County: Antrim Site name: CAHERTY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 33:39 Licence number: AE/05/144
Author: Cormac McSparron, Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast.
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 714846m, N 904793m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.877737, -6.210381
This site was located at 17 Lisnamurrican Road, Caherty, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, within an enclosure recorded on the first-edition OS map. An evaluation was carried out to assess the possibility of archaeological remains being disturbed during subsequent development at the site. The topsoil had already been stripped to subsoil, without archaeological supervision, prior to this investigation. The development site, which measured 14m by 10m, was restripped by the developer, under supervision, using a mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless ‘sheugh’ bucket.
No archaeological features were found after this development site was restripped. It is possible that there were features on the site before the development but that the topsoil-stripping had destroyed them. However, it is likely that prior development at the site, in the 19th and 20th centuries, had already destroyed any archaeological remains. Two struck flint flakes were discovered in a modern drain uncovered during the evaluation; however, stray finds of struck flints are common in County Antrim and are, of themselves, of little archaeological significance.
