and these comprised one female and one male. The two sub-adults were represented by a 7-15 year old juvenile/adolescent and a 13-17 year old adolescent. Palaeopathological lesions were only apparent in the remains of the individual recovered from the pit Burial C233. Osteophytes and porosity were visible on a number of vertebral neural arch and body fragments and Schmorl’s nodes on a number of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Murphy suggests that these spinal lesions were probably due to everyday wear and tear on the joints and to the ageing process. The individual also displayed evidence for the antemortem loss of at least two mandibular teeth. The sockets for both teeth were in the late stages of remodelling, which suggests that the teeth had been lost a substantial period of time (a year or so) before the individual had died. Murphy notes that of the cremated remains recovered from the five main contexts during excavation under Licence AE/05/14 represented single individuals, unlike the situation for Ballintaggart Area 2. Three of the five burials comprised bones of a uniform white/pale grey colour; Murphy suggests that the cremated individuals had been burned at a temperature of between 645oC and 1200oC. The most dramatic exception to this situation was the deposit recovered from C18, F17, which contained dark grey bone with a greasy appearance. The colour of the bone fragments may indicate that they had been burned at temperatures of between 285oC and 525oC. The remains recovered from pit burial C233, F232, were largely pale grey/white in colour although a fragment of right rib and two hand bones displayed dark grey discolouration. This finding may indicate that certain areas of the body, including the extremities, had burned at a lower temperature.

“This was described as a possible basket. The several packets contained soil and fine charcoal with some larger lumps. The identifiable lumps seem to be all of alder (Alnus sp.), from substantial timbers. One piece had over 20 rings and appeared to be from a log of considerable age. There were some pieces of bark, which I presume to be also of alder. Alder wood is not a normal basketry wood and the age of the timbers and the thick bark would also argue against the idea that this was a basket.” (Appendix 4b)

Murphy states that of the three adults represented in the burials only one was of a quantity of bone close to the expected values. The adult recovered from pit burial C233, F232, was represented by 1176.3g. This burial had been placed within a pot and it is probable that it represents a complete or, at least near-complete, deposit. In contrast, the remaining two adults were represented by relatively small quantities of bone – 467.3g from C18, F17 and 329.2g from the RD 5, C30, and F29; while the sub-adults were represented by 49.5g from RD 3, C22, F21 and 266.6g from C15, F42. As was the case for the burials recovered at Ballintaggart Area 2, it might be that the relatively small quantities of bone were due to the remains having been disturbed by later activities; however, it is not possible to rule out the possibility that some of the burials may have represented genuine token deposits.

The nature of this burial appears to be unusual, associated with a ‘basket’, or at least some form of organic container: however, it may reflect a lack of preservation from other burials. The author is aware of another possible ‘basket burial’. This was associated with a large flint nodule, which appeared to have been ritually deposited (Large 2004, 6). It was unfortunate that the conclusions of the specialist appear to conflict with that observed during excavation. Possibly the bark lined the basket, but the “log like timber” is difficult to explain although it may be a lump of collected cremation material or the basket may be the remains of a wooden tub or bucket. Pathology Murphy identified a total of five individuals from the five burial contexts at Derrycraw. Three of the five individuals were adults, two of whom were considered to have died at 25-35 years of age while the other adult may have been older and died at some stage between 25 and 45 years of age. Of

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Artefacts and organics Sixty-four archaeological lithic pieces were recovered from Derrycraw, with just over a quarter (17 pieces) of this assemblage derived from two main fills within RD 1 (Appendix 1b). A quarter of the assemblage was of quartz and the remainder was flint, while the vast majority of lithic pieces were primary. Bipolar cores made up over half of the total assemblage; two-thirds of which were quartz, just under a third were scalar flakes and a quarter of those were quartz. Two of the bipolar cores (AX39.2) were significant as they fitted together, forming a very good example of bipolar reduction with typical fracture patterns. The rest of the assemblage comprised a single fragment, a conventionally struck blade and a single scraper made on a bipolar piece. Two pieces showed signs of burning.

ring-ditch produced some flint with Coarse Ware pottery dating to the later Bronze Age (Gowen 1988, 28). These sites all appear to be poor in finished artefacts, with the majority of their corpus being composed of struck pieces or cores. O’Hare states that though there is no shortage of parallels for the AE/04/14 lithic collection, these parallels date from the Beaker period to the Dowris and, therefore, a more specific date within the Bronze Age is not possible. The pottery was an assemblage of 90 sherds representing 14 vessels, two of which were reconstructed (Appendix 2b). The assemblage consisted of one Neolithic vessel, one Bronze Age bowl Food Vessel, a Vase Food Vessel, and ten Vase Urns. Based on the range of vessel forms recovered, Dunne notes that occupation of this site is indicated during the Early Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age periods. The assemblage recovered from the excavations at Derrycraw, provided a range of Bronze Age ceramic material of the Bowl Food Vessel, Vase Food Vessel and Vase Urn tradition dating to later than 2000 BC. In addition a single sherd representing an Early Neolithic bowl was also identified.

Over half the assemblage was derived from other features in close proximity to RD 1, some of which were associated with burnt bone and pottery. The artefacts were similar to those from RD 1, though quartz was less common. Over a third were bipolar cores, only two of the 13 were of quartz. A quarter of the 36 lithic pieces were scalar flakes and only two of the nine were of quartz. There was also a large heat cracked sandstone piece of possibly dressed stone in two parts (AX39.19). Two more stones were recovered from the same context: one appears to be schist and the other sandstone. They may have been rubbing implements judging by their well utilised surfaces and, therefore, may have been important objects associated with the individual and placed within the cremation pit. Objects from unsecure contexts included AX39.20, an incomplete, slightly asymmetric leafshaped arrowhead, and a classic type-artefact of the Neolithic period. A very neat and small flint thumbnail scraper was derived from the topsoil (AX39.13). It measured 16mm x 14mm x 4.8mm. These scraper types are chronologically sensitive as the small flint-types appear to belong to the earliest Bronze Age and tend to become much cruder and larger during the development of the Bronze Age. O’Hare states that the lithic material strongly suggests a Bronze Age date, and that these features may be contemporaneous. The ring barrow RD 1, can be directly compared with a ring-ditch at Timakeel, Co. Armagh (O’Hare 2005), which reflects the lack of finished artefacts, particularly scraper types, which can be relatively time sensitive within the Bronze Age. Another direct comparison can be made with a ring-ditch at Kerlogue, Site 5, Co. Wexford (McLoughlin 2002, 16), a region which is relatively impoverished in terms of both the size and volume of available flint nodules. Other ring-ditches dating to the earlier Bronze Age have been identified at Castle Upton, Templepatrick, Co. Antrim (Gahan 1997, 3) and although these have produced an abundance of lithic material (Gahan pers. comm.) more specific information is not presently available. O’Hare notes that at Shanaclogh, Co. Limerick, a

Plate 89: Vessel 3, decorated Bowl Food Vessel from C378 showing impressed and incised decoration. The Neolithic vessel, the earliest ceramic material identified, is of a very high quality with a highly burnished finish and Dunne draws parallels with material from settlement sites like Ballygalley, Mullaghbuoy and Ballyharry (Moore 2003, 156-163) all in Co. Antrim. The Bowl Food Vessel (Plate 89), in terms of form, has parallels with a bowl from a short rectangular cist at Rubane, Co. Down and from Mountfield, Co. Tyrone (O’Riordain and Waddell 1983, 105 and 137). However, the combinations of decoration motifs appear unique. The Vase Food Vessel is a very fine, thin walled vessel and survives in an abraded state (Plate 90). As this

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Antrim (Williams et al 1990, 52). Here, an undecorated cordoned urn and a portion of a plain urn were recovered from AE/05/14, closer affinities lie with Vase Urns rather than Cordoned Urns. A parallel for the perforated vessel (Vessel 1, Plate 91) is a vessel from the site of Mullaghmore in Co. Down. Another more recent parallel is Site 19 at Oakgrove, Co. Londonderry (Chapple 2004). A similar perforated vessel (Vessel 203) was recovered from the Ballintaggart site (Chapter 2). A perforated miniature vase was also found near Newry, Co. Down (Ó Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 105). Two forms of decoration technique incised and impressed - were employed at this site. The Bowl Food Vessel (Vessel 3) was the only vessel to incorporate both methods in the form of bird bone impressions and incised lines. Much of the decorated component of this assemblage is in keeping with previously excavated material, with the exception of the bowl Food Vessel. The combination of the decorative motifs used on the vessel appears to be unique to this site and suggests that it and the pit into which it was deposited may have held a special significance.

vessel is represented by body sherds only, it is impossible to determine its original profile. However, parallels for the decorative component of this vessel were found at Gortnagarn and Corkragh, both in Co.Tyrone (O’Riordain and Waddell 1983, 133 and 135). Another comparable example was found in an isolated pit at Ballymagrorty, Co. Londonderry.

