2013:160 - CLOGHCOR (A), Tyrone

Archaeological excavation was undertaken at Cloghcor A, Co. Tyrone, on behalf of The Department for Regional Development, Roads Service. The works were undertaken as part of Phase 2 of the Archaeological Services Contract prior to the commencement of construction of the proposed A5 road. The site is located along Section 1 of the proposed road route. Section 1 straddles two counties, Londonderry and Tyrone but was primarily contained within County Tyrone. It extends from New Buildings in the north to Strabane in the south. Section 1 was the northernmost segment of the proposed development site which consists of 37km of new road in total.

Cloghcor A was a previously unknown archaeological site which was identified during Phase 1 archaeological work on the scheme. Phase 1 was carried out following an environmental impact statement on the proposed route, and geophysical survey of the route. The results of this geophysical survey subsequently formed the basis of an evaluation strategy which involved trial trenching and/or strip-and-map of selected areas of high archaeological potential. The evaluation trench layout was designed by project managers Mouchel in consultation with the Historic Monuments Unit of the Northern Ireland Environment agency (NIEA). On Section 1 a total of 7,391m of trial trench was excavated and 8,707m² of strip-and-map was carried out. Further works are proposed but could not be carried out before work on the scheme was suspended in June 2013. A total 14 areas of archaeological significance were identified on Section 1. Some of these areas could be grouped due to proximity, giving a total of six archaeological sites, one of which was Cloghcor A.

It was recommended that full archaeological excavation and recording be undertaken at each of these sites prior to any construction work. Excavation was subsequently carried out on two of these sites before work on the scheme was suspended.

Full excavation was undertaken at Cloghcor A in June 2013. The preliminary evaluation of the findings of the excavation suggests that the site related to prehistoric activity which was represented by a burnt mound, a hearth and associated stake-holes. Burnt mounds or fulachtaí fiadh are the most common site type identified and excavated in Ireland and are typical of the Bronze Age.

Located toward the centre of the site and at the top of a slight rise was a hearth. It consisted of an area of intense oxidisation and measured 2m in length by 0.8m in width. The hearth was surrounded and cut by numerous stake-holes. It is unlikely all these stakes would have been in use at the same time and as such it is not possible to ascertain any particular alignment. It is possible that they represent the remains of a mix of light windbreaks and supports for cooking activity, e.g. spits for roasting.

Located approximately 2.5m to the east were 13 other stake-holes which were also probably related to the activity around the hearth.

Located 1.2m to the west of the hearth was a shallow rectangular pit. It had gradual breaks of slope, gently sloping sides and an irregular base. It measured 2.02m in length, 0.59m in width and had depth of 0.2m. It contained two distinct fills; the basal fill consisted of light grey clayey silt with occasional charcoal flecking which had a depth of 0.07m. The upper fill consisted of greyish brown clayey silt with occasional charcoal flecks and had a depth of 0.13m.

Overlying the hearth, stake-holes and the pit was a burnt mound deposit consisting of charcoal and heat-shattered stone in a dark grey silty matrix. It measured 10.8m in length, 8.1m in width and had a depth of 0.42m. The fills of the stake-holes were indistinguishable from the overlying burnt mound material.

No trough was identified in the area of excavation which may mean that there is one present outside of the roadtake, possibly to the east.