Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
Another prehistoric circle was recently uncovered during a community archaeology project, this time near the Giant’s Ring, just outside Belfast.
The investigation, led by archaeologists from Queen’s University Belfast, was sparked by a re-examination of aerial photographs taken in the 1990s, during the excavation of a nearby site by another Queen’s archaeologist, Barrie Hartwell. This revealed a series of cropmarks that did not correspond to any known archaeological features in the area. They also extended much further than the known dimensions of the Ballynahatty Ritual Complex, a site that comprises 50 or more archaeological monuments spread across the southern end of the Malone Ridge. An excavation to explore these newly identified remains was swiftly organised by the Community Archaeology Programme Northern Ireland (CAPNI), funded by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
During this work, the circular cropmark was revealed to be a substantial slot trench that had originally held a timber palisade enclosing an area more than 22m (72ft) in diameter. Shallow pits ran along the inside edge of the slot trench and may have originally held large stones forming a circle. The monument’s centre was dominated by a large pit measuring c.3m (10ft) in diameter and 1.5m (5ft) deep. It is thought that this feature may represent the remains of a subterranean ‘sepulchral’ tomb, like others discovered nearby, which were destroyed by agricultural workers in the 19th century but are thought to represent a form of tomb unique to the Ballynahatty landscape.
The recent excavation produced quantities of worked stone, a polished stone axe, and a small number of sherds of Grooved Ware pottery dating to the late Neolithic period, as well as a small, copper-alloy projectile of middle to late Bronze Age date, highlighting the long use of this landscape. The trenches have now been backfilled, and post-excavation work is only just beginning, but this project has already demonstrated that the Ballynahatty Ritual Complex still has many stories waiting to be revealed.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Image: Queen’s University Belfast