Dunne states that at this site there appears to be deposition of undecorated ceramic wares whose original function may have been domestic, which indicates that though funerary wares were created specifically during this period, a range of plain wares were also used. She also notes that this mix of decorated and undecorated may indicate the end of the decorated funerary ceramic tradition or at the very least a partial secularisation of that tradition. As at Ballintaggart, the clays used in the manufacture of the pottery are available in the general locality.

Plate 90: Bronze Age pottery including one sherd of decorated vase urn from F230 (far left).

Organic material was rare and only occurred in the form of charred planks from RD 2 and the ‘basket burial’. These were alder and oak, suggesting that these trees were commonplace in the vicinity. A jet spacer-plate necklace bead was recovered from F118 (Plates 82 and 83). Some very fine multi-strand necklaces were created, fashioned with jet beads with spacer plates to support the strands and give a crescent shape. At Keenogue, Co. Meath (O’Kelly 1989, 187) one of the graves contained 41 jet beads. Jet has the same chemical composition as lignite but Irish sources of lignite are generally not of high quality. Therefore, most of the Early Bronze Age to Iron Age and indeed Early Christian material (especially the better quality pieces) were likely to be of English manufacture or source. The most common source was the Whitby area of Yorkshire (Dermot Moore, pers. comm. 2006). This indicates some form of long range trading contacts or down the line exchange and indicates a high status if found in an Irish grave (Waddell 1998, 137).

Plate 91: Vessel 1, perforated vessel. Dunne suggests that the decorated and undecorated Vase Urns are relatively unusual for this area of Co. Down, probably due to the lack of excavated sites, although the number of sites producing assemblages containing both decorated and undecorated wares is increasing. Dunne also notes that there are parallels for mixed assemblages of Early Bronze Age funerary vessels also occuring at sites like Cloughskelt and Ballywilliam both in Co. Down (Ó Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 102). Other parallels for the undecorated portion of the assemblage occur at the site of Kilcroagh, Co.

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The trough, C9, was badly disturbed by a modern drain, C6, which bisected it north-east to south-west (Figures 251-253). To the south-east, and parallel to this modern drain, was a metalled surface, C4, which was part of a track that continued east to the modern farm which overlooked the excavation area. It also continued west towards the present A1. The fields east and west of the existing A1 were accessed by opposing gates, suggesting an established route.

The burnt mound was spread over an area measuring 8.50m by 8m. The maximum depth was 0.50m near the centre, tapering to 10mm-20mm at the edges. The fill, F7, was loose, dark brown, loamy sand which contained a high percentage of charcoal. F7 also contained numerous burnt and shattered stones.

Figure 251: North-west facing section showing track, C4, burnt spread, F7 and drain, C6.

Figure 252: West facing section showing drain, C6, cutting F7, the burnt mound spread.

Figure 253: East facing section through burnt mound spread showing relationship of the two drains C6 and C11 cutting the C9 trough. F12, dark brown, loamy sand similar in composition to F7. The function of this gully appears to have been to provide a water supply to the trough, although as such a short length survived, it is difficult to state this with any certainty. It was probable that, following abandonment, the burnt spread, F7, washed into the gully, C13, forming F12.

Burnt mound features Although badly disturbed by the insertion of the drain, C6, and the track, C4, it was possible to observe that the trough, Feature C9 (Figures 251-253), had been sub-circular to subtriangular, with sides measuring 2.50m long and 1m deep. It was filled by F8, black, charcoal-rich, friable silt, with occasional heat-damaged stones. Two pieces of glazed pottery were recovered from F8 (FN#AE/04/55/47). These were obviously intrusive, probably having been deposited during the insertion of the modern drains, C6 and C11. Although heavily disturbed by the insertion of both of these drains, it appears that F8 did not completely fill the trough, C9, to its upper break of slope. Instead F8 became overlain by the spread material, F7 closing and sealing the remainder of the trough, C9.

Modern features A farm track, C4 (Plates 96 and 97), cut through the burnt spread, F7. It was 1.90m wide, 0.30m deep, and extended beyond the width of the road-take, running for at least 30m. Beyond the width of the road-take the track could be observed continuing north-east, towards the farm. The track contained F3, compact, pale yellow, silty sand which contained numerous small rounded and sub-rounded stones. The stones were predominantly confined to the lower half of the excavated fill, suggesting that they had served as a roughly metalled surface. Excavation of F3 allowed the recovery of a single piece of natural burnt flint (FN#SS2, AX36.1).

The final feature associated with the trough was a small gully or drain, C13, which measured 0.50m wide and 0.10m deep. This gully ran east for 0.69m, from the trough, C9, to where it was truncated by the track, C4. C13 contained a single fill,

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4.4

Lisnagonnell Area 5

During the process of archaeologically monitored topsoil removal a number of potential features were identified in Lisnagonnell townland and were cordoned off to await excavation (Figure 248). On full investigation none of these features turned out to be of archaeological significance. 4.5

Lisnagonnell Area 6

During the process of archaeologically monitored topsoil removal a number of potential features were identified Lisnagonnell townland and were cordoned off to await excavation (Figure 248). On full investigation none of these features turned out to be of archaeological significance. Plate 96: Track C4, looking south.

4.6

Maddydrumbrist Area 7

Area 7 encompassed a number of features in three groups on the south side of a small un-named stream (Figures 248, 254and 255) forming the boundary of Aughintober and Maddydrumbrist townlands. The stream ran parallel to the Four Mile Road; the existing A1 was 50m to the east. Area 8 also lay in Aughintober townland, 100m to the north.

Plate 97: Post-excavation showing trough C9 and track C4, looking north-west. Two modern drains C6 and C11 (Figure 253) cut through the burnt mound spread, F7. C6 measured 0.80m wide and 0.60m deep, draining north-east to south-west across the road-take, running south-westerly from the modern farm. C6 had steep sides and a flat base, forming a “U” shaped section. A single very stony fill, F5, contained two sherds of glazed post-medieval pottery (FN#AE/04/55/51). As F5 was being removed from C6 it became apparent that this was a later drain, replacing an earlier drain or gully, C11 (Figure 253). This feature measured 2.50m wide and 1m deep, running north-east to south-west beyond the limits of the excavation. C11 was filled by F10, dark brown, silty loam, which produced part of a clay pipe bowl (FN#AE/04/55/53). The sides were less steep than C6, and the section, though also “U” shaped was more splayed. After having gone out of use and becoming filled, F10 was cut along its south-eastern side by the insertion of C6.

Figure 254: Divisions within Area 7. (After OSNI Discoverer Series Sheet 20). Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO© Crown copyright.

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Figure 255: Plan showing divisions within Area 7 overlaid on road take.

Plate 98: Burnt mound, looking south. monitored area. This area was severely overcut, with c.0.60m of soil removed, resulting in the removal of almost all features. Most of the archaeological material which remained was preserved in the vertical section face.

Area 7A A burnt mound (Plate 98) was exposed following unsupervised topsoil removal of a strip c.10m wide by 35m long, to the south of the stream and east of the originally

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Figure 256: North facing section through burnt mound C21. The earliest layer was F34, which lay directly on the subsoil surface (Figure 256). This was sticky, dark brown organicrich silt. During excavation it appeared that this material contained quantities of well-preserved plant remains. Above this was placed a layer of stones, F35, which were interpreted as having been placed to create a metalled surface. The stones were rounded and, on average, measured from 0.05m to 0.20m in diameter. Excavation of this layer allowed the recovery of three pieces of flint (FN#58, AX37.3 and 4). Two of these were natural pieces, but the third was a snapped blade. Unfortunately, this piece was insufficiently diagnostic to suggest a date for its manufacture and use. F33 was confined to what appears to have been a hollow within the eastern portion of F35. F33 was a layer of black silt, 0.07m thick. F33 and the other portions of F35 were overlain by F32, compact, pale grey silt which contained occasional flecks of charcoal. F32 was overlain by F31, friable, brown-black, gritty silt that contained large quantities of burnt stone and charcoal. It measured 5.80m in length along the section face and 0.14m in maximum thickness. F31 was overlain by F30, moderately compact, grey, silty clay with occasional orange mottling. This layer sealed the entirety of the archaeological materials and may be regarded as a variant on the F1 topsoil, which itself covered F30.

content. There were numerous burnt stones within the spread but no associated artefacts. The similarities between F6 and F3 suggest that both derive from similar processes and are probably contemporary.

