County: Derry Site name: BALLYBRIEST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: SMR 45:4
Author: Declan Hurl, EHS, DoE(NI)
Site type: Megalithic tomb - court tomb
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 676335m, N 888593m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.739571, -6.814574
The encroachment of a quarry around a wedge tomb was the motivation for the excavation and removal of the monument with a view to re-erecting it nearby.
The capped portion of the tomb, or burial chamber, was found to contain a substantial layer of charcoal and burnt bone, within which were found large numbers of sherds of Beaker pottery from at least three pots. The remains of another small Beaker pot were found in the 'ante-chamber' near the mouth of the burial chamber.
Around the tomb were uncovered a kerb, the remains of a cairn, a stone-lined trough and a cobbled and kerbed platform. The uprights of the tomb were found to have been erected in a purposely dug pit which was backfilled prior to the positioning of the two capstones.
5–33 Hill Street, Belfast
