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

Antrim
use of the souterrain for refuge) or perhaps more likely that the remains relates to the later
use of the souterrain in the post-medieval period for a cillín burial (Nelis et. al 2007, 115).
The interior of the current church was excavated by Declan Hurl in 1997 prior to conservation
work and yielded 56 burials including one of a leprosy sufferer and the possible plinth of the
medieval church (Hurl 1998, 49-50). The excavations beneath the south wall of the church in
1997 exposed a projecting stone ‘plinth’ which was identified as the south wall of a possible
transverse medieval church. After the removal of the interior wooden floor, fifty six
articulated skeletons were uncovered within a thick layer of black greasy clay below a deposit
of construction debris, up to 1.4m thick. Half of these were adults and most were supine,
extended and coffined. One pair of feet was found to be from a leprosy sufferer and other
disarticulated remains were also recovered. Burials were also prevalent around the exterior of
the church and were uncovered when a concrete path was removed.
The most substantial excavations were undertaken in 2004 and 2005 in advance of a
proposed extension of the modern graveyard into an adjoining paddock, c. 20m to the north
of the modern church. Initial testing was undertaken by Andrew Gault on behalf of EHS and
involved the excavation of four east-west aligned trenches spanning the southern extent of
the paddock. These trenches produced numerous archaeological features, including
structures, putative post-medieval burials and associated artefacts (Nelis et. al 2007, 23). Full
excavation by John Ó Néill in October-November 2004 investigated an area measuring c. 15m
by 10m in the southwest area of the small field. Emer Nelis extended the excavation area to
include the area to the north and east in 2005. In total, an area 35m east-west and 25m
north-south was fully excavated over the course of the two seasons. Both seasons of
excavation produced evidence for at least twelve phases of activity during the early medieval,
medieval and post-medieval periods and the results of these have been discussed together
below.
The bulk of this activity (Phases 1 to 8) was early medieval in date with souterrain ware
recovered from phase 5 onwards. The excavated features included evidence for the creation
and maintenance of a site boundary (Phases 2 to 4), land drainage facilities and possible
agricultural or horticultural activity (Phases 2 to 5); varied occupation activity, which appears
to include small-scale industrial activity (e.g. metal and lignite working), as well as the partial
remains of structures (Phases 6 to 8) and the construction and use of a souterrain (Phases 7
to 8).
The earliest activity in the area related to a small number of truncated gullies, post-holes and
spreads which directly overlay, or cut into, the subsoil (Phase 1). These features were
followed by the excavation of a substantial enclosing ditch (Phase 2). It appears that the
initial ditch length within the excavated area was just 7m and terminated some 15m west of
the steep eastern scarp which forms the eastern boundary of the site. This ditch was U-
shaped measuring 2 to 2.5m in width, and 1 to 1.5m in depth and was accompanied by a
parallel U-shaped gully to its south (1.0m in width, and 0.5m in depth), and by a scarped
walkway (1.5m in width) along its northern (exterior) side. The walkway served to create a
level ground surface by removing some of the gradient upslope to the north. The function of
the parallel gully to the south of the ditch is unclear. It may have been intended as a slot
trench for a palisade but there was no evidence for this. It appears that the upcast soil
excavated for this enclosure was spread to the north and south of the ditch with the result
that there was no evidence for an associated bank.
When complete, this ditch may have enclosed the area to the south around the later round
tower and nineteenth century church. The only other excavated portion of an enclosure ditch
was uncovered in 1991 to the south of the church in the area of the modern road (Williams
1991, 1). This section of the ditch was not excavated, but it had a similar width (at 2.5 to
3m) to the ditch section excavated in 2005 (at 2 to 2.5m) and it may be part of the same
boundary feature. It was suggested that the initial boundary feature may have been D-
shaped, with an arcing ditch extending from the northeast of the site, curving westward and
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