Figure 257: West facing section through pit C4.

Figure 258: South facing section through spread C5. Area 7B Cuts C7, C12 and F19 were three small features located on a stone outcrop, which had been quarried in the relatively recent past, they lay to the west of two farm buildings (Figures 254 and 255).

A large shallow oval pit, C4 (Figure 257), lay 15m east of the burnt mound, (3.20m x 0.72m), orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.11m. The upper break of slope was moderate to sharp, with steeply sloping sides and a concave base. It was filled by F3, loose, brown-black, sandy loam, which contained a moderate amount of charcoal flecking. There were also quantities of heat-discoloured stones within the fill but no associated artefacts. C4 ran into the edge of the area available for excavation and, thus, could not be investigated further.

C7 (Figures259-261) measured 0.80, x 0.67m with a depth of 0.25m. The upper break of slope was sharp, the slope of the sides was steep, while the base was flat. There were three associated fills, F10, F9 and F8. The basal, F10, was moderately compact, pale grey, silty clay. F10 contained some degraded stone inclusions, but no charcoal. F10 was overlain by F9, a brown-black, clay silt with red and orange mottled patches. The colouration of this fill indicates that it was likely to have been subject to heat and burning. As no discolouration or physical changes to the sides of the cut could be recognised, it is unlikely that this burning took place in situ. Instead, it appears that the material was burnt elsewhere and later deposited within the pit C7. Similar to F10, F9 contained some degraded stone, but no charcoal. Excavation of this fill allowed the recovery of some fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/55/60), along with a broken and burnt, roughly flaked piece of flint

The final feature in this area was a spread, C5 (Figure 258), which lay 21m to the west of C4 and 3m north of C21 and was an hourglass shape, orientated east to west. Rather than being a true cut, it was more of a natural depression that had become filled with archaeological material. It measured 1.40m x 1m with a depth of 0.20m and contained a single fill, F6, brown-black, sandy silt, with a high charcoal

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and disrupted the pit C7. While it cannot be quantified, it must be presumed that a certain amount of evidence was lost and its archaeological integrity compromised.

(FN#41, AX37.1). F9 was overlain by F8, dark brown, silty clay with a high charcoal content. Excavation of this fill allowed the recovery of some fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/55/59, 61).

A second pit, C12 (Figures 259 and 262), lay c.20m northwest of C7, on somewhat higher ground. C12 was roughly oval, measuring 0.80m x 0.70m and was orientated east to west with a depth of 0.20m. The upper break of slope was sharp and the sides sloped steeply. The base of the pit was largely flat, although several large stones remained in the subsoil and would have protruded through the lower fills.

Figure 262: East facing section of pit C12. Cut C12 contained three fills: F17, F18 and F11. The basal, F17, was brown, sandy loam. F17 was overlain by F18, a thin band of charcoal, which measured between 0.02m and 0.03m in thickness. Large pieces of carbonised wood were evident within this material. The stones embedded in the subsoil of the base protruded through both F17 and F18, and into F11. As they did not show any evidence of having been burnt, this may be taken as evidence for a fire of low intensity. However, a more likely interpretation of the evidence is that F18 represents ex situ burning, which was later deposited within the pit. F18 was overlain by F11, brown-black, charcoal-rich silt. This fill contained: a quantity of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/55/64); a small number of hazelnut shells (Corylus sp.) (FN#AE/04/55/63); and a natural, rounded burnt piece of flint, broken into two pieces (FN#66 AX37.2). A sample of the fill returned a 2 sigma radiocarbon determination of Cal AD 140 to 430, i.e. 1680±60 BP (Beta 217345). This was the only Iron Age date produced from the Loughbrickland series of excavations (Figure 8).

Figure 259: Post-excavation plan of the three cremation pits in Area 7B.

Figure 260: East to west profile of pit C7.

Figure 263: South-east facing section through F19, deposit in natural bedrock cleft. Figure 261: North to south profile of pit C7.

The third ‘pit’, F19 (Figure 259 and 263), appeared to have originally been a natural cleft in the bedrock, c.5m northwest of pit C12 which was also part of the quarry area. It was 1m x 0.80m, orientated north to south with a depth of

During the course of the excavation intruders visited the site. As part of their exploration of the area, they interfered with

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0.14m. The associated fill of the cleft, F19, was dark brown silt which contained a moderate amount of charcoal. This fill contained a quantity of hazelnut shells (FN#AE/04/55/57) and a few fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone (FN#AE/04/55/49).

length. A rough line of stones, F14, appeared to have been put in place to define the south-eastern boundary of the spread. The stones were aligned roughly north-east to southwest, measured between 0.20m and 0.30m in size, and appeared to be a genuine element of this feature, and not part of a later drain. Beneath F14 was a compact area of smaller stones, F15. This may have provided a base for the larger stones but their relationship, if any, was uncertain. Within the north-western portion of the spread, F13, was F16, a concentration of heat-decayed stones.

Area 7C This area had four interrelated deposits: F13, F14, F15 and F16. Together they appeared as a burnt spread, probably related to some form of burnt mound activity (Figures 254 and 264).

This appears to have been the remnants of a burnt mound, the southern edge defined by the rough line of stones, F14, the north by the stream edge.

Spread F13 was an irregularly shaped area measuring approximately 5m x 4m, being truncated to the north by the stream. It comprised compact, black silt with a very high charcoal content, although it varied in composition across its

Figure 264: East facing section through burnt spread. 4.7 Aughintober Area 8 This area of archaeology investigated lay in Aughintober townland, c.120m north of Four Mile Road, on ground sloping down from north to south (Figures 254 and 363). The majority of features were located in a rectangular area measuring 18m x 12m. These features were pits and postholes of various forms, which did not have an easily identifiable spatial ordering to suggest the remains of a structure. Interpretation was further hampered by the fact that the majority of these features had been badly truncated. Cut C3 (Figure 265-266) was a pit located in the approximate centre of Area 8. It was oval, measuring 0.55m x 0.48m with a depth of 0.08m. The upper break of slope was variable, changing from sharp in the south to gentle elsewhere and the sides sloped gently to a flat base. C3 contained two fills: F2 and F31. The lowermost of these was F2, compact, brown stony clay, which contained surface patches of charcoal. Excavation of this fill recovered a fragment of Bronze Age pottery (FN#AE/04/55/86) and a flint blade (Plate 99). A sample of this material returned a 2 sigma radiocarbon determination of Cal BC 2550 to 2540 and 2490 to 2200, i.e. 3920±60 BP (Beta 217343). F2 was overlain by F31, which was compact, mottled-red with stone inclusions. As shown in Figure 364, this feature suffered some truncation during topsoil stripping.

Plate 99: Flint blade from C3, F2. Approximately 2.90m north-west of C3 was a shallow triangular pit, C30. It measured 0.52m x 0.52m with a depth of between 0.03m-0.10m. The surviving upper break of slope was gradual and C30 had gently sloping sides and a flat base. This feature contained one fill, F29, loose, brown silty clay, which contained a moderate amount of charcoal flecking, two pieces of flint (FN#AE/04/55/13) and 12 fragments of unidentifiable prehistoric pottery (FN#AE/04/55/14).

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slightly concave sides and a concave base. C20 was filled by F19, moderately compact, grey-brown, sandy clay, which contained very occasional flecks of charcoal and a snapped flint blade (FN# 5, AX37.9).

with a depth of 0.30m. C11 was orientated roughly east to west, although near its eastern end it bulged to the south, creating a roughly L-shaped plan. The upper break of slope varied from sharp to gradual. C11 had moderately sloping sides and an undulating base, was filled by F10, compact, brown, sandy clay with orange-brown mottling with a few flecks of charcoal and a large quantity of unsorted stones. This fill appeared to be re-deposited subsoil.

Cut C49 (Figure 273) was also a shallow sub-square pit, measuring 0.45m x 0.43m with a depth of 0.25m. The upper break of slope was sharp and the sides were steeply sloping and slightly concave, with a slightly concave base. It was filled by F48, moderately compact, grey, sandy to silty clay, which contained a high proportion of charcoal. It also contained some small and medium sized unsorted stones, but produced no artefacts.

Figure 267: South-west facing section through pit C13. Figure 272: West facing section through C20.

Figure 268: East facing section through posthole C7.

Figure 273: West facing section through pit C49. To the south-east of C11 lay pit C28 (Figures 274 and 275). This feature was 1.40m x 1m, orientated east to west and 0.61m deep. C28 had a sharp upper break of slope, steeply sloping sides and an irregular base.

Figure 269: East facing section through shallow depression C9.

Figure 270: East facing section through linear pit C11. Figure 274: West facing section through pit C28.

Figure 271: South facing section through linear pit C11. To the south of C11 were two features: C20 and C49. C20 (Figure 272) was a shallow, oval pit, (0.40m x 0.32m), orientated east to west with a depth of 0.14m. The upper break of slope was gradual. This feature had gently sloping,

Figure 275: North facing section through pit C28.

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shallow linear pit (3.40m x 1.20m), orientated east to west, with a depth of 0.22m. The upper break of slope was gradual. C15 had gently sloping sides and a concave base, and contained two fills: F16 and F14. F16 was moderately compact brown clay, which contained occasional flecks of charcoal flecking, but no artefacts. F16 contained F14 within it. F14 was a quantity of large, unsorted angular, subangular and sub-rounded stones.

Cut C28 was filled by F27, moderately compact, brown silty clay which contained one fragment of a clay pipe stem (FN#AE/04/55/4) and one well made flint blade (FN#2, AX37.8, Plate 100). C28 may have originally been part of C11, before suffering truncation and disturbance. There were two possible postholes, C42 and C44, associated with F27. C44 was centrally located within F27, and cut this fill. It was sub-rectangular, orientated east to west and measured 0.31m x 0.20m, with a depth of 0.13m. The upper break of slope was sharp, the sides were gently sloping and the base was concave. This feature contained F43, friable, brownblack sandy clay, which contained a very large proportion of charcoal. It also contained a number of sub-angular possible packing stones measuring 0.13m x 0.12m x 0.06m.

Figure 277: West facing section through linear pit C15. The two features which lay to the north of C15 were very shallow and appeared to have been heavily truncated. C22 was a shallow, circular pit, with a diameter of 0.26m and a depth of 0.06m. The fill, F21, was light brown sand which contained a small concentration of charcoal on its surface. C26 was another shallow pit measuring 0.30m x 0.26m with a depth of 0.09m. This feature was filled by F25, light brown sand which contained a small concentration of charcoal on its surface. In all respects, F25 was identical to F21 in pit C22. Two features lay in the south-western portion of Area 8: C5 and C40. C5 (Figures 278-279) was a linear pit, 2.40m x 0.46m, orientated north-west to south-east, and 0.14m deep. The upper break of slope was sharp and the sides were steeply sloping. The shape of the base of C5 varied over its length from flat, through concave to V-shaped.

Plate 100: Flint blade from C28. C42 lay on the south-western edge of C28, cutting F27 (Figure 276). C42 was oval, measuring 0.58m x 0.32m with a depth of 0.27m, and orientated east to west. This feature had a sharp upper break of slope, gently sloping sides and a slightly concave base. C42 was filled by F41, grey-black silty clay, containing a high proportion of charcoal and some small to medium sized stones, but no finds. As the stones lay near to the edges of this feature, they may have been originally intended as packing stones for a post.

C5 was filled by F4, compact, dark grey, sandy clay, which contained frequent charcoal fragments. F4 also contained a number of sub-angular stones, with a single, large stone at its south-eastern end. Excavation of this fill allowed the recovery of one possible sherd from a Cordoned Urn (vessel #28). This was the only example of this pottery type recovered during the excavation. The colour of F4 graduated from lighter to darker as depth increased, presumably the result of water peculation down through the fill.

Figure 276: North-east facing section through pit C28 and possible posthole C42. Three features lay to the north of C11: C15, C22 and C26 (Figure 265). The largest of these was C15, (Figure 277) a

Figure 278: North-west facing section through pit C5.

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that this interpretation can only be very tenuous. F46 was cut by pit C35. C51 (Figure 283) was a small circular pit with a diameter of 0.45m and a depth of 0.05m. The upper break of slope was gradual, the sides were gently sloping and the base was relatively flat. It was filled by F50, soft, dark brown silt, which contained frequent flecks and small pieces of charcoal. In all respects this fill was identical to F46 from C47 and F54 in pit C55. F50 was cut by pit C35.

Figure 279: North facing section through pit C5. Approximately 0.90m to the south-west of C5 was a posthole, C40 (Figure 280). C40 had a diameter of 0.15m and a depth of 0.63m. C40 was itself cut into a natural depression with a diameter of 0.62m and had a sharp upper break of slope, steeply sloping sides and a V-shaped base. It was filled by F39, compact, light brown sandy clay, containing a moderate amount of charcoal flecks. This fill also contained within it a number of diffuse lenses of grey clay, but these were insufficiently distinct to be ascribed individual fill numbers. A number of stones were recovered from the fill, ranging in size from 0.04m to 0.20m. Similar to F4 within C5, F39 darkened in colour from top to bottom. Again, this is interpreted as the result of water percolation. Seven pieces of natural flint were also recovered from this feature.

C55 (Figure 284) was a shallow pit 0.15m in diameter and 0.05m deep. The upper break of slope was gradual, the sides were gently sloping and the base was concave. C55 was filled by F54, soft, dark brown silt, containing frequent flecks and small pieces of charcoal. In all respects this fill was identical to the above-mentioned F46 and F50. F54 was cut by pit C35.

Figure 281: South facing section through pit C38.

Figure 282: East facing section through pit C47.

Figure 280: South facing section through posthole C40. A final group of five features lay at the western extent of the excavated area. These were C35, C38, C47, C51 and C55. C38 (Figure 281) was a shallow, circular, truncated pit, with a diameter of c.0.23m and a depth of 0.10m. The upper break of slope was sharp, the sides were steeply sloping and the base was concave. C38 was filled by F37, moderately compact, brown sandy clay which contained very occasional charcoal flecks, but no artefacts.

Figure 283: South-west facing section through pit C51.

C47 (Figure 282) measured 0.65m x 0.55m and was orientated north-east to south-west with a depth of 0.08m. The upper break of slope was gradual. The pit had gently sloping sides and a concave base. It was filled by F46, soft, dark brown silt, which contained frequent flecks and small pieces of charcoal. This fill also contained a number of stones that may have originally been intended as packing material around a post, the feature was so heavily truncated

Figure 284: South-west facing section through pit C55.

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The final feature in this area was C35 (Figures 286-287), a substantial pit. C35 measured 1.90m x 1.80m with a depth of 0.80m. This feature was orientated north-east to southwest and had a sharp upper break of slope. The eastern portion of C35 had steeply sloping sides, while the remainder had gently sloping sides, and the whole had a generally flattish base.

(FN#AE/04/55/13). Also recovered from F34 were two body sherds of prehistoric pottery (FN#AE/04/55/11, 15; vessels #26 and #27). These were portions of two vase urns of Bronze Age date.

As detailed above, C35 cut through fills F46, F50 and F54. C35 itself contained two fills: F33 and F34. F34 was loose, brown clay silt, which contained a moderate amount of flecks and occasional chunks of charcoal. F34 contained F33 within it. This was a collection of over 800 unsorted stones of various shapes. Excavation of F34 recovered one flint flake, or possible knife; one snapped, flint flake; and one sub-circular flint scraper (FN#10, AX37.10, 11, and 12, Figure 285); along with two pieces of natural flint

Figure 285: Broken flint thumbnail scraper F34.

Figure 286: West facing section through pit C35.

Figure 287: East facing section through pit C35. 4.8 Derrycraw Area 10

4.9 Meenan Area 11

During the process of archaeologically monitored topsoil removal, a number of potential features were identified in Corcreeghy townland and were cordoned off to await excavation (Figure 248). On full investigation none of these features turned out to be of archaeological significance.

