2006:56 - Castle Park, Antrim

The archaeological recording of open drainage trenches/channels in the vicinity of Castle Carra/Rockport Lodge, Cushendun, Co. Antrim, revealed that the trenches had been largely excavated through topsoil and subsoil deposits. Only F101, a peaty clay, seems likely to be of any archaeological potential. F101 extended for c. 8.4m (east–west) and for at least 5m north–south, being encountered in Trenches 1 and 2. It was not encountered in Trench 3, c. 7m to the north of Trench 2, and its southern limit remains unknown. Its precise nature and date also remain unclear, given that no artefactual material was recovered during this phase of archaeological works. Indeed, the only artefact recovered during works was a piece of struck flint identified within the upcast spoil to the northern side of Trench 3, near its eastern limit. It seems unlikely, therefore, that this artefact was originally associated with F101 and it should be considered an unstratified topsoil find.