2014:476 - Drumnaglea (A26 Road Scheme), Antrim

The site at Drumnaglea contained one large Middle Bronze Age pit, one small Mesolithic pit and two spreads. The large sub-rectangular pit measured 2.1m long by 1.6m wide and 0.26m deep, orientated north-east/south-west. The pit contained two clear fills, a radiocarbon date obtained from charred wood in the basal fill retuned a Middle Bronze Age date of 1437-1288 BC (Beta-391474). It is unclear what function this isolated pit had. The second cut feature on the site was a small pit which contained a Mesolithic flint cache. The pit was a small scoop which measured 0.39m long by 0.26m wide and 0.2m deep, orientated east-west. Recovered from within the fill were 743 pieces of flint. Most of the flint pieces were smaller than 2mm, which indicated that the flint was knapped on a cover, such as an animal skin, and then deposited in a single event. Once the flint had been deposited the excavated subsoil was used to backfill the pit. The fill contained very little charcoal but a radiocarbon date obtained from the small pieces of charred wood returned a Late Mesolithic date of 5016-4844 BC (Beta-385656). This is slightly problematic as the detailed flint analysis by Professor Peter Woodman suggests a date closer to the later Early Mesolithic. To the south of the flint cache were two spreads which filled shallow hollows in the subsoil. The purpose of these spreads is unknown as no artefacts were recovered.

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