2007:54 - Brokerstown Village, Knockmore, Antrim

The material uncovered can be divided into fifteen distinct areas.
Area 1 was a Bronze Age circular ditch with an opening on its west side. The east side of the feature lay outside the bounds of the development and may survive under the Brokerstown Road. A modern road ran north-east/south-west through the middle of the feature. The ditch had a circumference of 35m, a width of 1–1.5m and a maximum depth of 0.6m. Internally there were four stake-holes and two small pits. A structural purpose for these features could not be identified. A number of sherds of poorly made Bronze Age pottery were recovered from this feature.
The features in Area 2 appeared to be the badly truncated remains of two Early Christian post-defined houses; they were associated with some external post-holes and a gully. Both houses were defined by shallow post-holes, 0.3–0.6m in diameter, with a maximum depth of 0.35m. The north-east house had no post-holes where one might have expected to find them in the south-east corner; the south-west house lacked post-holes on the north-east and south-east sides. It is unclear if post-holes were ever present; it may be that truncation has removed evidence for post-holes in these areas. Both structures measured 5m2 and had a central hearth. Two lines of post-holes led off the north-west edge of the north-east house. These may have been part of a fence or possibly a second section of the house. Ten metres west of this house and with the same alignment was a shallow gully with a post-hole at its north-east terminal. The function of this feature was unclear.
Area 3 was the most significant area of archaeology within the development. It comprised an Early Christian rath and field system. A large quantity of souterrain ware was recovered from the features within this area.
The rath was formed from two enclosures. The main rath enclosure was 35m in diameter and was defined by a 4m-wide ditch which varied from 1.8m deep at the north and west to 0.5m deep at the south. The entrance to the rath was located in the south-east and had two phases of construction. In the first phase the entrance was 1.5m wide and was formed by leaving a baulk of material in place during the original digging of the ditch and then laying a rough metalled surface over this baulk. The second phase saw the ditch to the east side of the entrance backfilled with rocks, widening the entrance to 4m.
Located within this enclosure were the remains of a house. It measured 6.5m2 and had an entrance to the south. The eastern and western sides of the house comprised two 6.5m-long linear slot-trenches, which were 0.1m wide and 0.1m deep. The southern side had two short linear slot-trenches, 2.5m long, 0.1m wide and 0.1m deep. These slots ran perpendicular to the southern ends of the eastern and western slots and each terminated at a large stone-packed post-hole. These post-holes defined the entrance into the house. The northern side of the house had no surviving structural elements, although this may have been caused by truncation of the feature. Within the body of the house were four large post-holes, each 0.2m in diameter and 0.3m deep. These four post-holes formed a square and were spaced 3.3m apart. In the centre of the house were the remains of a hearth, 1.5m long, 1m wide and 0.1m deep. A series of stake-holes surrounded the hearth. These may have been a draft screen or temporary support structure. A circular drainage gully, 10.3m in diameter, partially enclosed the house. This drainage gully was between 0.5m and 1m wide and 0.1–0.3m deep. It is likely that it was designed to divert water shed from the roof and prevent this and other water flowing into the structure. On the west side of the house was a secondary external structure, 3m wide (north–south) and 4m long. Its east side was defined by a line of post-holes which ran between the western wall slot of the house and the surrounding circular ditch. The other three sides lay to the west of the circular drainage gully and were defined by a combination of wall slots and post-holes. There was no indication of an entranceway linking the house and this extension so it must have been accessed externally. The drainage gully ran through this structure, suggesting it must have been ‘open’ in construction. Possibly this structure might have been intended to shelter animals; the circular drain at this point was significantly deeper than at other points along its circumference. During excavation it was noted that it remained water-filled long after other parts of the site dried up, so it could perhaps have functioned as a water trough.
To the east of and adjoining the main rath ditch was a smaller enclosure. This enclosure measured 25m north to south by 16m and was defined by a section of the rath’s external ditch and a shallower ditch. This ditch was 2m wide and 1m deep to the north and gradually reduced in depth until it was 0.5m wide and 0.5m deep to the south. The principal feature within this smaller enclosure was a curved ditch which ran between the east edge of the rath ditch and the north-east edge of the smaller enclosure ditch. It was 1m wide and 0.6m deep, enclosing an area with an internal diameter of 10m in the north-west corner of the smaller enclosure. Several large pits were also uncovered within this area. The function of these was unclear.
Immediately north of the smaller enclosure was a crescent-shaped ditch which ran parallel to the enclosure ditch for 15m. It was 1m wide and had a maximum depth of 0.6m. The souterrain ware recovered from this feature was of a substantially later date than that recovered from the rest of the rath features, and we can assume that this feature was a later addition. Its purpose was unclear but it may represent an attempt to enclose a greater area than that originally encompassed by the smaller enclosure. However, if this is the case, this attempt was not completed.
