2011:121 - Ballydullaghan, Derry

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Derry Site name: Ballydullaghan

Sites and Monuments Record No.: LDY026-016 Licence number: AE/10/159E

Author: Brian Sloan

Site type: Prehistoric/Beaker settlement

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 683684m, N 911138m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.940907, -6.693962

Following the identification of archaeological features during an evaluation by Peter Bowen in 2008 (Excavations 2008, no. 282, AE/08/177), further excavation was requested by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) in advance of the development of a new dwelling and detached garage. Excavation of the site began in November 2010 and carried on intermittently until March 2011.

The truncated remains of three potential prehistoric houses (one rectangular and two subcircular) as well as numerous isolated pits and possible post-holes were encountered. Post-excavation work on this site is ongoing, although provisional identification of the artefact assemblages recovered during the excavation (comprised mostly of flint pottery sherds and porcellanite) suggests the bulk of the activity to be Beaker (c. 2400 BC) in date.

Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN