Corrstown: A Coastal Community. Excavations of a Bronze Age Village in Northern Ireland

by Victoria Ginn, Stuart Rathbone

Overview

Corrstown in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, is a highly important Bronze Age site. This came to light during excavations carried out by Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in 2002-2003, the results of which are detailed here. A total of 74 Middle Bronze Age roundhouse platforms was 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 un-surfaced) 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 pottery (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, also excavated by Archaeological Consultancy Services, is also included as an appendix. It is hoped 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781842177082
Publisher:	Oxbow Books
Publication date:	12/14/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	21 MB
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations x

Acknowledgements xv

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

Bibliography 264

Appendix I An analysis of the Radiocarbon Dates from Corrstown, Co. Londonderry by Cormac McSparron (Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast) 274

Appendix II Medieval Corrstown: with contributions by Maria Lear 288

Appendix III Cappagh Beg: Steve Linanne with contributions by Victoria Ginn 294

Structure A 294

Structure B 295

Structure C 297

Nearby features 297

Structure D 299

Discussion 301

Editorial Reviews

[the authors], and the archaeological company—Archaeological Development Consultancy Services–who carried out the excavation and funded the publication are to be commended for bringing the site to wider attention. It is with the ongoing analysis and interpretation of the site suggested by the authors of this volume that the full significance of the site in wider Bronze Age studies in Ireland and Britain will be realised.

European Journal of Archaeology, Issue 17,1 (2014) - Gabriel Cooney