County: Derry Site name: BALLYNASHALLOG
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/02/54
Author: Rick Schulting and John Ó Néill, c/o Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, Queen’s University
Site type: Habitation site
Period/Dating: Neolithic (4000BC-2501 BC)
ITM: E 645882m, N 921286m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.036984, -7.282232
An excavation was undertaken before development relating to the new Thornhill College on the outskirts of Derry city. The area was c. 200m from the site of Paul Logue’s excavations at Ballynashallog in 2000 (Excavations 2000, No. 158, AE/00/21), which revealed a rich series of archaeological deposits of presumed Early Neolithic date. Proximity to the previous excavation, as well as the existence of two possible circular enclosures (SMR 14A:10, 14A:11) noted on an aerial photograph and from the results of geophysical survey, suggested that further significant evidence of prehistoric occupation would be recovered.
Twelve trenches were opened between June and August 2002. They measured up to 20m by 10m and were positioned across the cropmark features. The excavation did not reveal much of archaeological significance. No trace of the putative cropmark sites was found, and the geophysical results seemed to reflect only natural features and the abundant stone and ceramic drains that criss-crossed the field. Aside from a quantity of post-medieval ceramics and glass, only two sherds of prehistoric pottery and a small amount of worked flint were recovered, mainly from topsoil contexts. One trench revealed a knapping area that was more or less intact, with abundant flint and quartz micro-debitage, in possible association with a thin charcoal layer. A number of flint tools (a leaf-shaped projectile fragment and hollow scrapers) indicated Neolithic activity, but the area is clearly peripheral to the main site excavated in 2000.
Belfast BT7 1NN
