County: Down Site name: BALLINTAGGERT/LISNAGONNELL
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/04/55
Author: Simon Large, Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Burnt spread, Burial, Habitation site, Hearth and Structure
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 709991m, N 841992m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.314803, -6.309529
This licence was one of three issued to monitor and excavate a road development, from Loughbrickland, south, to Beechhill. The total distance was 9.5km with an additional 0.5km of side-arm excavations. As this development paralleled much of the existing A1, the development width varied between 30m and 100m. The work extended over a period of one year.
This licence was issued ahead of the monitored topsoil-stripping of this development and also covered all smaller investigations and excavations for the entire development. There were two subsequent licences issued, AE/04/77 (No. 421, Excavations 2004) and AE/05/14 (to be reported on in the 2005 bulletin), for two substantial sites identified during topsoil removal.
The monitoring was a mixture of test-trenching (ahead of total stripping) and total topsoil removal. This resulted in the excavation of a disturbed fulacht fiadh, provisionally dated to the later Bronze Age. A large burnt spread was excavated, also two possible token burials, undated, from the same area. Two possible habitation sites, both provisionally dated to the Bronze Age, were excavated. A small figure-of-eight hearth was provisionally dated late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. A post-medieval barn and associated dwelling house were fully recorded prior to their demolition.
Post-excavation work is currently ongoing.
Farset Enterprise Park, 638 Springfield Road, Belfast BT12 7DY
