Dynamism, use and reuse at an Irish portal tomb: Excavations at Tirnony, Maghera, Co. Derry/ Londonderry

Excavations of a portal tomb at Tirnony, Co. Derry/Londonderry in 2010 and 2011 revealed a surprisingly dynamic monument with evidence for Neolithic ritual. The excavation uncovered pre-tomb pits, a disturbed stone floor, and primary tomb deposits, containing Neolithic pottery, flint tools, struck quartz and possible hammer-stones. There were indications of the sequence of construction of the elements of the tomb, and of interruptions, of unquantified duration, in the tomb’s development potentially revealing a dynamic, multi-phase monument. Radiocarbon dates obtained from excavated material place the commencement of activity at Tirnony in the 38th to 40th century BC. After initial Early Neolithic activity at Tirnony there were sporadic indications of further activity with radiocarbon dates from the interior of the tomb suggesting Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, Iron Age and Late Medieval reuse. Our findings add to a growing body of evidence for a phase of Early Neolithic activity pre-dating the rectangular house horizon of around 3700 BC, and confirm, as already suggested by the dating of Poulnabrone, Co. Clare, that portal tombs appear at an early stage of the Irish Neolithic.