County: Tyrone Site name: Legacurry A, Legacurry
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/13/111
Author: Patricia Long
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 650454m, N 864039m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.522234, -7.220668
Archaeological excavation was undertaken at Legacurry 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 3 of the proposed road route which extends from Seskinore Road in the north to Ballygawley in the south. Section 3 was the southernmost segment of the proposed development site which consists in total of 37km of new road.
Legacurry 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 and geophysical survey of the route. In total 11,180.5m of trial trench was excavated and 29,682.5m² of strip-and-map was carried out on Section 3. Further works are proposed but could not be carried out before work on the scheme was suspended in June 2013.
Full excavation was undertaken at Legacurry A on 10 and 11 June 2013. The preliminary evaluation of the findings suggests that the one phase of activity at the site related to prehistoric activity which was represented by a burnt mound. Burnt mounds or fulachtaí fiadh are the most common site type identified and excavated in Ireland and are typical of the Bronze Age.
The larger of the two burnt spreads identified consisted of dark greyish brown/black clayey silt with heat-affected stone and frequent charcoal inclusions. It measured 3.5m in length, 5.3m in width and had a depth of 0.1m.
Located 0.76m to the west was the second smaller spread which overlay a single stake-hole. The stake-hole was circular in plan with sharp breaks of slope, steep sides and a slightly concave base. It measured 0.08m in diameter and had a depth of 0.12m. It contained a single fill of soft mid grey brown sandy silt with frequent charcoal flecks.
The smaller spread which overlay the stake-hole consisted of dark greyish brown/black clayey silt with heat-affected stone and frequent charcoal inclusions. It measured 1.6m in length, 1.1m in width and had a depth of 0.11m.
It is likely that both spreads were originally joined and have been truncated over time by later agricultural activity.
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