EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Antrim
Ballywee, Co. Antrim
Early Medieval Settlement Complex.
Grid Ref: J21858987 (32185/38987)
SMR No: ANT 050:036
Excavation Licence: N/A
Excavation Duration/Year: 1974; October 1993; Summer 1994.
Site Director: C.J. Lynn (Historic Monuments Branch, Department of Finance); N.
Crothers (Archaeological Development Services Ltd).
The site had been recorded as a ‘cyclopean fort’ on earlier maps, and was threatened with
destruction under a farm improvement scheme. It is located in a boggy field, on an eastfacing
slope, just above the 150m contour line.
Excavation quickly uncovered substantial remains of nine stone-built structures and three
souterrains. The low banks (presumably the features identified as the ‘cyclopean fort’) would
appear to have been constructed to divert run-off water away from the main settlement
complex (Fig. 15).
Two of the buildings have intact floor plans. The building just inside the entranceway (House
1 in Fig. 15) is rectangular (7m by 4m) and is approached by a paved path. This structure
has a central hearth and a partially paved interior; a souterrain is accessed through the west
wall of the house. The souterrain is contained within a wide bank which has a boulder-built
retaining wall, and it seems likely that the souterrain was constructed at ground level before
being buried by the earthen mound. A possible workshop area was located just to the north
of this souterrain mound. This was indicated by areas of burnt soil, charcoal and fragments of
bronze-smelting crucibles. The other two souterrains on site would appear to have been
associated with less well-preserved structures.
A larger rectangular building (10m by 5m) was located at the rear of the complex. This
structure had a paved path running through the centre of the building along its long axis, and
this was in turn flanked by post-holes. This building does not appear to have been a domestic
structure and it has been suggested that it may have been a warehouse. The possibility that
the postholes represent animal stalls was discussed, but disregarded on the basis of size.
Finds from House 1 were typical of early medieval sites – sherds of souterrain ware; iron
objects; glass beads; bronze pins; and a quern fragment. A silvered bronze buckle was
recovered from the topsoil over the middle building at the rear of the complex. Radiocarbon
dates from the site suggest a ninth/tenth century occupation.
The site was tidied-up and consolidated in 1993/4, when further excavation work was carried
out on the souterrain at the rear of the complex, and associated structures. Excavations
around the souterrain uncovered a series of structures indicated by postholes and associated
hearths; and a number of charcoal-rich layers found in association with a nearby area of
paving was interpreted as a possible metalworking area.
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