1996:015 - CAVANAPOLE, Armagh

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Armagh Site name: CAVANAPOLE

Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 11:11 Licence number:

Author: Norman Crothers, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.

Site type: Industrial site

Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)

ITM: E 678134m, N 843502m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.334243, -6.798596

Rescue excavations were undertaken in Cavanapole townland, Co. Armagh, immediately west of an extensive limestone quarry, during February and March 1996 in advance of an extension to the quarry. The Ordnance Survey 6" map shows the site of a fort within the new area to be quarried. The fort was not located in a geophysical survey, and manual excavation of a strip across the supposed site showed it to be merely a local outcrop of limestone.

An area of approximately 1000m2 was cleared by machine, under strict archaeological supervision. Agricultural activity from late medieval to modern times had virtually removed all traces of archaeological deposits, but hand-excavation of some areas did reveal several archaeological features. These took the form of stone spreads and, more importantly, the remains of a wide, shallow ditch in the north-west of the site.

Finds recovered, the vast majority from the ditch, include a sherd of souterrain ware, ironworking slag, crucible fragments, a fragment of tuyere, a small piece of amber, and several metal objects including a complete ring-pin, with the ring articulate.

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