EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Down
‘Dunnyneil Island’ (Dunnyneil Islands td.), Co. Down
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.
Grid Ref: J54745384 (35474/35384)
SMR No: DOW 024:035
Excavation Licence: AE/02/90; AE/03/71
Excavation Duration/Year: September – October 2002; August – September 2003
Director: F. McCormick (Queen’s University, Belfast) & P. Macdonald (Centre for
Archaeological Fieldwork, Queen’s University, Belfast).
The site is an enclosure, approximately 30m in diameter, comprising two banks and an intermediate
ditch, which is set on the top of the larger of the Dunnyneil Islands in Strangford Lough (although it
would appear that the two Dunnyneill Islands originally were part of a single, larger island). A smaller
‘annex’ was added to this enclosure, and it is possible that further annexes may have been destroyed
by tidal action. The site had been subject to coastal erosion and it was feared that the enclosure
could be destroyed within 60 years (Fig. 96).
In the first season, excavations in the north of the enclosure revealed a number of structural features
including the rubble collapse of the inner revetment of the bank; a curvilinear gully; a hearth; and
two linear features (possibly representing a palisade). The limited scope of the excavation, however,
made it difficult to work out a relative chronology for these features.
A second trench was laid through the banks and ditch, but again was not able to confidently establish
their relative chronology, although they would appear to be contemporaneous. Excavation revealed,
however, that the inner bank may have been deliberately slighted.
The artefactual remains from the site (especially the three sherds of E ware and the fragment of
Germanic glass claw-beaker) suggest that activity was ongoing on the island in the sixth/mid-seventh
century. This date is supported by a probable penannular brooch fragment (dated to the earlyseventh
century). A fragment of a crucible; four fragments of slag; and two fragments of copper alloy
were also found, suggesting that metalworking occurred on site.
A more extensive excavation was undertaken in 2003 (Fig. 97). A further six trenches were opened
revealing that the site had a long period of use. Possible earlier enclosure features were found under
the inner bank, as well as un-associated prehistoric material. The early medieval enclosures appear to
have been abandoned in the seventh or eighth century, possibly as a result of the collapse of
Merovingian trade networks, and the site was then not re-occupied until the eleventh or twelfth
century. The numbers of imported materials (three sherds of E ware and a number of glass
fragments), and the relative lack of domestic material, suggests that the enclosure may have
functioned as an emporium, rather than a high-status occupation site.
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