2005:031 - RATHLIN ISLAND: Craigmacagan, Antrim

An excavation was carried out at Craigmacagan townland on Rathlin Island in June 2005. The work was carried out by the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, Queen’s University Belfast, in partnership with the Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Ulster, Coleraine. The work was part of the CMA maritime survey of the island and was funded by EHS: Built Heritage.

In summer 2004 the CMA carried out an inspection of the site at Craigmacagan, which had been producing archaeological material. The hillside to the rear of an agricultural shed had been excavated back to facilitate the building, and the section face (c. 8m long) was exposing a large amount of archaeological material. Flint, porcellanite chippings and pottery were collected, and the finds seemed to indicate a Neolithic date for the site. Local people also reported finding archaeological material on or near the site.

It was proposed to carry out a limited excavation at the site in order to recover finds from their archaeological context, and so that any structures or features present could be recorded before they were destroyed due to erosion of the section. A single trench 5.5m by 2m, orientated north–south, was opened after the removal of a large amount of material that had been deposited on the hill during clearance for the building of the shed.
The trench yielded a number of archaeological layers, but no actual structures. A large number of finds were recovered—porcellanite rough-outs and chippings, both decorated and undecorated pottery and worked flint. Two fragments of pitchstone were also found. The layers and artefacts may represent material dumped on to the site.

School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast