1980-84:0075 - TONBANE GLEBE, Donegal

In October 1983 quarrying of an oval sandhill c. 30 x 17m, just above the shore of the Fanad peninsula destroyed the major part of an occupation site which, apparently, had extended over the whole of the site. Disturbed human (approx. age 12-16.5 years) and animal bone (cattle, horse, sheep/goat) and several sherds of ‘everted rim’ cooking ware, together with part of the upper stone of a rotary quern, were revealed at the site, along with quantities of shells, burnt organic remains and burnt stones. Because of the destruction, a small rescue excavation subsequently failed to identify any features although finds matching the loose material were recovered from the remains of the single occupation layer which had survived around the rim of the site. Some of the pottery, goat bones, and the quern fragment suggest a late medieval date for the site.