County: Tyrone Site name: Magheraglass road, cookstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/10/36
Author: David Kilner and Johanna Vuolteenaho, Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Channel Wharf, 21 Old Channel Road, Belfast, BT3 9DE.
Site type: Post-medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 674641m, N 877451m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.639740, -6.843719
Archaeological evaluation was carried out at Magheraglass Road, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, on the site of a proposed development entailing the construction of a single dwelling along with associated services and landscaping. The proposed development lies within an archaeologically sensitive area with fourteen known archaeological sites within a 2km radius, two of which are located within the immediate vicinity. These are a standing stone (TYR029–022), located approximately 170m south-east of the proposed development, and a megalithic chambered grave (TYR029–023), located approximately 190m to the north-west.
The area of proposed development was topsoil-stripped under supervision. The site was excavated down to undisturbed natural deposits which ranged from clean sand deposits in the higher area (south-west) to marshy wet clay deposits with moderate sand and gravel content (north-east). Three archaeological subsoil-cut features were encountered in the sandy area in the south-west of the site.
The largest of the features was a rectangular pit with rounded corners located on the north-east half of the area towards the centre of the site. During investigations, sherds of 19th-century glass were encountered towards the base of the feature, as were fragments of cattle bone.
Two smaller pits were also investigated. Both of these were located within the south-west half of the site. The first was circular in shape and very shallow and could represent a burnt tree bole, although its regular shape and size would suggest a deliberate cut feature.
The second pit was also regular in size and shape, from which moderate amounts of animal-bone fragments were retrieved. Of the domestic species, at least ox/cattle and chicken were noted and the feature is likely to represent a small refuse pit dug in order to bury bone waste from food preparation.
In summary, a small number of archaeological subsoil-cut features, of probable post-medieval date, were encountered during the evaluation. Two of the features produced animal bone and are likely to represent domestic refuse pits.
