2003:2174 - CLONTURKLE, Fermanagh

A scheduled monument lies in the townlands of Clonturkle and Molly, some 176m above sea level, on top of a slight rise in the undulating hills overlooking the flat plain of lower Fermanagh. The monument consists of a roughly circular bank, 22m in diameter, encircling a flat area of raised bedrock. The internal area contained no evidence for structures. Externally the excavation and the two extended test-trenches (north–south and east–west across the site) showed that the bank had no associated ditch from which the construction material could have come. The site was relatively sterile, with only a few artefacts found: six pieces of Late Bronze Age pottery, a piece of D-shaped lignite bracelet (most probably of Late Bronze Age or Early Christian date), a retouched chert flake, two retouched flint flakes and a retouched flint scraper (all Bronze Age). The site did, however, contain five small token cremation deposits that were placed in natural depressions within the central area of the monument. They were not associated with any artefacts and therefore cannot yet be dated. A full osteoarchaeological report and radiocarbon determinations are under way at the time of writing.

A further feature uncovered was a sinkhole on the north-west corner of the site. It was 1.8m deep and led to an 11m-long cavern running north–south under the site. The sinkhole contained modern material, while the cavern displayed no evidence for human activity. This suggests that the sinkhole has only recently opened and was probably inaccessible in antiquity

This monument seems to be a Middle to Late Bronze Age ring-barrow. The burials within it were small, both in quantity and scale, which suggests it was not in use as a burial site for a prolonged period. The absence of artefacts of later date, or any hearths, implies that the site was not reused after its initial phase of activity.

Farset Enterprise Park, 638 Springfield Road, Belfast BT12 7DY