County: Antrim Site name: DUNTURKY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/00/51
Author: Donald Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 731821m, N 893149m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.768999, -5.951344
An archaeological assessment was carried out on a site at Dunturky townland, Ballynure, Co. Antrim. The site was identified during field-walking carried out as part of the archaeological assessment of the A8 Larne Road Improvement Scheme. It is situated along the proposed line of the Ballynure Link Road and was described as ‘uneven slight bumps on the surface of the gently sloping ground (under grass). These appeared to extend over an area very roughly 30m across, on a slightly flattened part of the slope, and might represent the remains of an archaeological site. They were too slight for certain identification.’
The testing was carried out to determine the levels and extent of archaeological deposits on the site. Two trenches measuring 5m x 2m were excavated by hand to natural strata. Trench 1 was excavated across one of the low banks on the upper, flat portion of the hill, and Trench 2 was excavated into the side of a small, irregularly shaped mound on the crest of the small ridge. The two excavated trenches confirmed that the slight, uneven bumps on the site were formed by naturally outcropping bedrock, which was exposed directly below the sod and topsoil. No evidence of archaeological stratigraphy was uncovered. The recovery of two flint scrapers from the topsoil in Trench 2 may suggest the presence of a prehistoric site nearby. Monitoring of all groundworks associated with the construction of the road scheme should be sufficient to allow for the identification and recording of any unknown sites.
43 Downshire Road, Newry, Co. Down, BT34 1EE
