County: Donegal Site name: BAYLET (2)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DG038-052--- Licence number: 03E0338
Author: Peter C. Woodman and N.J. Milner
Site type: Midden
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 633944m, N 922686m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.050517, -7.468801
During the excavations at Shell Midden 1, an outlying test-pit to the north and about 20m away from the escarpment uncovered a second midden, also buried below a considerable depth of hill wash.
Excavations in 2003 mainly concentrated on opening a larger trench in the vicinity of the previous year’s test-pit. The size of this trench (2m by 4m) was somewhat limited by the depth of the hill wash. The excavations of this main trench, I-F/7–8, revealed the following sequence. Layers 1–3 consisted of up to 1m of topsoil and a thick layer of compacted hill wash. The topsoil contained a number of struck flint flakes, including a convex scraper. Some flint artefacts were also found within the hill wash. Layer 4 was a black layer up to 0.1m thick. Layers 5–7 represented the shell midden, which contained some lenses of dark soil and burning. In places the midden was up to 0.4m thick, though it appeared to thin to the north. These layers produced a number of fragments of pottery and animal bone. A number of depressions were cut into the surface of the midden. These were filled with a soft dark soil and in some cases could be interpreted as stake-holes. Layer 8 was the subsoil. No traces of occupation were found between the midden base and the subsoil.
Two sets of test-pits were used to establish the extent of the second midden. One pair, SR/7 and ON/7, was placed between the two known middens. SR/7 revealed that Midden 2 began approximately 6m north of the limit of Midden 1 and confirmed the absence of midden material in the intervening space immediately north of Midden 1. ON/7, which was located towards the main trench, revealed that the midden was banked up against a slope and in this area was up to 0.7m thick. Both these test-pits produced traces of burning, while ON/7 contained pottery and animal bones.
It is apparent that the second, probably Later Neolithic, midden lay within a hollow and was banked up against its southern edge. This edge formed the beginning of a small ridge that divided the two sites. It is unclear if the clear area between the middens is a reflection of prehistoric activity or a product of the 19th-century quarrying, which is known to have removed much of the once very extensive shell midden.
A further line of test-pits was placed 16m to the east of the main area of excavation. These pits confirmed the presence of a layer of midden material up to 0.3m in depth and, based on prior investigations, it can be assumed that traces of the midden still survive for some distance even further east.
It has been decided that further exploration of the sites could be best advanced through a geophysical survey of the area.
Department of Archaeology, University College Cork and Department of Archaeology, University of Newcastle