During the process of archaeologically monitored topsoil removal, a number of potential features were identified Meenan townland and were cordoned off to await excavation (Figure 248). On full investigation none of these features turned out to be of archaeological significance.

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4.10

basaltic stone can withstand up to 20 heatings and dowsings before becoming unusable, while vesiculated basalt withstood 25 actions without breaking down sufficiently to be discarded. At this point experimentation was discontinued as no visible upper limit could be foreseen. These findings suggest that the stone recovered from Area 4 represented a large number of individual firings. Therefore, the sites must have existed and functioned over a relatively significant period of time and would have been an important and conspicuous landscape locus for the Bronze Age population of the area.

Discussion

Area 1 Post-excavation analyses of the flint and pottery, and the returned radiocarbon determination all confirm a date in the later Neolithic period for the two pits from Area 1. While the recovery of burnt bone from both features could be taken to indicate a funerary function, it was insufficiently well preserved to indicate whether it came from a human or animal source. The Grooved Ware pottery, while relatively rare in the western portion of County Down, is elsewhere commonly found on both domestic and ritual sites, and may of itself not be diagnostic of function. However, in her analysis of the lithics, O’Hare (Appendix 1) observes that the deposition of this form of assemblage, together with Grooved Ware pottery, into ritual or funerary pits is relatively common during the late Neolithic. O’Hare also notes that much of the assemblage shows evidence of having been burnt, and suggests that this may have occurred at the same time as the cremation of the bone, and that all were deposited together as a single event. Parallels for such structured deposition of lithics and Grooved Ware pottery may be observed at Knowth, Co. Meath (Dillon 1997), Fourknocks Ridge, Co. Meath (King 1999) and at Coolefore, Co. Louth (Ó Drisceol 2003). In the interests of balance, it must be noted that although the above thesis fits the evidence to a good degree, it is not wholly conclusive. The possibility remains that the unidentified bone, pottery and lithic assemblages originated as domestic refuse and were dumped away from a habitation that either failed to survive, or lay some distance beyond the take of the road.

Research at Derryville Bog, Co. Tipperary (Cross May et al 2005a, 215), has shown a distinct preference for circular and sub-circular troughs during the Early Bronze Age, while square and sub-rectangular troughs were more common during the Middle Bronze Age, with rectangular troughs being most popular during the Late Bronze Age. While many excavated troughs are lined with wood or stone it is common to find troughs without any lining. In addition, the vast majority of excavated examples do not produce much evidence for surviving animal bone and the example found here is typical in this respect. The distribution of burnt mounds has traditionally been seen to be greatest in the south-west of Ireland, with their incidence falling off towards Ulster. They are generally situated close to water: either a stream or marshy ground (Waddell 2000; Ó Drisceoil 1991). Experimentation by O’Kelly at Ballyvourney, Co. Cork (O’Kelly 1954) showed that heated stones could bring a trough-full of water to boiling point in 30–35 minutes and provide well-cooked, palatable food. However, this experimentation does not prove that cooking was the actual function of burnt mounds. The fact that bone remains are only infrequently recovered from burnt mounds (see Ó Drisceoil 1988; 1991; Cross May et al. 2005a, 220; Cross May et al. 2005b, 287-8, 301-2, 3057) and their troughs, may be partially explained by elevated soil acidity. Others have theorized that there was a strong ritual element involved in the firing of burnt mounds which involved the control and careful disposal of food remains. Other functional explanation suggestions that have been put forward include their use as saunas, sweat houses or for bathing (Barfield and Hodder 1987), dying textiles or curing hides (Waddell op. cit., 177).

Area 4 The features excavated as part of Area 4 represented a classic example of an archaeological site-type known as a ‘burnt mound’. Burnt mounds are typified by the presence of a large spread of charcoal, and cracked and burnt stone, lying over a trough, or troughs. The troughs varied in size and were occasionally wood-lined. Recent research has shown that the majority of burnt mounds date to the Bronze Age, and specifically to the period from 1800 to 800 BC (Waddell 2000). Their function is thought to have been to heat water, which was achieved by filling the trough with water, heating rocks on fire and then depositing them within the trough. The cracked rocks associated with burnt mounds built up over the working life of the feature. Once the rocks became too small they were left to the side and new rocks were used. These troughs were used repeatedly and over a significant period of time. Experimentation (Buckley 1990) has shown that, for example, sandstone can withstand up to five heatings and dowsings before breaking down into nonreusable fragments. Similarly, limestone was shown to withstand six such actions, with harder stone types requiring significantly more. However, experimentation indicated that

The most frequently cited references to the use of burnt mound troughs for bathing are from Foras Feasa ar Éirinn by Geoffrey Keating (Dinneen 1908, 326–9) and The romance of Mis and Dubh Ruis (Ó Cuív 1954. See also Ó Drisceoil 1990; Ó Néill 2003-4 and Newman 2002). The tale, originally transcribed in 1769 but likely to be of much greater antiquity, tells of the mission of the harpist, Dubh Ruis, to find Mis, the daughter of a king, and return her to

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sanity. After tempting her from her hiding place with his music they engage in what can only be described as copious quantities of sexual intercourse. Following from this, Mis catches a deer which Dubh Ruis kills, skins and cooks in a water-filled pit with hot stones. After feeding, he places her in the pit of warm water and washes her with deer fat, eventually returning her to sanity. The tale from Keating’s Foras Feasa ar Éirinn attempts to explain the presence of these sites in terms of the Fianna, a semi-mythological band of warriors, generally believed to have existed during the Iron Age period. The scene he paints is of a roving band forced to live off the fruits of their hunting from Bealltaine until Samhain (1 May to 31 October). While the Fianna spent their mornings hunting, their attendants prepared two pits. One appears to have been a fire pit where some of the meat was roasted, while a larger, second pit is described as being filled with water and heated by fired stones. It was in this latter pit that the remainder of the meat was placed, bound in straw rope. Keating adds that before dining:

plank lining (Ibid., 22). Other troughs with plank-lined bases include the oval troughs at Carricknaveagh (Long 2003b) and Carnreagh (Large 2006) and the sub-rectangular trough at Ballywilliam (Chapple forthcoming). The Carricknaveagh trough held planks with an average length of 1.30 m and a mean width of 0.20 m (Long ibid.), while the trough at Carnreagh was interpreted by its excavator as having originally had a plank-lined base that had been removed, leaving only their impressions in the base of the feature (Large ibid. and pers. comm. 2006). The Ballywilliam trough had a badly damaged plank and lath base (Chapple pers. comm. 2006). Another plank-lined trough was excavated at Killeens I (O’Kelly 1954, pl. XVIII, facing page 131). Area 7 The pit C4, the spread C5 and the complex of layers in the northern part of Area 7, C21, all produced quantities of heataffected stones. Although there was no surviving evidence for a trough or similar form of feature to suggest its origin as part of the burnt mound tradition, a number of factors would make this a reasonable supposition. As noted above, the quantities of heat-discoloured and burnt stone are a primary indicator of pyrolithic activity. Also, the close proximity to the source of water from the stream, directly to the north, indicates the eminent suitability of the area for a burnt mound. Although it must be acknowledged that this evidence is relatively slight, it may be noted that both the pit C4 and the complex C21 ran into the edge of the road-take. Thus, the possibility remains that more significant material remains in situ, to the south.

“each of them stripped off, and tied his shirt around his waist, and they ranged themselves round the second pit we have mentioned above, bathing their hair and washing their limbs, and removing their sweat, and then exercising their joints and muscles, thus ridding themselves of their fatigue” (Dinneen 1908, 329). However, Brindley et al. (1989/90, 56) argue that as the vast majority of dated burnt mounds have returned dates in the Bronze Age, they cannot be associated with the much later references in the documentary sources. Whatever the truth behind such early literary references and speculations, it is obvious that burnt mounds served some form of specific, if somewhat intermittent, function within Bronze Age culture and society (Waddell ibid.; Doody 1993, 96).

The group of three features associated with the rock outcrop all produced fragments of burnt, but unidentifiable bone and two of them (F19 and C12) produced the remains of hazelnut shells. These similarities permit the assumption that all three were probably contemporary. The Iron Age date for pit C12 is somewhat surprising, as evidence from this period is rarely discovered during excavation (see O’Kelly 1989, 245; Waddell 2000, 319-20). These pits may be interpreted as the remains of temporary hearths, containing food debris, although the lack of evidence for in situ burning would seem to militate against this theory. Instead, it may be suggested that these represent examples of the relatively elusive tradition of Iron Age burial. Waddell (2000, 365) suggests that this apparent hiatus in the burial tradition stems from restrictions placed on who was accorded the privilege of formal interment. Where Iron Age burials have been identified it is usually based on their association with diagnostic forms of grave goods, such as beads and fibulae &c. In other instances, particularly in older excavations, Iron Age dates for burial were postulated solely on stratigraphic evidence (ibid. 367-9; Raftery 1981). One recurrent feature of burial in this period was the apparently token nature of some cremations even when other factors suggest a relatively

The frequency of excavated burnt mounds in County Down is extremely low, with only 14 examples noted in the published literature (Anon. 1981-2 [Ballycroghan excavated by V. M. Buckley, 209]; Chapple forthcoming; Crothers 2006; Dunlop forthcoming; Gahan 2000, 2002a-b; Hodges 1955; Large 2006; Long 2003a-d; McManus 2003a-b). Even within this relatively restricted body of information parallels may be found for the material uncovered. In the first instance, sub-rectangular troughs have been found at Clontakelly (Long 2003c), Area 2, Carnreagh, Hillsborough (Large 2006), and Ballycroghan Sites I and IIb (Hodges op. cit., 19, 21). The site excavated by Long as part of the Mourne Conduit replacement/Aquarius project (2002) lay next to the line of a former watercourse, as did the sites at Ballymaglaff (Crothers 2006) and Ballycroghan, Site I (Hodges op. cit., 19). The troughs at Ballycroghan I and IIb were lined with de-barked logs (Hodges op. cit., 19, 21), while Ballycroghan III possessed a square trough, but with

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southern protrusion of C11 and, possibly, even C28. This would result in a line of arc measuring 14.27m in length. If these features shared a single structural origin, then all could be dated by the determination returned for the C3 feature of 2550 to 2540 Cal BC. This date suggests a period of use for this site during the late Neolithic. This is, however, problematic as the same fill (F2) produced a single sherd of Bronze Age pottery, although this could not be matched to an exact type (FN#AE/04/55/86). This dichotomy may be resolved in one of two ways. Firstly, it may be argued that the pottery is intrusive and represents a later deposition into a genuine late Neolithic pit. The other possibility is that the Bronze Age pottery is instead the temporally intrusive deposit, and that the early date is provided by the use of significantly older heart wood being selected for dating (Warner 1987). As this also cannot be certainly concluded, other evidence must be brought to bear. The C35 pit was the only other feature to produce identifiable pottery. Analysis by Dunne (Appendix 2) suggests that these were portions of Bronze Age vase urns. These are conventionally dated to the Early Bronze Age (c. 2200 to 1500 BC) (Waddell 2000, O’Kelly 1989), although Brindley would date these to her Earlier Bronze Age (3600 to 3400 BP; 2000/1950 to 1750/1700 BC (Brindley 1995, 7-8). The other piece of evidence is O’Hare’s analysis of the lithic assemblage (Appendix 1), which argues for a general period of manufacture and use during the Bronze Age period.

high status for the individual buried. For example, Oranbeg, Co. Galway, produced relatively few pieces of cremated human bone, associated with glass and bone beads (Rynne 1970, 10). Similarly, the series of four ring ditches at Ballydavis, Co. Laois, produced little human bone, despite their association with a decorated bronze box of 1st century AD date (Keeley 1996, 51-2). While the majority of sites of this period in the published record are part of ring barrows, or are enclosed by a ditch or similar structure, unenclosed pit burials are also known. For example, a number of simple pits containing cremated bone, some accompanied by bone beads, were excavated at The Long Stone, Cullen, Co. Tipperary (Raftery 1981, 191). At Kiltierney, Co. Fermanagh, small amounts of cremated bone, without grave goods, were placed in shallow pits in the mound of an earlier passage tomb (Foley 1988, 24). Waddell argues that there is a possibility that small deposits of cremated bone, placed without grave goods, may have been a “widespread fashion in later prehistory and hitherto unrecognised in the absence of radiocarbon dating” (Waddell op. cit., 369). In this context it is possible, though not conclusively beyond debate, to argue that the Area 7 pits represent genuine Iron Age burials. Although lacking the trough expected of ‘classic’ burnt mound sites, the F13 spread in Area 7 is easily explicable as part of the so-called fulacht fiadh tradition, and generally dated to the Bronze Age. As a detailed summation of this site type has already been presented in relation to Area 4, these points need not be reiterated here. However, it is worth noting that the revetment to the F13 spread, represented by F14 and F15 is a relatively unusual feature. Nonetheless, parallels may be observed at Drombeg, Co. Cork (Fahy 1960). Here the trough and hearth were enclosed by a penannular bank that the excavator argued was built progressively, over the lifetime of the site.

If the 14.27m arc represented a coherent structural grouping, the alignment of the three features within this (C13, C9 and C49) could be regarded as part of the same construction. Such a structure whether domestic, ritual or for craft production, could be interpreted in a number of ways. If the surviving features represent the totality, or near totality, of the original construction it may have been created to act as a wind-break or shelter. The problem with this hypothesis is that such large uprights as suggested by the surviving features, would be vastly more than necessary to provide such a shelter, and would be without parallel in the archaeological record. However, their position would provide shelter from the prevailing winds to the south-west. Although later in date and of much more flimsy construction, parallels may be found at Oakgrove, Co. Londonderry (Chapple 2004) and at Balgatheran, Co. Louth (Chapple 2001).

Area 8 Area 8 presents a number of interpretative problems. Firstly, it was obvious during excavation that this area had suffered a certain degree of truncation. Clearly this level of disturbance had the potential to remove large portions of features and/or to destroy them in their entirety. The second problem with this Area is the lack of any convincing evidence for function. Related to this is the difficulty in establishing evidence for the structural interpretation of this disparate collection of features.

The other possibility is that surviving features do not represent the original totality of the intended structure and, instead, represent a small arc of a more substantial building. Such a building would have had a diameter of 19.10m, a circumference of c.60m and a covered floor space of c.286.45m2. In such a hypothetical structure the placement of pits C22, C24 and C26 just to the south of the projected centre could indicate their use as internal supports. While such a theory is relatively neat, it does suffer from some

Nonetheless, a number of extremely tentative hypotheses may be put forward. In the first instance it may be posited that while the pits C30, C3 and C7 do not form a straight line, they do form a reasonably convincing curve. This arc may be extended to incorporate C20. It is also possible to suggest that this line may be further extended to include the

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serious drawbacks. First among these is the fact that if this Area 8 was indeed a ‘house’, and dating to the Bronze Age, it should be expected to possess an external drip-trench. This objection may be placated by the presence of the C5 feature to the south-west, but it is relatively short and insubstantial, and is not in any way conclusive. However, the major objection to this hypothetical structure is that with a diameter of in excess of 19m, it would have been over twice the size of any other excavated house of the same period. For example, the two houses (Houses A and B) at Killoran 8, Co. Tipperary, had diameters of c.9m and c.8m, respectively (Cross May et al. 2005b, 288-92). Similarly, the house at

Kilmurray, Co. Wicklow, had a diameter of 8.5m (Ó Néill 2001, 30). Houses B and C at Townparks, Co. Antrim respectively measured 9m and 9.5m in diameter (Ballin Smith 2003, 24 & 27). In the light of the unequivocal evidence of these previously excavated sites, and the very slight nature of the Area 8 evidence, it seems unlikely that it represents a Bronze Age house. Instead, it is suggested that this is an enigmatic site, which has suffered considerable attrition, denudation and truncation, making it impossible to draw concrete conclusions as to its original function.

