2000:0163 - MAGHERAMENAGH, Derry

This excavation was part of a process of ongoing monitoring and excavation over a period of several years, as a result of a housing development on land off Magheramenagh Park, Portrush. Excavations had been carried out in 1999 further to the north on the same development site (Excavations 1999, 38–40). The site lay in the extreme north-east of County Londonderry, on the southern outskirts of Portrush. The land under development sloped gradually down to the north, was relatively flat and was between 20m and 30m above sea level. The topsoil was a yellow/brown, sandy loam overlying a glacial till subsoil with varying levels of sandiness and basalt bedrock. Magheramenagh means ‘the middle plain’.

Previously uncovered archaeology on the site was multi-period, with elements dating to both the Neolithic and the Early Christian. A partially rock-cut souterrain c. 20m long with a curving main passage, entrance and two side chambers was uncovered on a rocky knoll in the north-eastern part of the field. To the south of this was a rectangular wall slot-built building, 8–10m long by 6m wide with an entrance on the south side. Related to this was a series of ash, charcoal and burnt sand layers. Underneath this was a series of post-holes forming part of a circular house, 8–9m in diameter. In the centre of this arc was another group of post-holes. This was the oldest structure on the site. The material relating to these structures was Western Neolithic pottery, flints and two broken porcellanite axes.

In the current programme, four major concentrations of archaeology were uncovered.

Souterrain
A souterrain was found, not located on a knoll or other eminence. The land around it was relatively flat but did slope away gradually to the east. Unlike the souterrain discovered in 1999, there was no obvious reason for its location on this spot. Like the souterrain to the north, there was no sign of a ringfort or ditched embankment around the site, and it must be concluded that the settlement was unenclosed.

The OS Memoirs did not place any souterrains in this townland, although they were very common in this general area. However, a now-lost souterrain was reported within the townland in the 1950s (SMR 3:23). Its description matched neither recently discovered site. The discovery of this second souterrain suggests that there were at least three souterrains in the townland, all appearing to relate to unenclosed sites.

Although it did not survive, it is clear that corbelling was used to roof the structure, which consisted of a 3.5m-long, 1m-wide, straight passage running east–west. The right-angled turn at the eastern end formed a passage measuring 6m by 0.6m. The passages were connected by a drop creep 0.5m in height leading down from the southern passage into the larger main chamber. This created a simple L-shaped souterrain with an entrance probably located somewhere along the narrow side passage. Some dating evidence came from the floor of the southern side passage as well as the main passage, in the form of sherds of undecorated souterrain ware pottery.

Ring-ditch
This feature was cut into a yellow/brown, very soft and easily disturbed sterile sand. It had an internal diameter of c. 3.2m and an external diameter of c. 4.5m. It was about 0.3m deep and had a width at the surface of the subsoil of 0.7m. The ditch was filled with stone packing and grey, washed-in sand. There were no artefacts and very little charcoal. The stone packing did not cover the trench bottom evenly, being most dense in the south and east and much more intermittent in the north-west in the vicinity of the post-holes. This suggested that something, possibly posts, prevented the stones from covering the middle two posts. The stones overlay the two outer post-holes.

Cut into the base of the ring-ditch in the north-western quadrant were four regularly spaced post-holes, the two inner being 0.6m deep and the two outer 0.4m deep. A true depth from the surface would have been 0.4m greater. Posts in these holes would be around 3m in height, with the two outer posts slightly less.

When built, the site was probably a shallow circular ditch some 0.5m in depth and up to 1m in width. A low bank would have probably surrounded this. There may have been a low mound in the centre containing the cremations. In the north-west quadrant were four evenly spaced posts about 3m in height, although the two inner posts are likely to have been taller. The setting sun would have cast shadows across the centre of the mound. The builders may have seen these as pathways or connections between this world and the next.

The stone packing in the ditch may have faced the bank, providing an inner ring, or may have been deliberately placed in the ditch bottom. It may have been a later addition, as it overlay at least two of the post-holes. It is considered to have been some part of the ritual as it was too concentrated in the ditch to have been dragged in by ploughing. This was more likely to scatter the stones than to concentrate them, as was demonstrated in the south-east corner. As there was no trace of any cremations, it was likely that they were in a low mound or laid in a shallow depression in the surface rather than dug into the ditch. This ring-ditch would have been a family burial place, with its builders living nearby, rather than a structure used by a whole tribe.

House?
Archaeology in the southernmost area took the form of a curving arc of stones in a ditch with a series of pits, post- and stake-holes to the west, covering an area of 30m2. On the eastern end of the site was a curving arc of tightly packed stones some 6m long, which appeared to be deliberate. This stone packing was c. 1m wide and was set in a steep-sided and flat-bottomed slot cut into the subsoil, 0.3m deep. Artefacts recovered included coarse undecorated potsherds, flint flakes and an end scraper. These appeared to date to the Neolithic period, as did all the artefacts from this area.

To the west of this arc was a series of pits, post- and stake-holes. A scattering of stake-holes occurred across the eastern end of the area, in the vicinity of the stone feature, but formed no recognisable pattern.

This may be a building of some sort, possibly a circular or oval house with a stone wall at its eastern end, supported in the other sides by post-holes. The artefacts found on the site appear to date it firmly to the Neolithic, especially a flint axe and an end scraper. The problem with this interpretation is that it is a peculiar way to build a house. It would be much more likely for a building to be constructed using either an all-stone footing or simple post-and-wattle construction. The necessity of using stone packing around posts or as a solid footing would be understandable if there was a differentiation in the nature of the soil across the house location, but this is not the case.

Pits
A series of pits covered an area of some 40m2. They were in a rough arc running from east to west, and ranged in size from c. 2m to c. 0.3m in diameter. They did not appear to form any pattern, so it was likely that they were the bases of a series of rubbish pits and fires. Overall depth would have been no more than 0.5m. Artefacts recovered were mainly flint, suggesting that the pits were prehistoric rather than Early Christian or later. As several pits cut each other, they could not have been in use at the same time. They were derived from a similar source, as it is inherently unlikely that people over a period of several thousand years would choose the one area to dig holes. The pits were probably a series of rubbish pits dug in the same area over a period of months or years rather than decades.

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