1990:007 - HAUGHEY'S FORT, Tray, Armagh

Further excavations at Haughey's Fort (see excavations 1989, 12) have now confirmed that it is a trivallate hillfort. The inner ditch marks a circumference of about 150m by 140m and measures 3.2m across and 2.8m in depth. The bottom metre of the ditch was waterlogged and yielded a considerable quantity of animal bones, primarily cattle, then pig, with very little sheep/goat, dog and horse. The middle ditch, situated about 55m downslope of the interior ditch, marks an area of 280m by 250m, and measures about 2.7m across and 2.3m in depth. The maximum dimensions of the outermost ditch are approximately 340m by 310m. The ditch measured about 4.8m across and 2.3m deep.

Dating evidence from the outer ditches was sparse although a quantity of apparently Late Bronze Age coarse ware, a lignite bracelet fragment and a boar tooth pendant were recovered from the fill of the outer ditch. Charcoal samples from the outer ditches have been submitted for radiocarbon dating.

An additional trench of slightly over 200 sq metres was opened in the interior of the site to the east of the area exposed in 1989. It revealed approximately 100 archaeological features. These comprised:
1.A number of very large pits, depths exceeding one metre, filled with charcoal, carbonized barley and hazel nut shells, burnt stones, burnt bone, some pottery and, in two cases, bronze artefacts;
2. A number of postholes, some which would appear to be on the same alignment as a 'stockade' discovered in 1989;
3. Many small pits with dark soil, charcoal and occasionally artefacts.

Finds so far recovered from the pits suggest that the occupation of Haughey's Fort extended beyond the limits of the Late Bronze Age as previously reported. These include a presumably Early Bronze Age cup-and-ring marked stone as well as fragments of iron (a corroded strap handle?) and glass beads that appear to be consistent with an Iron Age date. So far the evidence for Iron Age activity appears to be confined to only one small portion of the site. Typical Late Bronze Age finds include Coarse Ware sherds, several fragments of bronze ornaments, a number of very small gold beads and gold wire, glass beads, quern stones, and a stone bracelet fragment.

At present, the dimensions of Haughey's Fort are slightly larger than its neighbour, Navan Fort, and the discovery of Iron Age material suggests that for at least a short period, the two sites may have been contemporary with one another. A large quantity of soil samples, extracted from the pit features in the interior of the site and routine bulk samples from the ditches are still being processed (flotation and sorting) in the Archaeology Department at Queen's and the recovery of further artefacts, especially fragments of gold and glass beads, is expected to continue. The excavation was financed by the 'excavation fund' of the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, QUB and by a grant from the Historic Monuments and Buildings Branch, DOE(NI). A preliminary report of the 1989-1990 season is published in Emania 8 (1991).