1996:007 - BALLYLUMFORD, BALLYCRONAN, ISLAND MAGEE, Antrim

As part of the Scotland to Northern Ireland Gas Pipeline project, a watching brief was carried out by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) on behalf of Premier Transco Ltd.

The watching brief recorded two areas of burnt mound material and a clay-lined trough and pit.

Feature [010] was a spread of burnt mound material lying in a waterlogged area at the base of Ballylumford Hill. It consists of a 0.12m-thick layer of charcoal and fire-cracked stones, spread over an area 17m long (east-west) and 4.5m at its widest point (north-south).

The spread of material extended into the southern baulk, outside of the construction corridor. No associated features were found. The thickness and spread of the material suggest that the monument has suffered from plough damage.

Feature [003] consisted of two elements, a rectangular clay-lined trough and a subcircular pit. The trough measured 1.75m by 1.1m and was 0.4m deep, with a 0.02m-thick clay lining on the southern, western and eastern sides. The single fill consisted of dark grey sandy clay with charcoal lumps and burnt, fire-cracked stones. Six worked flints were recovered from the fill, but these are thought to be residual. The pit was subcircular, 2.2m long, 1.5m wide and 0.6m deep, and was located at the northern end of the trough. It was flat-bottomed and contained the same fill as the trough.

To the south and east of [003] was feature [004], a semicircular strip of burnt, fire-cracked stones, 1 8m long, 1–1.5m wide and 0.03m deep. Occasional charcoal flecks were also present within the fill matrix. It lay partially under the southern baulk. No finds were recovered from the fill. No stratigraphic relationship could be established between [003] and [004], but the material was interpreted as burnt mound material which may have derived from activity associated with [003].

In addition, 325 worked flints were collected from the 3.6km-long stripped area. The circumstances of the watching brief meant that collecting all the lithics in the corridor was impractical, so a 3m-wide strip was field-walked along the entire construction area, giving a 10% sample of the total amount of lithics present.

Those collected lay on the surface of the stripped subsoil and were unrelated to any features. The flints were catalogued by field rather than individually plotted, owing to the constraints of time during the watching brief.

Post-excavation work will be carried out in 1997.