2018:559 - Lisnamonaghan, Castlecaufield, Tyrone

Phase 1 of the testing took place in August 2018 and consisted of 6 1.5m wide trenches, set at 10m intervals. Nothing of archaeological interest was noted in any with the exception of Trench 3, which was 30m in length. The northern end of the trench was 1m in depth decreasing to 0.5m at the southern end. Some 22m from the northern end an arc of three, subsoil-cut, possible post-holes were uncovered. The clearest one was the middle of the three which was circular in plan and 0.5m in diameter and was defined by a heavily charcoal-flecked soil. Some 0.2m to the north was a second possible post-hole, also circular was measured 0.4m in diameter and was filled with a light grey, charcoal-flecked soil. The third located to the south of the first was less clear, consisting of a circular area of pale soil at best 0.2m in diameter. Together these three features appeard to form the eastern arc of a feature, which, if extended, would describe a circle some 5m in diameter and survive at level of 89.7m OD. Apart from these features, nothing else of archaeological significance was noted.
An area 10m square was opened in the area of the archaeological features uncovered at the south end of Trench 3. This showed that the group of features consisted of two small pits and were not part of a larger feature but were isolated, and one which turned out to be a small natural depression and not archaeological in nature.
Of the other two, one consisted of a circular pit, 0.6m in diameter and a maximum of 0.2m deep. It had steep sides and a shallow, relatively flat base. The lower fill consisted of a light grey loam clay, and appeared to be a variation of the surrounding natural. The main fill, in stark contrast, was a soft dark grey clay loam, which was heavily stained with charcoal flecking.
Some 0.1m to the south lay the second feature which on investigation revealed itself to be a shallow ovoid pit measuring 0.7m long and 0.5m wide. It was a maximum of 0.15m deep and was filled with a light grey, compact stony loam clay. No dating evidence was found in either of these two features.
Three other features were located within the 10m square cutting. Two were located towards the south end of the cutting and consisted of two apparently unrelated small shallow pits. The first was roughly circular measuring 0.4m in diameter and 0.1m deep, filled with grey clay loam. The second, located some 2m to the east, was also circular, measuring 0.3m in diameter and filled with a grey, charcoal-stained clay loam. Excavation of the base of this feature revealed that it may once have contained a wooden stake, as the base appeared to contain a stake hole. No dating evidence was found in either of these two features.
The final feature noted was a 2.6m wide stony layer (309) running south-east to north west across the area. Excavation revealed that the stones lay in a broad shallow depression, a maximum of 2.6m wide and 0.15m deep. A small number of red brick fragments were noted within the stony matrix, suggesting a modern date for the feature. Nothing else of archaeological significance was noted within the 10m square open area excavation.
The 10m by 10m area was opened to investigate the possibility that the features located at the southern end of test trench 3 were part of a larger more complex feature, possibly a small prehistoric burial site. The excavations revealed that the two features were probably not related, in as much as their fills were remarkably different, one having a soft blackened stone-free clay loam and the other a grey, compact stony loam clay. It is likely that their close proximity to each other was simply fortuitous.
Two other ‘pit’ features were noted within the open area. The fact that they were located some 6m away from the first two features and set some 2.6m apart, would suggest that they are also unrelated to the first two features investigated or indeed each other. One would appear to be the remains of a stake-hole, while the other, the plough truncated remains of a small pit.
No dating evidence was found in any of the features, and while the possible stake-hole may be structural, nothing can be said of the other features except that the blackened, charcoal soil found in one of the features in association with a second lighter grey soil, could indicate some episode of burning.
The possibility that they may have formed two sides of a rectangular building was considered, however, the form of the features, shallow pits and possible post-holes, allied to the different nature of their fills, and the fact that there was no indication that the features extended any further than the area examined in both the testing and the open area excavation, strongly argued against this theory.
The stony linear feature running south-east to north-west across the site is noteworthy. The fact that pieces of red brick were found within it suggests a post-medieval date for its construction. Immediately to the south of the cutting lies an old disused sand and gravel quarry. It does not appear on the 1st or 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map of the area, suggesting a date of the early 20th century for its origin. It is probable therefore that this feature represents the remains of an old metalled trackway giving access to the quarry.
Following discussions with Heritage Historic Environment Division, Department for Communities it was agreed that the initial 10m by 10m area should be expanded to ensure a 10m buffer zone around the areas of archaeology uncovered in the first phase of excavations. This work involved the opening up of an additional 10m by 10m area to the south-east of the original open area excavation, as well as an area roughly 8m by 8m to the south-west. The available area was limited in this direction due to the presence of trees.
In the south-east extension, the modern mettelled trackway was noted to continue to the south, but was interrupted by a large area of disturbed ground, defined by a blackened soil in which breeze blocks, plastic piping and plastic sheeting were noted. This disturbance was undoubtedly the product of works associated with the construction of the nearby houses in the 1960's. In the area to the south-west, sandy subsoil was noted at a depth of roughly 0.8m, lying below a dark yellow brown clay loam. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted in either extension, indicating that the four patches of archaeology noted in the original cutting are indeed isolated and not part of any larger archaeological feature.

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