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

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Tyrone<br />

Killyliss, Co. Tyrone<br />

Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.<br />

Grid Ref: H41816101 (24181/36101)<br />

SMR No: TYR 050:007<br />

Excavation Licence: N/A<br />

Excavation Duration/Year: August – September 1982.<br />

Site Directors: R.J. Ivens (Queen’s University, Belfast).<br />

<strong>The</strong> site consisted <strong>of</strong> a sub-rectangular enclosure (approximately 42m in diameter) with an<br />

external counterscarp bank, set on top <strong>of</strong> a small drumlin. Excavation was required as the site<br />

was threatened by a farm improvement scheme.<br />

<strong>The</strong> interior <strong>of</strong> the site had been damaged by subsequent agricultural activity, resulting in<br />

many truncated or substantially destroyed features (Fig. 292). Several small gullies, sealed by<br />

the inner enclosure bank, indicated that the site may have been occupied prior to the<br />

construction <strong>of</strong> the enclosure. A substantial trench (0.9m deep) encircled most <strong>of</strong> the interior.<br />

This feature was sealed by early medieval occupation layers, and has been interpreted as a<br />

possible palisade trench associated with the earlier occupation, or an early drain. An area <strong>of</strong><br />

cobbling and a single stakehole were found in the interior <strong>of</strong> the enclosure; and a stonepacked<br />

gully and associated postholes were interpreted as the remains <strong>of</strong> a small roundhouse<br />

or hut (Fig. 293). Examination <strong>of</strong> the remains from a large pit just to the south <strong>of</strong> this house<br />

indicated the presence <strong>of</strong> human whipworm eggs, suggesting that this feature may have<br />

acted as a latrine pit. A shallow gully surrounding this pit may indicate that the latrine was<br />

contained within a structure <strong>of</strong> some sort.<br />

One <strong>of</strong> the most enigmatic features on site was a small clay platform, which dated<br />

stratigraphically to the early medieval period. This platform appears to have been constructed<br />

to house a clay-lined trench (1.85m wide and 0.45m deep) which has evidence for structural<br />

timbers and postholes. This feature has been interpreted as an ‘above-ground souterrain’, or<br />

at least an earth-covered feature which served a similar purpose.<br />

Excavations on the ditch and banks revealed methods <strong>of</strong> construction – the inner bank<br />

appears to have been built by a series <strong>of</strong> work-gangs; and the ditch appears originally to<br />

have been fitted with a wattle lining. <strong>The</strong> waterlogged conditions <strong>of</strong> the ditch meant that<br />

various organic materials survived from the early medieval occupation phase. <strong>The</strong>se included<br />

artefacts (44 fragments <strong>of</strong> leather which seemed to mainly come from several shoes) as well<br />

as the remnants <strong>of</strong> a split-rail and wattle fence (which was assumed to have originally<br />

surmounted the inner bank before collapsing into the ditch) (Fig. 294).<br />

About 30 sherds <strong>of</strong> souterrain ware were found on site, the majority <strong>of</strong> which (28) were from<br />

a single vessel. <strong>The</strong>se were discovered in a context which pre-dated the construction <strong>of</strong> the<br />

banks and ditches, suggesting that the earlier occupation <strong>of</strong> the site also took place during<br />

the early medieval period. Two iron knives were found in the early medieval contexts, and a<br />

short iron sword was recovered from the latrine pit.<br />

655

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