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Antrim<br />

Ballypalady, Co. Antrim<br />

Early Medieval Settlement Enclosures.<br />

Grid Refs: J26537831 (32653/37831) & J26588733 (32658/38733)<br />

SMR No. ANT 051:015; ANT 051:016<br />

Excavation Licence: N/A<br />

Excavation Duration/Year: June – July 1957.<br />

Site Director: D. M. Waterman (Historic Monuments Branch, Ministry <strong>of</strong> Finance).<br />

<strong>The</strong> site consists <strong>of</strong> a cluster <strong>of</strong> enclosures. Ballypalady 2 (ANT 051:015), an approximately<br />

D-shaped trivallate enclosure, and Ballypalady 3 (ANT 051:016), a bivallate enclosure (Fig.<br />

12).<br />

<strong>The</strong> inner ditch <strong>of</strong> Ballypalady 2 had been subjected to at least two re-cuttings; and the<br />

ditches between the outer banks had also been re-cut. Two buildings – a circular house; and<br />

a stone-and-timber rectangular structure – were uncovered in the interior (Fig. 13). <strong>The</strong><br />

circular post-built house was approximately 7m in diameter, but had no associated hearth or<br />

occupation debris, suggesting that the original floor surface had been lost. <strong>The</strong> stone-andtimber<br />

structure was interpreted as a byre, however a large number <strong>of</strong> souterrain ware<br />

sherds, two glass beads and the stem <strong>of</strong> a bronze pin were found in the occupation debris<br />

associated with this building. It has been argued, on typological grounds, to be later than the<br />

circular house.<br />

A series <strong>of</strong> storm-water gullies drained the surface <strong>of</strong> the interior. <strong>The</strong>se contained patches <strong>of</strong><br />

carbonised wood, an occasional sherd <strong>of</strong> souterrain ware and fragmentary animal teeth.<br />

<strong>The</strong> entrance to Ballypalady 3 was cobbled, and traces <strong>of</strong> a dry-stone walled structure were<br />

found within the interior. A few sherds <strong>of</strong> souterrain ware were recovered from between this<br />

structure and the inner face <strong>of</strong> the bank.<br />

Fig. 12: Plan <strong>of</strong> Enclosure Group at Ballypalady (after Waterman 1972).<br />

22

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