2010:156 - Haw Road, Coolkeeragh, Derry

The development site is located on lands off Haw Road, Coolkeeragh, Co. Derry. It measures approximately 250m north-east to south-west by 90m at its widest point. This development concerns the extensive ground reduction and levelling of the site, which will create additional storage and parking for Londonderry Port.
The proposed development site lay within an archaeologically sensitive area with 21 archaeological sites within a 2km radius. One of these sites (LDY014A–033) was located in a field immediately adjacent to the proposed development site. It was here in 2002 that excavations carried out by Eoin Halpin of ADS Ltd uncovered evidence of Neolithic activity and the remains of a burnt mound which produced sherds of Bronze Age pottery (Excavations 2002, No. 385, AE/02/56).
A comprehensive testing regime was conducted in October 2009. Five test-trenches were excavated across the proposed development which uncovered a number of potential archaeological deposits. Due to the presence of these deposits it was recommended that the topsoil removal across the development site be monitored, which happened in February 2010.
During the course of the topsoil removal, five areas containing potential archaeological deposits were uncovered. Upon investigation the activity within two of the areas was found to be either non-archaeological or relating to modern agricultural activity. The remaining three areas, however, were established to be archaeological with a number of deposits found to be prehistoric and probable evidence of settlement.
Located in the south-west of the development a curving slot feature was excavated, which was not continuous and ran into bedrock. It is possible that this feature had been truncated by agricultural activity and the remains of the curving slot was all that survived; however, sherds of Bronze Age pottery were found within the basal fill. A further two pits in the north-east of the development area were found to contain sherds of Neolithic pottery.
Elsewhere, a series of pits, post- and stake-holes were uncovered. Whilst these features may have been evidence of a structure, this could not be proven and can only be tentatively suggested. If a structure was present, it is likely that many of the features associated with it would have been destroyed by agricultural activity. Although no datable evidence was recovered, a flint projectile and a scraper were also recovered from two of the features.
It is hoped that environmental analysis of the samples taken and analysis of the pottery will provide a greater insight into the archaeology and prehistoric settlement at this site.