Corrstown : a coastal community : excavations of a bronze age village in Northern Ireland / edited by Victoria Ginn and Stuart Rathbone ; with contributions by Örni Akeret ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ginn, Victoria (Victoria R.)

Rathbone, Stuart.

Akeret, Örni.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Antiquities, Prehistoric--Northern Ireland.

Antiquities, Prehistoric.

Bronze age--Northern Ireland.

Bronze age.

Excavations (Archaeology)--Northern Ireland.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Northern Ireland.

Physical Description:

xiv, 301 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxbow Books ; Oakville, CT : David Brown Book Co., 2012.

Summary:

Constown is an extraordinary Bronze Age site in Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In 2002-2003 it was excavated by Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the results of which are presented here. A total of 74 Middle Bronze Age roundhouse platforms were identified and organised into pairs or short rows, the majority of which appeared to be contemporary. The Corrstown village represents a site type hitherto unknown in Britain and Ireland, where the standard settlement pattern consists of roundhouses occurring in relative isolation or in small conglomerations.

A two-tier network of roads and pathways also serviced the village: one large cobbled roadway and a second probable roadway (perhaps left unsurfaced) were identified along with a multitude of smaller paths leading from the entrances of the houses onto the roadways. The large cobbled road extended beyond the village perimeter indicating connectivity with the wider landscape. The artefact assemblage from the site was dominated by domestic potter (over 9,000 sherds) and lithics (over 165,000 pieces); a small assemblage of stone axes and moulds was also retrieved.

Radiocarbon analysis indicated that the village had three phases, an initial growth phase (commencing after c. 1550 BC), followed by a considerable occupation phase (lasting up to 200 years) and a decline phase (commencing c. 1150 BC). Early medieval occupation was also observed at Corrstown and the results are included as an appendix. Another Bronze Age settlement site, Cappagh Beg, also excavated by Archaeological Consultancy Services, is included as an additional appendix.

It is intended that this volume represents a beginning of the study of the Corrstown village, a site of national and international significance that urges archaeologists to reconfigure the settlement structure and associated social patterns of the Bronze Age. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background to the archaeological excavation 3

1.2 Surprising results 5

1.2.1 Bronze Age occupation 5

1.2.2 Early medieval occupation 10

1.3 Post-excavation processing 10

1.4 Structure of this volume 12

Chapter 2 Excavation Results 13

2.1 Summary 13

2.2 Structure types and terminology 14

2.2.1 Type 1 structures 14

2.2.2 Type 2 structures 15

2.2.3 Other structures 16

2.3 The structures 20

2.4 The road (F100) and large path (F101) 154

Chapter 3 Material Culture and Environmental Analysis 156

3.1 Lithics: Maria O'Hare 156

3.1.1 Raw materials 158

3.1.2 Reduction strategy: bipolar-on-anvil technique 158

3.1.3 Primary assemblage: reduction 161

3.1.4 Secondary production: tools 163

3.1.5 Contexts for lithics 164

3.1.6 Conclusions 166

3.2 Pottery: Helen Roche and Eoin Grogan 167

3.2.1 Early Neolithic bowls 168

3.2.1.1 Discussion 169

3.2.2 Middle Bronze Age assemblage 170

3.2.2.1 Methodology 174

3.2.2.2 Fabric details and vessel construction 179

3.2.2.3 Decorative motifs and surface treatment 180

3.2.2.4 Undecorated vessels 184

3.2.2.5 General discussion 185

3.3 Stone artefacts: Eoin Grogan 186

3.3.1 Axes 186

3.3.2 Macehead 189

3.3.3 Moulds 190

3.3.4 A note on the stone types: Stephen Mandal 194

3.4 Seed Analysis: Örni Akeret (Palaecology Research Services (PRS)) 195

Chapter 4 Analysis of the Corrstown Site 197

4.1 Summary 197

4.2 Structure types 202

4.2.1 Type 1 structures 202

4.2.1.1 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: ditches 202

4.2.1.2 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: walls 205

4.2.1.3 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: entrances 206

4.2.1.4 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: postrings 207

4.2.1.5 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: drains 207

4.2.1.6 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: internal features 208

4.2.1.7 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: internal space 209

4.2.2 Sub-division of the type 1 structures 209

4.2.2.2 Type 1A: single segmented ditch roundhouse 210

4.2.2.2 Type IB: concentric segmented ditch roundhouse 211

4.2.2.3 Type 1C: conjoined concentric segmented ditch roundhouse 212

4.2.2.4 Type ID: freestanding structure 213

4.2.2.5 Type IE: Small abutting structure 214

4.2.2.6 Type IF: undetermined segmented ditch roundhouse 215

4.2.3 Type 2: narrow slot roundhouses 215

4.2.4 Anomalous structures 218

4.3 Roundhouse reconstructions 218

4.4 Rebuilding cycles 220

4.5 Population estimates 223

4.6 Domestic unit 224

4.7 Roads and pathways 225

4.8 The roads in context 228

4.9 Enclosure 229

4.10 Chronology 230

4.11 Spatial analysis 234

4.22.1 Typological analysis 234

4.22.2 Artefact analysis 240

4.22.3 Discussion 240

Chapter 5 From Inception to Abandonment 241

5.1 The significance of the Corrstown landscape: with contributions by Maria Lear 241

5.2 The diet of the Corrstown inhabitants 244

5.3 Building alignment 245

5.4 Structured deposition? 247

5.5 Movement 250

5.6 Burial 251

5.7 Organization and property 251

5.8 Abandonment 252

Chapter 6 Corrstown in Context 256

6.1 The North Coast: an economic and social landscape 256

6.2 The Corrstown settlement in an Irish context 258

6.2.2 Status 260

6.3 Categorising the Corrstown Settlement 261

6.4 Conclusions 262.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781842174647

1842174649

OCLC:

730414497