2012:005 - WEST STREET, BALLYCARRY, PHASE 2, Antrim

The housing development site comprised 27 houses and lay in undeveloped fields to the north of West Street on the junction with Main Street at the heart of the village.
A total of 12 trenches were excavated across the development area during which three archaeological features were exposed. These were a large pit near the south boundary of the development and a medium sized hearth and small pit which lay 12m north of the large pit. The features lay at 117m OD in a relatively flat area of the field. The field sloped steeply down immediately east of this point.
The large pit contained one fill and was 1.5m long, 1.05m wide and 0.29m deep, orientated east to west. It contained no charcoal or archaeological artefacts and therefore it was not possible to date it. As it was some 12m south of the other features it is not possible to state categorically whether this feature was associated with the other two features.
The kidney-shaped hearth also contained one charcoal-flecked fill and was 0.75m long, 0.7m wide and 0.25m deep, orientated north to south. It contained fragments of crude Late Bronze Age Coarse Ware Pottery, a simple flint blade and a crude flint thumb-scraper. The base of the pit showed evidence for in situ burning which confirmed the hypothesis that this feature was a hearth. The artefacts indicated a date between 1200-300BC.
The small pit contained a single fill and was 0.25m in diameter and 0.07m deep. The fill contained no charcoal or artefacts, however its proximity to the hearth suggests that they were contemporary and therefore probably also Late Bronze Age in date.
The archaeological material excavated at West Street, Ballycarry represents a transient Late Bronze Age (1200-300BC) campsite. The pottery was crudely made, coiled Coarse Ware pottery and would appear to have simply broken up over the fire during its use rather than being an intentional deposit. The flint tools were also poorly made and it is the excavator’s opinion that these were simply discarded on site rather than being a deliberate deposit. In other parts of Ireland these artefacts would probably have been kept but as east Antrim is such a flint-rich area the Bronze Age people could afford to be choosier over their tools.

Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, Farset Enterprise Park, 638 Springfield Road, Belfast, BT12 7DY