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AR01055_EMAP_Gazetteer_of_Sites_4-2_10.pdf - The Heritage ...

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Down<br />

Tullylish, Co. Down<br />

Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Enclosure.<br />

Grid Ref: J08274858 (30827/34858)<br />

SMR No: DOW 026:005<br />

Excavation Licence: N/A<br />

Excavation Duration/Year: May 1983.<br />

Site Director: R.J. Ivens (Historic Monuments Branch, Department <strong>of</strong> Finance (NI)).<br />

Excavation was undertaken on a hill-top enclosure beside the local parish church prior to the<br />

construction <strong>of</strong> a new church hall. <strong>The</strong> remains <strong>of</strong> a seventeenth century church were<br />

upstanding within the sub-circular enclosure, and subsequent excavation revealed that the<br />

site had been occupied for over a millennium before this.<br />

Apart from some earlier Bronze Age finds, the primary phase <strong>of</strong> occupation on site was<br />

marked by the construction <strong>of</strong> a massive ditch (5m wide, and up to 4m deep). <strong>The</strong> ditch<br />

appears then to have been re-cut on a number <strong>of</strong> occasions, but also to have been allowed to<br />

naturally silt-up. During one <strong>of</strong> these latter phases there is some limited occupation evidence<br />

(charcoal and bone fragments) and also some enigmatic structural evidence – two sets <strong>of</strong><br />

stakeholes were discovered set into this layer within the ditch and were interpreted as some<br />

form <strong>of</strong> flimsy temporary structure, perhaps a wind-break.<br />

At a later date a second, external ditch was cut, and an internal bank made from the spoil.<br />

<strong>The</strong> primary ditch was remodelled and used as an industrial area – a kiln with three flues; a<br />

furnace bottom; and a cooking hearth were all found in this area. <strong>The</strong>re were also structural<br />

remains in the vicinity <strong>of</strong> the in-filled ditch, including stone-packed post-holes representative<br />

<strong>of</strong> a substantial timber building, as well as rather more ephemeral wooden structures –<br />

possibly wind-breaks.<br />

Almost 3,500 sherds <strong>of</strong> pottery were found on site, the vast majority <strong>of</strong> which (3,279) was<br />

found in the fill <strong>of</strong> the outer ditch. <strong>The</strong> pottery was dominated by coarse-wares (souterrain<br />

ware (678) and crannog ware) but there were also some wheel-thrown sherds, possibly<br />

dating to the thirteenth/fourteenth centuries. <strong>The</strong>re was substantial evidence <strong>of</strong> industrial<br />

activity including the remains <strong>of</strong> seven clay crucibles, fragments <strong>of</strong> 26 clay moulds, and<br />

substantial quantities <strong>of</strong> slag and tuyère fragments. A large number <strong>of</strong> copper-alloy objects<br />

were also found on site which may either indicate their manufacture there, or attest to the<br />

relative high status <strong>of</strong> the monastic site recorded in A.U. 809.<br />

(No plans were available for this site).<br />

214

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