Ballyharry is an area of archaeological sites on Islandmagee

Islandmagee

Islandmagee is a peninsula on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Carrickfergus. It is part of the Larne Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural community with a long history since the mesolithic period.As part of an...

, in County Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, where a number of well preserved Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 house sites have been investigated.

1996 and 2003 Investigations

Two well-preserved Neolithic houses were discovered to the east of Ballyharry Farm site mentioned below and excavated by Dermot Moore. One house appears to consist of at least four redesign phases, with well-preserved post-holes and a series of pits. A significant quantity of artefacts was recovered including several thousand sherds of Western Neolithic pottery, flint arrowheads, javelin heads, polished stone axe fragments and quernstones

Quern-stone

Quern-stones are stone tools for hand grinding a wide variety of materials. They were used in pairs. The lower, stationary, stone is called a quern, whilst the upper, mobile, stone is called a handstone...

. The second house, some 300m to the south, was also rich in artefacts. Evidence suggested that the house was rectangular, with well-preserved foundation gullies indicating post and plank walling. Neolithic pottery and polished stone axe fragments were found.

2004 Investigation

An archaeological investigation at Ballyharry Farm, some 700m west of the two Neolithic house sites above, took place in February and March 2004 and was carried out by the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast, on behalf of the Environment and Heritage Service (now Northern Ireland Environment Agency). It focused on a small field to the north-west of St. John’s Church and identified and recovered a large quantity of lithic material from the cultivated soils. A number of features were considered to represent the remains of Neolithic settlement at the site. (Grid Reference J 463 979) Significant quantities of flint cores and struck flakes were recovered, along with around 100 sherds of Neolithic pottery.