County: Armagh Site name: MAGHERY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ARM002–005 Licence number: AE/09/190
Author: Brian Sloan, Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 692431m, N 863464m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.511160, -6.572615
The manual excavation of four test-trenches was undertaken to assess the presence and survival of archaeological strata, in advance of the area being incorporated into the current graveyard. Due to the possibility of human remains being present (on account of the first-edition OS map evidence), it was decided that the trenches would be manually rather than mechanically excavated. The excavations proved that the area had been subject to substantial quarrying in the recent past, and had then been levelled with imported strata. Finds from the excavation included sherds of modern ceramics, glass and corroded iron objects, as well as a single sherd of possible Bronze Age pottery. However, due to sherds of black glazed earthenware being recovered from the same context, the sherd of prehistoric pottery lends little to the interpretation of the site. Nothing of archaeological significance was encountered during the excavation.