Several Early Christian field boundaries surrounded the rath. These field boundaries were between 0.5m and 1m wide and 0.5m deep. To the north a field boundary began 2m north of the junction between the main rath ditch and the smaller enclosure. It was 60m long and curved east to west where it met the western boundary of the development area. A second field boundary ran for 30m north-north-east from the north-east corner of this boundary. It is possible that the western boundary of development here is also a historic field boundary. There was a small gap of 1.5m between the two ditches, possibly an entrance gap. Ten metres south of the rath was an early post-medieval track running east–west (see below). Running parallel to the south edge of this track and in places partially beneath it was a linear Early Christian field boundary. The boundary ran for 120m across the length of the site. South of this boundary and in line with the entrance of the rath was a curving field boundary, 40m long and arcing from west to east.
Area 4 was an early post-medieval track which ran for 120m west to east across the extent of the site. It was formed from layers of stone, was 6m wide and had a maximum depth of 0.3m. It ran parallel to and partially over an Early Christian field boundary. This indicated a probable continuity of boundaries from the Early Christian through to the early post-medieval period.
Four large irregular pits were located in Area 5, three of which lay below the early post-medieval track. The pits varied in size from 0.9m long by 0.8m wide by 0.37m deep to 2.8m long by 1.8m wide by 0.95m deep. These features probably date to the Early Christian period. One of the pits contained an almost complete souterrain ware vessel.
Area 6 contained a single isolated pit and two linear ditches, one running east–west the other north–south. The pit was 0.45m long, 0.23m wide and 0.27m deep. It lay 8m north of the two ditches and cannot be directly related to them. The east–west ditch was 4.4m long, 0.35–1.05m wide and 0.54m deep. It terminated 0.3m from the north–south ditch. The north–south ditch was 3.8m long, 1m wide and 0.2m deep. Twelve small post-/stake-holes were excavated at the western end of the ditch. Some of these stake-holes were cut into the upper layers of the ditch, representing later activity.
Area 7 had a large rectangular pit which had a second shallow pit cut into its south-west corner. The large pit was 2.6m long, 1.5m wide and 1m deep and the shallow pit was 1.5m long, 1m wide and 0.05m deep. A large piece of wood was recovered from the base of the large pit. It was dendrochronologically dated to 161169 years. This places the pit in the early post-medieval period and means that the pits were quite likely to be contemporary with the construction of the track.
Area 8 was a burnt mound and probably dated to the Bronze Age. It survived as a spread of burnt, cracked stones, 5m long, 3m wide and 0.2m deep, overlying two pits. One pit was 1.7m in diameter and 0.27m deep. There was evidence of burning in its base and it may have been a hearth. The other pit was roughly rectangular, 2.44m long, 1.4m wide and 0.62m deep. It had a wood-lined base and was filled with the same material as the spread overlying it. As with most burnt mounds it was found beside water, in this case a small river which lay immediately to the north.
Area 9 was a pit of the type usually associated with a burnt mound, again most probably Bronze Age in date. The pit was 2m long, 1.5m wide and 0.4m deep. This pit lay 15m east of the first burnt mound, on the opposite side of the river.
Area 10 consisted of twelve post-holes or shallow pits. These all lay on the south side of the river, the same side as the first burnt mound, but in closer proximity to the second burnt mound. However, there is no indication that they were related features. The function of these post-holes/pits was unclear; they did not form any obvious structural pattern. A number of sherds of Bronze Age pottery were recovered from these features.
Area 11 contained a burnt mound with an associated pit and several other pits, post- and stake-holes which lay immediately to the south. The burnt mound survived as a spread of burnt, cracked stones, 7m long, 3m wide and 0.2m deep, overlying a large pit. The northern edge of the burnt mound and the pit had been washed away by the river. The pit was 2m long, 1.2m wide and 0.4m deep. The other pits, post- and stake-holes formed an arc along the south edge of the burnt mound and are likely to be contemporary with it. Their function was unclear.
Area 12 consisted of two isolated pits and a long gully with a post-hole at its terminal. These features could not be related in any way to each other nor did they have any obvious function. No datable artefacts were recovered from any of these features.
Area 13 had two large pits. The first was 1.2m in diameter and 1.1m deep. It contained large amounts of burnt, cracked stone and may have been a burnt mound and thus probably of Bronze Age date. The neighbouring pit was much larger. This was roughly trefoil-shaped, 3m long, 2.6m wide and 0.6m deep. It contained few burnt or cracked stones so it was unlikely to have been a burnt-mound trough. Its function was unclear; however, its proximity to the probable burnt-mound trough and the presence of some burnt and cracked stone in the fill suggests that it was probably contemporary with this feature.
Area 14 was a ring-ditch with an internal diameter of 7m. The ditch was 0.4–0.65m wide and 0.2m deep. No internal features were present. Ring-ditches are generally of Bronze Age date.
Area 15 consisted of seven small pits, six of which formed a cluster lying 10m south-west of the ring-ditch, while the final pit lay 10m to the east. The pits within the cluster probably related to each other but did not appear to have an obvious structural function. It is quite likely that there are more pits/related features to the south-west; this is the limit of excavation due to the presence of a badger’s sett here. The isolated pit could not be related in any way to the other features in this area and did not have any obvious function. No artefacts were recovered from these features, so no date can be assigned to them at this stage.