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Chapter 5 General Conclusions Until very recently it was assumed that little or no prehistoric occupation occurred in the heavy clay soils of the drumlin belt of counties Down and Armagh. The wide variety of archaeological material uncovered during the monitoring of 9,500m of new road and an additional 500m of side road ranged in date from the Neolithic to the Iron Age and incorporated domestic, ritual and mortuary structures. This, along with other known prehistoric sites in the vicinity such as Brickland Barrow (Down 034:075) and the Three Sisters (Down 033:027) stone row, illustrates that the idea that boulder clay soil in drumlin areas was avoided prior to the Early Christian Period is inaccurate and as development continues it is likely that many more sites will come to light.

to the north-west (Dow 033:036 and DOW 036:046). The latter has been suggested to be the western defences of a reduced Ulster after the collapse of the over-kingdom in the mid 4th century AD. The multi-period remains uncovered at Area 2 included early 4th millennium BC Neolithic activity consisting of three rectangular houses – the first to be excavated in Co. Down – with numerous secondary contemporary features, including a midden, a stone alignment and a series of possibly ritual pits. These houses marked the beginning of an extended period of occupation of this isthmus. Following a period of abandonment, later Neolithic activity associated with Grooved Ware pottery (post 3000 BC) was identified. The Ballintaggart Neolithic houses fit the Irish pattern of isolated houses, as found at Corbally, Co. Kildare (Purcell 2002) or small groups of buildings as at Millfield (Brightman and Waddington 2005). At present there have been 54 rectangular Neolithic houses excavated in Ireland (Dempster 2007) dating from the early Neolithic (4000-3500 BC).

Six areas over the 10km monitored produced archaeological features. These were: Area 1 in Ballintaggart townland at chainage 1450; Area 2 in Ballintaggart townland at chainage 1340; Area 4 in Ballintaggart townland at chainage 1840; Areas 7 and 8 uncovered in Maddydrumbrist and Aughintober townlands within 200m of chainage 7000; and a large cemetery site in Derrycraw townland at chainage 8080 (Area 9). Area 1 comprised a pair of Neolithic pits and Area 4 a burnt mound, Area 7 an Iron Age burial and two burnt mounds; and at Area 8 a Bronze Age occupation site was uncovered.

These Ballintaggart houses were also orientated with their entrances and longer sides facing south, probably to allow the maximum amount of light to enter the house. They were close to water, as at Ballynagilly, Co. Tyrone and Lough Gur, Co. Limerick (Grogan 1996, 57), and were consistent in general shape and style with other Early Neolithic rectangular houses excavated such as Ballyglass 1, Co. Mayo (O’Nuallain 1972), Ballynagilly, Co. Tyrone (ApSimon 1969) and Ballyharry Farm, Co. Antrim (O’Neill 2004).

The group of three features associated with the rock outcrop in Area 7B produced fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone. The late Iron Age date (Cal AD 140 to 430) for pit C12 is particularly interesting as evidence from this period is rarely discovered during excavation. These may represent examples of the relatively elusive tradition of Iron Age burial. While the majority of known burial sites of this period are part of ring barrows, or are enclosed by a ditch or similar structure, unenclosed pit burials are also known. A number of simple pits containing cremated bone, some accompanied by bone beads, were excavated at The Long Stone, Cullen, Co. Tipperary (Raftery 1981, 191) while at Kiltierney, Co. Fermanagh, small amounts of cremated bone, without grave goods, were uncovered in shallow pits in the mound of an earlier passage tomb (Foley 1988, 24). Waddell argues that there is a possibility that small deposits of cremated bone, placed without grave goods, may have been a “widespread fashion in later prehistory and hitherto unrecognised in the absence of radiocarbon dating” (Waddell op. cit., 369). In this context it is possible to argue that the Area 7 pits represent genuine Iron Age burials, although this is not conclusive. If this is the case they are unique in Co. Down and are interesting due to their proximity to the ‘Danes Cast’, an Iron Age linear earthwork lying some 4km

The Early Neolithic settlement activity at Ballintaggart was both domestic (the houses and the midden) and ritual (the stone/post alignment and the ritual pits). The close proximity of the stone/post alignment and the ritual pits to the houses shows that there was a ritual as well as a domestic significance attached to this site. It is possible that this was a “conscious intent to incorporate one within the other” (Grogan 1996, 58) or that “for the Neolithic people there was an element of ritual incorporated in all activities” (Lane 1986). Thomas (2004) has suggested that identifying any of the 50 or so known rectangular Neolithic buildings as purely domestic houses is erroneous and that it is probable that although the houses were in part dwellings, it is also likely that they had a significant ritual function. Barclay (2003) has suggested that such houses may also have been used as feasting halls, for holding council, exchanging goods, laying out of the dead or storing and redistributing domesticated and wild resources. However, this suggestion that because ritual is incorporated into day to day activities it makes the people

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of the Neolithic different from ourselves is a false premise as we do not separate the purely ritual from the mundanely domestic: feasts and gatherings are held at regular times of the year; bodies are displayed at wakes; religious symbols and pictures adorn the walls of modern homes; meetings and discussions are held within the family and with outsiders; and the religious carry their beliefs into all that they do. This multiplicity of use of modern dwellings makes then no less domestic and the author believes that the same applies to the Neolithic.

cemetery in Ballintaggart. The barrows At Derrycraw displayed a range of styles including a penannular barrow with a paired post entrance and two barrows with no associated burial. It was suggested that RD 2 may have been a mortuary structure, similar in intent though not in form, to the two four-post structures uncovered at Ballintaggart. There were some secondary features, which may have been related to the funerary activity, as well as slight evidence of earlier Neolithic activity. This type of burial was not unique in Northern Ireland: however, until the advent of developerfunded archaeology, non-upstanding sites had been discovered only by chance or by their appearance as cropmarks – and no more than two other cemeteries had been excavated in Co. Down.

The excavation provided evidence of a diet of farmed wheat and oats, supplemented with hazelnuts, apples and sloes while the meat in their diet was provided, at least partially, by either wild boar or domesticated pigs. The pottery found on the site was manufactured locally, suggesting a high level of self sufficiency, though there is evidence of trade with surrounding settlements over long distance networks (upwards of 120km) for porcellanite axes and flint tools. The ritual in their lives may be illustrated by the stone row to the south east and the seasons were no doubt marked or celebrated in some way.

The cemeteries at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw dated to the period of the Middle and Late Bronze age between 1600 and 800 BC, which until very recently in Ireland had been categorised respectively as periods with a great deal of metalwork and few sites (Mallory and McNeill 1991, 109) other than fulachta fiadh, and when the recognised funerary monument types disappeared to be replaced with deposition of artefacts into wetland sites. Identification is not aided by the fact that the individual pottery styles of the Early Bronze Age were replaced with a coarse undecorated flat rim ware after about 1500 BC. As more sites are uncovered dating to this period it is becoming obvious that the above view is not the whole truth, because funerary or monumental sites in the form of barrows continued to be constructed throughout this period and at least into the Iron Age.

A substantial portion of the same site was later utilised during the Bronze Age from c. 1600 BC, as a cemetery complex. This formed the main Bronze Age activity on the site, which comprised nine cremation burials (eight of which were marked by ring ditches and four of which were associated with funerary vessels), and two four-post burials. Some of the monuments in the cemetery may have been aligned upon a large barrow on top of Brickland Hill to the north-east. This site also featured an Early Bronze Age occupation area. The proximity of the three Neolithic houses to Loughbrickland, the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age occupation and the later large ring ditch cemetery, suggests that the ridge they occupied was regarded, in the prehistoric period, as a particularly desirable or important location. It should be noted that throughout this period it would have been surrounded on at least two sides by water and marshland, and would have been, therefore, an easily defensible and very conspicuous feature in the landscape. The ring barrow cemetery contained a series of burials which were contained within a variety of funerary-style ceramic vessels. Several of these barrows displayed evidence for multiple insertions, something which did not occur at Derrycraw.

As two cemeteries were uncovered situated along a 10km long and 0.05km wide stretch of terrain this may suggest that that such cemeteries are much more common than hitherto thought and that as development continues many more will be uncovered, along with the associated habitation sites. It may also be the case that many cemeteries from this period are situated on more marginal land close to water or bog such as at Ballintaggart and Derrycraw. This may be deliberate and may be part of a funerary rite emphasising disposal of the cremated remains of most of the population in water. Bradley (2007, 223) argues that the idea that apparent change in rite from a more structured burial pattern in the Early Bronze Age being allied to some form of environmental or social collapse in the Middle to Late Bronze Age was incorrect and suggests that this can be seen rather as a change in emphasis from mortuary monuments to deposition of metals in water. On the evidence from the A1 this idea does not seem to be applicable at least in west Down, as there is no real or discernable change in the primary form of burial monument (although the cemetery sites do include pit burials, four-poster burials and other anomalous types) over a period of several hundred years from the middle years of the 2nd millennium BC to approximately 800 BC. The tradition of deposition of metals in water may be possibly better seen

A second barrow cemetery was uncovered at Area 9 in Derrycraw townland. This relatively small site (c.50m x 15m) contained five barrows (three of which contained burials), a destroyed cairn, a ‘basket’ burial, several token burials, and a single post-marked burial. The archaeology from this site was identified as mainly Bronze Age and was primarily associated with funerary activity commencing c.1600 BC. It also appeared to be somewhat earlier than the

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as a tradition in parallel to the construction of barrow cemeteries from at least the Middle Bronze Age onward which may indicate why Irish burials tend to be so metalpoor.

houses in Co. Down, evidence of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age occupation, the two largest Bronze Age cemeteries yet excavated in Co. Down, several rare Iron Age burials and three Burnt Mounds to add to an increasing number being uncovered. The information gained from this site fully justifies the importance placed on the implementation of a full programme of archaeological works.

