County: Tyrone Site name: Timpany
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/18/183
Author: Camilla Brannstrom
Site type: Early/Middle Bronze Age ring ditch, Late Neolithic burnt mound
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 648234m, N 849631m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.393002, -7.257302
An archaeological watching brief was undertaken during the Gas to the West project at Timpany and Killycorran, County Tyrone. Archaeological monitoring of topsoil stripping identified a single burnt mound deposit at Plot 79.03, Killycorran and one ring ditch, one curvilinear slot trench and four pits at Plot 79.14, Timpany. Both sites were subsequently fully excavated.
The burnt mound deposit at Plot 79.03 was located on a dry, west-facing slope of a low drumlin. The spread measured 4.5m in length (east to west) by 2.47m in width and had a maximum thickness of 0.09m. It sealed a small cooking pit which had a diameter of 1m and a depth of 0.42m. The pit had been truncated by a modern land drain.
A radiocarbon date obtained from a piece of hazel charcoal from the main fill of the cooking pit returned a Late Neolithic date of 2901-2698 BC (2 sigma).
Prehistoric activity in the form of a ring ditch, curvilinear slot trench and four pits was also identified within Plot 79.14, located at the top of a prominent drumlin at a height of 120m OD. One piece of hazel charcoal retrieved from the basal fill of a shallow pit which extended beyond the limit of excavation produced a date of 2293 – 2041 BC (2 sigma), placing it in the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age period.
A 7.55m long, 0.35m wide and 0.15m deep curvilinear slot trench orientated south-west/north-east, curving to the north-west, was interpreted as a windbreak structure. Radiocarbon dating of a piece of willow charcoal retrieved from its fill produced a date in the Early Bronze Age period: 2024 – 1826 BC (2 sigma).
The ring ditch had an outer diameter of 5m, a width of 0.45-0.8m and a depth of 0.24-0.3m. Charcoal-rich deposits interpreted as pyre material were noted at the base of the ditch. A total of 19 pottery sherds from an Early/Middle Bronze Age Coarse Ware Vessel and two sherds from a Bronze Age Vase Food Vessel were recovered from its upper fill.
Radiocarbon dating of a piece of alder charcoal retrieved from the deposits of pyre material at the base of the ring ditch returned an Early to Middle Bronze Age date of 1740 – 1516 BC (2 sigma).
John Cronin and Associates, Burnside, St Oran’s Road, Buncrana, Co. Donegal, F93 RW84
