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.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Introduction
  • 1.1 Background to the archaeological excavation
  • 1.2 Surprising results
    • 1.2.1 Bronze Age occupation
    • 1.2.2 Early medieval occupation
  • 1.3 Post-excavation processing
  • 1.4 Structure of this volume
• Chapter 2: Excavation Results
  • 2.1 Summary
  • 2.2 Structure types and terminology
    • 2.2.1 Type 1 structures
    • 2.2.2 Type 2 structures
    • 2.2.3 Other structures
  • 2.3 The structures
  • 2.4 The road (F100) and large path (F101)
• Chapter 3: Material Culture and Environmental Analysis
  • 3.1 Lithics: Maria O’Hare
    • 3.1.1 Raw materials
    • 3.1.2 Reduction strategy: bipolar-on-anvil technique
    • 3.1.3 Primary assemblage: reduction
    • 3.1.4 Secondary production: tools
    • 3.1.5 Contexts for lithics
    • 3.1.6 Conclusions
  • 3.2 Pottery: Helen Roche and Eoin Grogan
    • 3.2.1 Early Neolithic bowls
      • 3.2.1.1 Discussion
    • 3.2.2 Middle Bronze Age assemblage
      • 3.2.2.1 Methodology
      • 3.2.2.2 Fabric details and vessel construction
      • 3.2.2.3 Decorative motifs and surface treatment
      • 3.2.2.4 Undecorated vessels
      • 3.2.2.5 General discussion
    • 3.3 Stone artefacts: Eoin Grogan
      • 3.3.1 Axes
      • 3.3.2 Macehead
      • 3.3.3 Moulds
      • 3.3.4 A note on the stone types: Stephen Mandal
    • 3.4 Seed Analysis: Örni Akeret (Palaecology Research Services (PRS))
• Chapter 4: Analysis of the Corrstown Site
  • 4.1 Summary
  • 4.2 Structure types
    • 4.2.1 Type 1 structures
      • 4.2.1.1 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: ditches
      • 4.2.1.2 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: walls
      • 4.2.1.3 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: entrances
      • 4.2.1.4 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: postrings
      • 4.2.1.5 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: drains
      • 4.2.1.6 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: internal features
      • 4.2.1.7 Shared features of the Type 1 structures: internal space
    • 4.2.2 Sub-division of the type 1 structures
      • 4.2.2.1 Type 1A: single segmented ditch roundhouse
      • 4.2.2.2 Type 1B: concentric segmented ditch roundhouse
      • 4.2.2.3 Type 1C: conjoined concentric segmented ditch roundhouse
      • 4.2.2.4 Type 1D: freestanding structure
      • 4.2.2.5 Type 1E: Small abutting structure
      • 4.2.2.6 Type 1F: undetermined segmented ditch roundhouse
    • 4.2.3 Type 2: narrow slot roundhouses
    • 4.2.4 Anomalous structures
  • 4.3 Roundhouse reconstructions
  • 4.4 Rebuilding cycles
  • 4.5 Population estimates
  • 4.6 Domestic unit
  • 4.7 Roads and pathways
  • 4.8 The roads in context
  • 4.9 Enclosure
  • 4.10 Chronology
  • 4.11 Spatial analysis
    • 4.11.1 Typological analysis
    • 4.11.2 Artefact analysis
    • 4.11.3 Discussion
• Chapter 5: From Inception to Abandonment
  • 5.1 The significance of the Corrstown landscape: with contributions by Maria Lear
  • 5.2 The diet of the Corrstown inhabitants
  • 5.3 Building alignment
  • 5.4 Structured deposition?
  • 5.5 Movement
  • 5.6 Burial
  • 5.7 Organization and property
  • 5.8 Abandonment
• Chapter 6: Corrstown in Context
  • 6.1 The North Coast: an economic and social landscape
  • 6.2 The Corrstown settlement in an Irish context
    • 6.2.1 Status
  • 6.3 Categorising the Corrstown Settlement
  • 6.4 Conclusions
• Bibliography
• 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)
• Appendix II: Medieval Corrstown: with contributions by Maria Lear
• Appendix III: Cappagh Beg: Steve Linanne with contributions by Victoria Ginn
  • Structure A
  • Structure B
  • Structure C
  • Nearby features
  • Structure D
  • Discussion