County: Donegal Site name: DRUMHINNY LOWER (Site 9)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 97E0356
Author: Sylvia Desmond
Site type: Habitation site
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 594552m, N 877496m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.645629, -8.084393
This site was revealed during the stripping of the topsoil for the Donegal Bypass. Initial assessment of the site revealed a possible hearth and areas of burning.
Three main cuttings were opened. The site had been severely disturbed by tree roots, making the identification of archaeological features difficult. However, a linear feature, identified as a shallow ditch, ran in a north-west to south-east direction across the southern portion of the site. This feature was 1m wide and had a total length of 6.2m, with a depth of 0.55m. The fill of the ditch was completely sterile, with the exception of a piece of timber 0.6m long and supported at either end by a stone and a piece of wood, placed deliberately underneath the timber. To the east and west of the ditch was a series of stake-holes and small pits, 21 in all, possibly representing the remains of windbreaks, or a light wooden covering over a portion of the ditch. Several areas of charcoal were obvious to the immediate south-east of the ditch, and a small pit was revealed under one charcoal spread. Further to the north of the ditch a rough metalled surface was revealed measuring 2.2m x 2.6m.
A hearth was revealed within the central area of Cutting 2, measuring 1.6m x 1.4m, consisting of a semicircle of stones, resting on a bed of charcoal and peaty soil.
Three field drains were revealed in the northern section of the site running in a north-west to south-east direction and resting on the natural subsoil. It should be noted that the northern portion of the site was covered by peat before the excavation and that the whole site was extremely wet.
Three phases of activity appear to be represented on the site. The earliest phase may be the large spreads of charcoal, associated with the linear feature, together with the stake-holes, pits and nearby metalled surface. These features appear to represent a possible semi-industrial or domestic activity. A second phase of activity appears to be represented by the hearth, which rests on a thin layer of peat, and the final phase appears to be the insertion of the three stone field drains.
No dates have yet been ascertained for the site as radiocarbon dating is still being carried out, and no finds were recovered from the site; however, it may be possible to suggest that the differing periods of activity date from prehistoric up to post-medieval times.
It is important to note that the above site is just one of over twenty, the majority prehistoric, revealed during the stripping of the topsoil for the Donegal Bypass. All of these sites are concentrated in an area of only 7km.
25 Rowan Hall, Millbrook Court, Milltown, Dublin 6
