County: Derry Site name: Brackagh Quarry, Tullybrick
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/07/219
Author: Christina O’Regan, Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 638 Springfield Road, Belfast, BT12 7DY.
Site type: Cremations in cists
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 674955m, N 889643m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.749209, -6.835725
The most recent phase of blanket bog stripping at this sand and gravel quarry revealed a low mound of stone, c. 9m in diameter and 0.8m high. Removal of this cairn revealed a figure-of-eight arrangement of small stones, set upright into the sandy subsoil. This arrangement of stones surrounded two small cists, one rectangular, one octagonal. The cists each contained a scattering of burnt bone. At the time of writing the bone had been sent to a specialist for analysis. Eleven large post-holes created a trapezoidal plan around this unusual structure. Located towards the southern end of the burial was a rectangular arrangement of stones which may have been an unused antechamber. A small number of pottery sherds and flint artefacts were recovered from sandy deposits that appeared to be stratigraphically earlier than the burials. The site is located at the foot of the Sperrins and several known megalithic monuments are located in the immediate area surrounding the quarry.
