2003:453 - ROUND ISLAND, Strangford Lough, Down

Round Island is located 0.5km from the eastern shore of Strangford Lough, 1.7km south-west of a major medieval site in Ardkeen townland. The island itself is roughly circular, measuring approximately 100m across and around 0.8ha in area. Its topography is relatively flat, apart from an unusual oval mound now heavily disturbed by rabbit burrows. A number of archaeological features and potential features are recorded on the island, including a cleared slipway, wall, stone setting and duck-decoy pond. An oval stone enclosure, 30m by 20m, lies to the east of the central mound.

A small excavation by Brian Williams in 1997 suggested that the mound may represent the core of a truncated drumlin, but some Bronze Age pottery was also recovered during the excavation and the nature of the features was not definitively established (Excavations 1997, No. 77). The mound itself is of reddish boulder clay overlain by beach-rolled pebbles which produced some bone and sherds of coarseware. A number of courses of Silurian shale boulders retaining a rough cairn were present and represented activity commensurate with the oval enclosure. Flint, coarse pottery, burnt bone and a hone stone were recovered from this feature.

A two-week season of excavation was undertaken in August and September 2003 to ascertain the nature of the mound and investigate the enclosure. Two trenches were opened during this work, Trench 1 across the mound and Trench 2 across the enclosure.

Trench 1, measuring 2m in width and 4m in length, was opened perpendicular to the longer axis of the mound, on the south-facing side. The removal of the sod and some topsoil revealed a stiff orange-brown clay at depths of less than 20mm. The removal of some 0.2m of this clay confirmed that it was naturally deposited.

Trench 2 was opened across the visible portion of the stone bank or wall of the enclosure and extended into the interior of the enclosure. It measured 13.5m in length and was 1m wide. Three stone features were recorded within the trench, comprising two wider features which were possibly banks or walls (C213 and C211) and a possible wall footing (C214).

Only the base of the outer enclosure wall (C213) survived in situ. It was some 4m in width and survived to a maximum height of 0.2m. It was of closely set boulders deposited directly onto the stiff boulder clay. A slightly less compact deposit of stones (C204) overlay C213 at the western end and was 1.2m in width and 0.2m deep. Subsequent deposits of stone seemed to represent collapse from this feature. A single sherd of pottery was recovered from the top of C213. The sherd is similar to others recovered during the excavation and appears to be Late Bronze Age in date.

The second stone feature (C211) appears to have been another bank or collapsed wall. This measured 1.9m in width at the base and was present to a height of 0.7m. Sherds of pottery, hammerstones, sawn antler and struck flint were recovered from this feature.

At 0.5m from the eastern end of the trench a third possible structural feature was identified. This was visible as a narrow stone footing, 0.6m in width, that crossed the trench. It consisted of a single course of closely set boulders and was present to a height of 0.3m. A silty loam deposit was present around this feature and finds of Late Bronze Age pottery, including a rim sherd, a hammerstone and burnt flint, were recovered from C214. Removal of the vegetation and sod had revealed a 7m-wide deposit of stones where the trench crossed C213, representing a series of phases of collapse (C203, C204, C207, C202 and C206).

A loose deposit of shingle and fine silt, grit and sand (C209) overlay the eastern end of C213 and was sealed by a later stone deposit (C207). This layer was 4m in length and up to 0.3m in depth. Finds from C206 included a number of sherds of pottery, struck flint, a small drilled stone and evidence of ironworking. Animal bone and shell were also recovered from this deposit. A deposit of similar shingle overlay the western end of C213. The stone deposit, C207, overlay C213 and C204 and sealed C209. It consisted of rounded and angular boulders. A furnace bottom was recovered from this deposit, along with quantities of animal bone and shell. A deposit of shingle, C210, overlay C207 and the inner enclosure wall, C211, and was in turn sealed by a layer of silty loam (C208), which sealed both C207 and C210. A discrete deposit of shell and bone was identified within C208 and extended into the southern section. A number of deposits of collapsed stone (probably from C213) also overlay C208, including deposits C203, C202 and C206. A deposit of shingle, C212, overlay the eastern side of C211 and the wall footing C214.

Despite the limited nature of the excavation in Trench 2, it appears that a structure of some significance is present on Round Island. The initial results of the excavation suggest that occupation and construction of the site began in the Late Bronze Age. Enclosures of similar size and date are well attested in the archaeological literature, such as Ballyveelish, Co. Tipperary (Doody 1987), Carrigillihy, Co. Cork (O’Kelly 1951), and Clonfinlough, Co. Offaly (Moloney 1993). The use of both natural and artificial islands for occupation is a feature of the settlement record from the Bronze Age (O’Sullivan 1998). Within Strangford Lough, Bronze Age finds have been recorded on Sketrick Island, which is close to the mainland, similar to Round Island (McCartan 2002, 54).

The presence of artefactual material of medieval date, such as glazed pottery, tanged iron knife blades and ironworking debris, indicates that at least one phase of later activity also took place. The extent and nature of this activity was not immediately apparent, possibly due to the limited scale of the excavation. The presence of ironworking debris overlying C207 and the presence of later phases of collapse (overlying C208) may hint at a possible medieval phase of rebuilding of the outer enclosure wall. It is hoped that a future programme of excavation work would clarify some of the issues with regard to the site.

References
Doody, M. 1987 Ballyveelish, Co. Tipperary. In R.M. Cleary, M.F. Hurley and E.A. Twohig (eds), Archaeological excavations on the Cork–Dublin gas pipeline (1981–82), 8–35. Cork.
McCartan, S. 2002 The coastal archaeology and history of Strangford Lough: prehistory. In T. McErlean, R. McConkey and W. Forsythe (eds), Strangford Lough: an archaeological survey of the maritime cultural landscape, 41–56. Belfast.
Moloney, A. 1993 Excavations at Clonfinlough, Co. Offaly. Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit Transactions 2. Dublin.
O’Kelly, M.J. 1951 An Early Bronze Age ringfort at Carrigillihy, Co. Cork. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 56, 69–86.
O’Sullivan, A. 1998 The archaeology of lake settlement in Ireland. Discovery Programme Monographs. Dublin.

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