Habitation site in Toraigh

Excavation licence number 01E0511. No archaeological conditions had been placed on the development of a primary care centre with a surrounding perimeter wall overlooking the harbour, and works were under way when ADS Ltd were contacted by the North-Western Health Board to inspect remains of a possible archaeological nature which had been identified. An initial inspection of the area indicated that coastal erosion had led to the exposure of an area of burning with associated deposits of beach-rolled pebbles and some heat-shattered stones. On the basis of this, a further assessment was undertaken. Four trenches were excavated, mechanically and manually, three along the line of the proposed perimeter wall and the fourth in the area of the proposed septic tank. A large quantity of pottery sherds, identified as being of middle Neolithic date (Anna Brindley, pers. comm.), were recovered from a layer of black silty soil which had a maximum depth of 0.42m. Work continued on the site in early 2002, and will be reported on in next year's bulletin. (Excavations Bulletin 2001) Further work carried out on the site in early 2002 revealed that the layer noted in 2001 extended for a maximum distance of 15m north-south by 5m, where it was truncated owing to coastal erosion. Unfortunately, the archaeological horizon could not be associated with any features or structure, as it is probable that construction of the care centre, which was already under way when the assessment took place, would have removed any (www.excavations.ie). Audrey Gahan, ADS, Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30-50 Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ. The above account has been derived from www.excavations.ie. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 08 September 2010