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

Antrim
southward (e.g. 2004-2005 section) and returning towards the southeast (e.g. 1991 section),
with the natural scarp of the eastern side of the promontory providing the eastern boundary
of the site (Nelis et. al 2007, 109). The extent of the boundary ditch at Armoy can only be
speculated but it may have measured around 50m-60m by c80m (Nelis et. al 2007, 111).
Contemporary with this initial enclosure ditch were a small number of gullies and pits located
to the south (and therefore within the interior) of the enclosure. In the period which followed
(Phase 3), a complex series of quite substantial gullies were uncovered which lay upslope of
the enclosing ditch and formed a drainage network that eventually fed into the main ditch. At
this stage, the ditch itself began to silt up considerably, and elsewhere occasional pits and
gullies were found to the south and east of the ditch. Few artefacts were recovered from
these levels, though there was abundant evidence for organic remains were recovered from
the base of the ditch.
The enclosure ditch was then comprehensively re-cut once it had substantially silted-up
(Phase 4). The re-cut was generally V-shaped and the ditch appears to have been extended
extended some 7m towards the east, thereby terminating some 8m west of the eastern
scarp. The reason for this gap in the enclosure ditch in phase 2 and phase 4 recutting is
unclear though it may indicate an entrance or causeway allowing access to the site. Little
evidence for the form of entrances to ecclesiastical sites has been uncovered during
excavation elsewhere and indeed, beyond the gateway structure at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow
(Nelis et. al 2007, 107-08). The ditch then appears to have been open to refuse and may
have filled up again over a short period of time. The initial silting up appears to have
contained largely sterile fills but the fill in the later Phase contained a greater component of
occupation detritus, including animal bone and charcoal flecks, perhaps indicating a greater
degree of occupation activity in the vicinity of the ditch at this time. Few artefacts relate to
Phases 1 to 4, and it is thought that this period of activity relates to the 5th to later 7th
centuries AD, during the early medieval Patrician foundation of the church and before the
development of souterrain ware.
The phase 1-4 gullies and ditches were sealed beneath an extensive (topsoil) deposit,
perhaps resulting from horticultural/agricultural activity across the whole of the excavated
area Phase 5). There was with limited occupation evidence from this phase. After this deposit
fully infilled the early ecclesiastical enclosure, the site witnessed a busy and intensive period
of activity (Phase 6), particularly in the western part of the excavation area. There is no
evidence for a definite ecclesiastical enclosure after the infilling of the ditch and therefore the
bulk of the occupation evidence at Armoy appears to have occured after this early ditch had
become irrelevant. The occupation activity from Phase 6 consisted of scattered evidence for
structures surviving in the form of gullies, wall footings and cobbled, paved and metalled
surfaces, as well as stone boundary markers, and numerous episodes of small-scale
craft/industrial activity (e.g. informal fire-settings and furnaces and a lignite working area).
The informal fire-settings from this phase of activity contained burnt spreads of clay and
charcoal and were most frequently found in the remaining dip of the ditch and its vicinity.
These lacked formality but commonly yielded slag related to metal-working and, possibly,
glass-working. Once these fires were extinguished, there seems to have been no attempt to
cover the debris, and the charred material in many cases was spread across the surrounding
area. It is hoped that the radiocarbon dating of the charcoal and burnt material from these
features can refine the chronology of Phase 6. These fire-settings were found close to
ephemeral structural remains consisting of patches of metalling and cobbling, as well as
traces of gullies and occasional wall footings. Only elements of structures were uncovered
with no footprints of any building fully identified and no evidence for any floor deposits or
occupation deposits.
However two discrete occupation activity areas were identified: the first included partially
surviving structural remains to the north of the excavated area (outside the now largely
infilled enclosure ditch) that were associated with specialised lignite working debitage. The
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