2008:1195 - Drumnafern, areas 56 and 57, Tyrone

Areas 56 and 57 were investigated as part of the proposed corridor improvements of the line of the A4 between Dungannon and Ballygawley where 15km of new road will be constructed. A total of 43 SMR sites lie within 500m of either side of the new road alignments. In general these sites date to the Early Christian period, with many raths, enclosures and a number of ecclesiastical sites represented. There are several sites of archaeological interest in close proximity, the nearest of which is a rath, with a further two raths, a crannog and a bullaun stone also in the near vicinity.
Area 56 was located at Chainage 13400–13430 at the base of a south-west-running slope. The remains of this site consisted of a fulacht fiadh with a number of associated troughs and pits which were themselves located on a small slope running southwards towards a modern drainage ditch or sheugh. There were also a large number of drains and agricultural features greatly disturbing the area.
The main spread measured c. 5.7m north–south by 17m. After the removal of this spread a number of other features were exposed, including two troughs, seventeen stake-holes, a curvilinear feature and four small and medium pits. Located around the edges of the fulacht spread were four more small and medium pits including another trough with an associated curvilinear feature. The site was heavily disturbed by agricultural activity, which included a number of furrows and field drains and a large open drainage ditch that truncated the entire southern end of the fulacht spread.
Area 57, which lies between Chainages 13300 and 13400, was divided into two sub-areas c. 10m apart. Area 57A was located at the base of a steep south-east-facing slope terminating at a stream. The archaeological features here consisted of two burnt mounds with associated troughs and pits. Area 57B was located approximately midway down the south-east-facing slope and comprised a 20th-century furnace and various modern drainage features and plough furrows.
Area 57A was first identified during monitoring as the substantial remains of a burnt mound located along the edge of a stream in a very wet, waterlogged location. After cleaning, it became apparent that there were two distinct burnt mounds, both with quite a large depth of burnt-mound material, although one was more extensive. The larger of the two burnt mounds sealed at least one trough and four pits. Some of the pits may represent the remains of earlier troughs. There were at least four phases of activity evidenced by the intercutting of three of the pits and a trough. The earliest of this sequence was the heavily truncated remains of a pit which was probably originally sub-oval in shape. This was cut by another pit or possible trough which may have originally been rectangular in shape. This was also heavily truncated. Both of these were then cut by a large rectangular trough measuring at least 2.1m long by 1.05m wide and with a depth of around 0.35m. The base of this trough was lined with large wooden planks. The eastern edge of this trough was truncated by a further subrectangular pit or trough. The location of this latest pit was so close to the old streambed that much of it had been eroded away and the remains were sealed by a thick peat deposit. A fourth, circular, pit was located 1.2m to the north. Intermittent use of this site was evident from the presence of a layer of hill-wash between layers of burnt-mound material. This hill-wash sealed the circular pit and was cut through by the later rectangular plank-lined trough. A flint blade and a broken barbed and tanged arrowhead were recovered from cleaning at the base of the burnt-mound material.
The smaller burnt mound located just to the north sealed another rectangular plank-lined trough. It measured 2.4m long by 1m wide and had a depth of 0.5m. It is likely that the two burnt mounds are related and may represent a relocation of the dumping area for waste as one of the burnt mounds expanded.
In Area 57B a subrectangular-shaped furnace of a kiln was located on a steep south-east-facing slope. The location is typical for this type of feature as the kiln utilises the natural slope as the heat rises up the slope into the oven or drying chamber. There was no evidence of a flue but there may originally have been some aboveground structure; however, no remains of this were uncovered. The furnace was partly truncated by a plough furrow and a field drain. Among the artefacts uncovered from the various fills was a pair of iron tongs, a copper-alloy buckle, a broken horseshoe and a number of sherds of late 19th- to early 20th-century pottery. The edges of the furnace were lined with clay and organic material, possibly straw or wattle, which had burnt and left a layer of charcoal. The clay had been fired a deep red. A number of drains and plough furrows ran north–south down the slope.