County: Derry Site name: Tirnony Portal Tomb, Maghera
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LDY036-010 Licence number: AE/10/172
Author: Cormac McSparron
Site type: Portal tomb
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 684218m, N 902473m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.862990, -6.688160
Tirnony Portal Tomb partially collapsed in early 2010. As part of the restoration of the tomb, the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork at Queen’s University, Belfast, was asked by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency to carry out an excavation.
The excavation, which began in October 2010 and was completed in June 2011, found that the tomb was not a single-phase tomb but rather a multi-phase ritual monument. The first phase was two pits, one smaller and one larger, which were positioned approximately in the centre of what was later to become the tomb. These were surrounded by the back stones and two of the side stones of the tomb, although it is not certain whether the pits were earlier, contemporary with or later than this first phase of orthostats. A layer of flattish stones was then roughly laid in the tomb interior, providing a floor for the first phase of orthostats and a covering for the pits. The front of the tomb may have been open at this stage, and there is no evidence, either way, for a roof.
After an indeterminate period of time, the front of the tomb was put in place. The west front side stone was set down onto a layer of earth covering the stone flooring and wedged in place with stones. The portal stones seem to have been set directly onto the surface of the flooring layer. There is evidence for a brief fire at the location of the west portal stone before it was set in place.
Artefacts found in the tomb included fragments of several different Neolithic pottery vessels and three flint knives. The patterning of the artefacts is suggestive of some form of structured deposition and has similarities and contrasts with the types and patterning of deposition of artefacts apparent in court tombs.
An 18th- or early 19th-century metalled surface, probably a road surface, was found outside the tomb.
At the end of the excavation the trench was backfilled and landscaped by a contractor appointed by the NIEA.
A complete account of the excavation can be read at
http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/CentreforArchaeologicalFieldworkCAF/PDFFileStore/Filetoupload,275511,en.pdf">http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/CentreforArchaeologicalFieldworkCAF/PDFFileStore/Filetoupload,275511,en.pdf
Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN
