County: Donegal Site name: TORY ISLAND
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0511
Author: Audrey Gahan, ADS
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Neolithic (4000BC-2501 BC)
ITM: E 585680m, N 946391m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.262600, -8.216800
No archaeological conditions had been placed on the development of a primary care centre with a surrounding perimeter wall overlooking the harbour, and works were under way when ADS Ltd were contacted by the North-Western Health Board to inspect remains of a possible archaeological nature which had been identified. An initial inspection of the area indicated that coastal erosion had led to the exposure of an area of burning with associated deposits of beach-rolled pebbles and some heat-shattered stones.
On the basis of this, a further assessment was undertaken. Four trenches were excavated, mechanically and manually, three along the line of the proposed perimeter wall and the fourth in the area of the proposed septic tank. A large quantity of pottery sherds, identified as being of middle Neolithic date (Anna Brindley, pers. comm.), were recovered from a layer of black silty soil which had a maximum depth of 0.42m. Work continued on the site in early 2002, and will be reported on in next year’s bulletin.
Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30–50 Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ
