EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Antrim
Antiville, Co. Antrim
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.
Grid Ref: D39130328 (33913/40328)
SMR No: ANT 040:042
Excavation Licence: N/A
Excavation Duration/Year: October-November 1957.
Site Director: D. M. Waterman (Historic Monuments Branch, Ministry of Finance).
A souterrain was discovered during work on a marshy area of a golf course. Upon further
excavation this was found to have been associated with a rectangular stone-built house (Fig.
2). Both sites have subsequently been destroyed by roadworks.
The habitation site was defined by a largely destroyed bank and a ditch, enclosing an area
approximately 25.5m in diameter (Fig. 3). The ditch was 4.5m wide, but only 0.45m deep on
the east side, ranging to 0.75m deep on the north side.
Three phases of occupation were evident within this enclosure. The first phase appears to
have ended with the burning of a structure, evidenced by a mass of burnt clay. In Phase II a
rectangular dry-stone-wall built dwelling, with rounded corners, was erected. The south wall
was shared between the house and the souterrain passage. The dwelling was partially paved,
and a hearth was located west-of-centre. Bones, charcoal, sherds of souterrain ware, and
flints were recovered from the floor of this building. The souterrain was entered through the
south-west corner of the Phase II house. It contained a jumble of animal bones, the staves
and bases of several wooden vessels (preserved in peat); and the skeleton of a young human
male.
In Phase III the floor of the Phase II house was deliberately covered in peat to a depth of
0.22m, and a hearth was set into the floor. The original structural timbers appear to have
been retained, but the original entrance was blocked by a possible corn-drying kiln, and a
new entrance was opened up. Animal bones, sherds of souterrain ware, a broken lignite
bracelet, and flints were discovered on this secondary floor.
Fig. 3: Plan of Phase II house at Antiville, Co. Antrim (after Waterman 1971, 71).
2