2012:671 - Ballydougan to Newry Strategic Trunk Mains Phase 2, Down

The pipeline extended across 45 fields during this phase of the project which stretched from the Tandragee Road to the north of Poyntzpass to the canal south of Jerrettspass. The topsoil strip was carried out by a machine fitted with a toothless bucket. A number of archaeological features were uncovered.
A burnt mound uncovered in Field 19 consisted of a trough and 2 small pits. The trough was cut into a clayey sand subsoil which retained a degree of water at the time of excavation but would have needed to be sealed in antiquity in order to be used for cooking. The trough was relatively small, with a diameter of 3.8m. The trough must have been reused on many occasions to produce the amount of burnt material located on this site. All of the burnt mound material was spread out in an arc from the north-west to east from the trough. A pit and a post-hole were probably contemporary with the trough as they were sealed by the spread of burnt mound material, which would have been discarded from the trough throughout its working life. The pit had 2 stones placed in the north-east and north-west corners of the pit, with flat sides, which were flush with the sides of the pit. A third stone was located in the south-east. The purpose of the pit is unclear but since the stones appeared to be deliberately placed it may have had a ritual function. A gully was located to the east of the trough, at the limit of the extent of the burnt mound spread. It was situated at the break of the hill-slope where the land becomes flat to the east. It was relatively shallow and extended only slightly further than the burnt mound site implying that it was probably contemporary with the use of the trough. The fact that the gully lies across the base of the hillside means that it was not used as drainage and may have been used to collect water running down the slope of the hill. There were no artefacts recovered from this site.
The next area of archaeological activity was in Field 26 and the dateable archaeology consisted of 3 burnt mounds. The first was located in the north of this heavily ploughed field and had mostly been removed over the years. As the burnt mound survived in situ, it consisted of 2 post-holes, a trough, 4 pits and the burnt mound spread. The trough was relatively small with an area of 1.9m and was filled with burnt mound material. The subsoil in this area of Field 26 was a more compact sandy clay than in the rest of the field and may have been able retain the necessary amount of water without the need for an additional lining. The pits were sealed by the remains of the burnt mound spread and were probably contemporary with the trough. The remains of the burnt mound spread probably would have extended across the entire area from the pits to the trough in antiquity, but the spread has been partially destroyed by agricultural activity over the years. The spread was relatively ephemeral where it did survive and the burnt mound was probably only used on a few of occasions before falling into disuse. None of the archaeological features produced any artefacts.
The second burnt mound was located in the east of Field 26 and consisted of a trough and a post-hole, both of which were sealed by a burnt mound spread. The trough extended beyond the eastern limit of the site and was not fully excavated. It was cut into a clayey sand which had a degree of water retention but would need to have been lined to make it suitable for cooking. It again was a small trough with a diameter of 1.5m in situ. The trough lay to the east of the burnt mound spread, which covered a small area arcing from the south-east to north-west. The limited size of the burnt mound spread perhaps indicated that this trough was also not used on more than a couple of occasions.
The third burnt mound in this field was located in the south-west and was left in situ as it will not be disturbed by the onsite works.
The 3 burnt mounds uncovered in Field 26 were all relatively small. Their ephemeral remains makes it is unlikely that any one was re-used on more than a few occasions. The close proximity of all the burnt mounds to one another also implies that once one trough was used a few times it probably fell into disuse.
The remaining archaeological features uncovered on site were isolated and cut into the underlying subsoil. A gully and 5 pits were all located within Field 26 and did not produce any artefacts. The largest and earliest of the pits contained burnt mound material and may have been used as a refuse pit. The other archaeological features uncovered along the pipeline consisted of 2 pits in Field 27, a pit in Field 35 and a pit in Field 39. None of these features contained any artefacts and were all relatively shallow. No function could be assigned to these features and they could not be securely dated.

7-9 Castlereagh Street, Belfast BT5 4NE