2015:294 - Roselawn cemetery expansion, Belfast, Down

As result of linear trenching in 2009, areas of archaeological interest were uncovered consisting of 25 potential archaeological features spread across five of the eight fields proposed for the Roselawn Cemetery extension (Slatady). Subsequent to this, Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, on behalf of Belfast City Council, investigated these features in three phases; of the 25 areas identified seven contained archaeological material. These were F2Tr1, F2Tr3, F6Tr1, F7Tr1, F7Tr4, F8Tr4 and F8Tr5.

The remains of four structures ranging in date from the late Bronze Age to the early medieval were uncovered in F2Tr1 with associated features in F8Tr4 and F8Tr5. A single undated pit was uncovered in F2Tr3 and an Early to Middle Bronze Age camp site in F6Tr1. In F7Tr1 a series of seven stake-built structures, six huts and a fence were uncovered dating to the Early Neolithic or Early Bronze Age as well as a four-post structure dating the Late Bronze Age. This may have been associated with the ring barrow in F7Tr4. The barrow contained a central cremation burial and had been badly truncated by a road improvement scheme in the late 1990s.

Excavations at Slatady, Co. Down, revealed a rich landscape settled from at least the Early Neolithic. The settlement took a variety of forms,with lighter, more ephemeral occupation in the river valley to the north and west of the site. These seven lighter smaller stake-built structures were also the earliest features on site and indicated either repeated reuse by a small number of people or by a larger number for a shorter time period. It appears that if these stake-built structures were Early Neolithic, as one radiocarbon date and the artefacts indicated, they were very different from the traditional rectangular Neolithic house and may have been used as a temporary base away from the main farmstead. They were associated with a stake-built fence line around 28m long which could have had number of uses, ranging from ritual to mundane. A second date from this area corresponds well with Early Bronze Age dates from the structure and pits to the south, possibly indicating that all the stake-built structures were not constructed at the same time.

Also in the area of the stake-built structures was a more solidly-built four-post structure. This was dated to the Late Bronze Age and may have been associated with the ring barrow uncovered not far to the north-east.

On the hill top were the remains of four further structures, two hearths dated to the late Bronze Age, one of which may have been part of the remains of a very badly truncated round house. Two were dated to the Iron Age, one to the Early Iron Age and one to the Developed Iron Age. These rare structures appeared to be post-built, with the remains of outer wall slots, similar in form to houses previously excavated elsewhere while a wall slot between the two Iron Age houses may have been the remains of a circular early mediaeval house.

While the Slatady site was never a village as it was unlikely that two structures ever stood together on it at the one time, it does seem to have had up to eleven huts or houses on it ranging from 3630BC in the Early Neolithic, to 655AD in the early mediaeval, a period of over 4000 years. The huts and houses were constructed from materials gathered from the surrounding landscape, a landscape which had probably been deliberatly managed to enable the resources to be exploited as efficiently as possible, and was the result of generations of effort by the ancestors of the folk who lived at Slatady. As well as sourcing and collecting raw materials it must be remembered that these people were responsible for the production of their own food, in the form of cereals, vegetables, herbs and livestock. If they could not make it, breed it or grow it, it had to be foraged or hunted and this may well be the reason for settlement reoccurring so often here. There were a variety of environments nearby, along with running water, a relative rarity in this part of the Castlereagh Hills. The nearest decent-sized stream ran north, down through Cregagh Glen, around 2km to the west. The soil at the top of the hill was relatively well-drained with long distance views to the north-east, south and south-west. The soil in the valley to the north was well-drained, though it got boggier to the south-west and this variation in environments and may have provided excellent natural resources to exploit, whether through hunting or gathering.

Though it was probably a good environment to live in, the inhabitants didn’t believe in being profligate with their possessions as the artefact assemblage from such a varied site was poor in the extreme. They certainly gave a lie to the maxim “you can’t take it with you” because that appears to be what they did whenever they moved away. Fourteen sherds of pottery were uncovered during excavation, all were small and heavily abraded. The excavation produced a total of 36 lithic artefacts, included 14 (21% of the initial 66) which showed signs of retouch and/or otherwise conformed to a standard type fossil. The majority of the retouched pieces were convex scrapers (6 of the 14), three generally retouched flakes, one possible awl or borer and one possible partially worked biface.

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