The archaeological information recovered from this series of excavations has provided evidence of the first Neolithic

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APPENDICES

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APPENDIX 1a Report on Lithic Assemblage for Archaeological Licence AE/04/77 By Dr. M. O’Hare Abstract There are 274 archaeological lithic pieces from excavation licence number AE/04/77, at Loughbrickland, Co. Down. These will be recorded on the Ulster Museum, Belfast database under AX38 1-189. The assemblage is multi-period ranging from the earlier Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Just over 10% were derived from non-secure contexts. A quarter of the total assemblage was associated with slottrenches and post-holes associated with two/three Neolithic house structures. There were no less than eight Bronze Age ring-ditches, seven of which contained lithic material. The remainder of the assemblage was derived from several spreads and pits from the cemetery area, which may also be multi-period.

Reduction technique At least over a quarter of the assemblage is certainly Neolithic and a slightly smaller percentage from certain Bronze Age contexts, therefore as these two periods represent very different reduction strategies their respective industries will be outlined below. The bipolar technique is a fundamentally different reduction strategy compared to the more conventional struck cores and flakes as described by Clark et. al (1960, 216) and outlined by Inizan et. al (1999), typical of pre-metallurgical societies in Ireland. After this point, within Irish assemblages, the bipolar reduction method is the exclusive method of reduction from the earliest point in the Bronze Age until the end, although there are hints of this reduction method emerging within some Final Neolithic (Grooved Ware) assemblages and there may be slight regional exceptions, particularly within the more idiosyncratic industries of the south-east (O’ Hare 2005).

Nature and condition of the collection From the total lithic assemblage, over 80% is of flint, almost 12% quartz and the remainder consists of coarse stone artefacts, which included polished stone axes made from siltstone, mudstone and one of porcellanite, which would have been imported from either Brockley, on Rathlin Island or Tievebulliagh, Co. Antrim, presumably in the form of a finished polished stone axe. Another axe, which is of flint, a broken blade portion may also indicate an import from the north-east. The other coarse stone materials such as quartzite and sandstone rolled pebbles employed as burnishers etc., would have most likely been sourced from the nearby rivers and streams. The background flint is rolled and highly polished, strongly suggesting that this was mainly sourced from rivers and streams. This was confirmed during field walking around this site, which indicated that flint was fairly sparse within the glacial till and may have primarily been obtained from the river/stream gravels that are linked to the river Bann and the Newry River. The quartz/quartzite material was relatively abundant around the lough shore and within the lough itself, but again it was quite sparse within the glacial till, which would be expected within this region, however, mountain streams in this case may have transported the quartz down. Almost 50% of the flint pieces were burnt, although it is very difficult to detect burning of quartz, as it does not exhibit the same obvious characteristics as flint when burnt. A mere 9% of the entire flint assemblage exhibited a fresh condition with the remainder showing signs of patination to some degree, which is indicative of this material being exposed to the elements for some time. However, patination can occur fairly rapidly and is not a chronological indicator, as pointed out by Schmalz (1960).

The Bipolar technique involves resting a nodule or block on an anvil (hard stone) and hitting it from above at about 90° producing ‘relatively uncontrolled flake removals’ (Knight 1993, 57). Ahler (1989) also outlines the main characteristics for this technique. Within these bipolar assemblages, it has been observed by the writer that there is a characteristic ‘twist’ present on many of these pointed bipolar cores. This may be caused by the energy of a simultaneous impact from the downward percussion of the striking force and the upward impact of the anvil, which appears to have converged in the central part of the piece. Fundamentally, these two industry types are distinct in that conventional core types represent careful planning in terms of the preparation of cores, with a preconceived outcome – whereas the bipolar reduction technique, based upon ethnographic evidence, indicates that after bipolar reduction the broken pieces are simply chosen for suitability to the task as observed by Knight (1993, 65). However, it is also worth noting that occasionally pseudo-platform reduction might be present within a bipolar assemblage. This has been observed by Kuijt et. al, (1995, 119) who point out that these two reduction strategies are not mutually exclusive and that one type may sporadically appear in one assemblage and vice versa. Assemblages within main features Neolithic House 1: (foundation slots, pits and post holes) This feature contained a total of nine pieces (Table 1), generally associated with pottery and burnt bone and wood charcoal. There was no evidence of in-situ knapping or related debitage, although there were two broken flint

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Archaeological Investigations along the A1 Dualling Scheme, Loughbrickland to Beech Hill, Co. Down, N. Ireland _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

associated with house 2 along with pottery and burnt bone, this is reminiscent of the end of blade scraper from a similar context from house 1, noted above. The coarse stone artefacts consisted of four burnishing/polishing stones. The lithic collection from house 2 is entirely in keeping with the date assigned to this feature, namely the earlier Neolithic. There was only one piece from this feature and it was burnt and possibly natural.

conventionally struck flakes. Two other flint chunks were broken as a result of burning. The secondary technology consisted of a burnt and broken blade end of a flint axe which was found in three portions (AX38.2) and although another flake was found from the same context and looks like it may belong to the flint axe, a refit was not possible. Another flint artefact was broken and burnt and appears to be a well-made end of blade scraper (AX38.70) with surviving dimensions of 76.3mm x 32mm x 6.5mm. The coarse stone artefacts included a lithic sandstone hammer stone with peck marks and another axe made from porcellanite with blade edge damage and a broken butt (AX38.1), with surviving dimensions of 70.5mm x 44.8mm x 22.5mm.

Typology Number % Retouched flakes 3 5.17 Knives 2 3.4 Scrapers 1 1.7 Leaf-shaped 1 1.7 arrowhead Total chipped stone 7 11.97 Polishing stones 4 6.9 Total coarse stones 4 6.9 Total Secondary 11 18.87 Table 2: Breakdown of secondary (modified) assemblage from Neolithic house 2.

Typology Number End of blade scraper 1 Axe 1 Total chipped stone 2 Porcellanite Axe 1 Hammerstone 1 Total coarse stone 2 Total Secondary 4 Table 1: Breakdown of secondary (modified) assemblage from Neolithic house 1.

The Neolithic character of the assemblages from both house 1 and 2, is very clear from the evidence of both the secondary (modified pieces) and the primary reduction strategy in the form of conventional reduction with the exception of the few quartz pieces that demand bipolar reduction. The porcellanite axe, the flint plano-convex knife and even the fragmentary and burnt flint polished axe along with the fine end-of-blade scraper or the butt snapped leafshaped arrowhead appear to be not only classic type-fossils of the period proposed for the houses, Early Neolithic, but also very specific objects that rather than representing residual dump material within the slots of the house structure, may represent the ritual destruction of objects as seen in the damaged and burnt nature of some pieces and therefore a deliberate foundation deposit at specific cardinal intersections within the house structure.

Neolithic House 2: (foundation slots, pits and post holes) This feature contained a much larger assemblage than house 1 and also represents the largest assemblage from any of the features from this site, 58 pieces in all. Twelve per cent were quartz and coarse stone accounted for almost 7%, with the vast majority of pieces being of flint. The secondary technology (modified pieces) accounted for almost 20% of the assemblage as a whole (Table 2). There were seven quartz pieces in all; one fragment; three bipolar cores and the same number of scalar flakes, although bipolar reduction typifies the Bronze Age industries, it is employed as the only strategy that will reduce quartz and the assemblage is otherwise dominated by flint and the conventional knapping strategy (platform reduction), although there were no conventional cores or other patterns of debitage that may indicate in-situ-knapping. The vast majority of pieces were burnt conventionally struck flakes, mainly broken, along with a high frequency (25), almost half of the whole assemblage, were burnt fragments and only three pieces were micro-debitage