2008:044 - PORTBALLINTRAE: Village Hall, Antrim

This project related to the construction of a proposed village hall at Portballintrae, Co. Antrim. Due to the proximity of two state care earthwork monuments (ANT003–001 and ANT003–002) which are located c. 50–70m to the south-east and the unknown impact that the proposed development would have on possible associated subsurface archaeological features, NIEA: Built Heritage requested that limited targeted excavation take place within the area of the proposed development.

Preliminary testing took place over one day in January 2008, with two trenches bisecting the footprint of the proposed development. These trenches uncovered no archaeological deposits but did suggest that this area was made up of old ground surfaces with layers of wind-blown sand between them. A single flint spall was recovered from one of these ground surfaces, which suggested that the area of the proposed development had archaeological potential. Given these results, it was recommended that the development could proceed under archaeological supervision.

Monitoring was undertaken intermittingly between May and September 2008. Monitoring of the removal of topsoil confirmed the testing results and identified three possible old ground-surface levels. The stratigraphic sequence across the majority of this site consisted of undisturbed subsoil, overlaid with old ground surfaces separated by layers of sand. These layers were removed to either glacial subsoil or to formation level.

While a small number of struck flints were recovered from the two lower ground surfaces, they showed no evidence of secondary working and no archaeological deposits were uncovered from within these layers. Soil samples were, however, taken from the lower layers and it is hoped that further analysis of these will help in providing a more complete understanding of these layers.