County: Antrim Site name: MAGHERALAVE/AGHALISLANE/MAGHERALANE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/04/165
Author: Ruairí Ó Baoill, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 725424m, N 866397m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.530416, -6.062152
As part of the Lisburn Area Plan, it is proposed to develop a number of areas for new housing and green or recreation spaces. In all, 145ha of land will be developed, the first phase of this being the construction of the North Lisburn Feeder Road.
Monitoring of topsoil-stripping of the line of the road and the manual excavation of archaeological features were undertaken. This work commenced on 22 October 2004 and is still ongoing at the time of writing. To date, a variety of structures and discrete archaeological features from various periods have been excavated. These include: a Neolithic house with associated hearth; a Bronze Age round house with splayed porch; five fulachta fiadh; a Bronze Age industrial site; Early Christian ditches and a possible Early Christian rectangular structure; and the foundations of a 17th-century structure (possibly a farm).
Dozens of discrete archaeological features of various periods have been excavated along the line of the road, including pits, hearths, spreads, field boundaries and drains.
As the monitoring of topsoil-stripping and excavation of exposed features are still ongoing, a more detailed account of the many discoveries on this road scheme will be included in the summary for Excavations 2005.
Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30-50 Distillery Street, Belfast, BT12 5BJ
