Evidence of one of the first human settlements in Ireland has been discovered during excavation for a new bypass in Co Antrim. The site at Toomebridge has been hailed as one of the most important archaeological finds unearthed.
Specimens dating back as far as 9,400 years have been found – marking the area as one of the earliest hunter-gatherer sites in Ireland.
The 500-metre site is a potential rival to Mount Sandel in Co Derry, which provides evidence of the earliest people resident in Ireland or Britain.
Activity at the Toome site appears to date pack to the seventh millenium BC.
It also appears to show clear evidence of what could be the first farming to have taken place in Ireland.
Building of the bypass will go ahead on schedule, with the collection of 8,000 artefacts expected to be housed at the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
Samples from the site are presently undergoing radiocarbon-dating to assess their exact age.
Once the data has been fully examined it is expected to enable archaeologists to pinpoint for the first time the end of the Mesolithic period.
Known as the Middle Stone Age, this period in human development came before the Neolithic period which marked the introduction of agriculture.
The site is the only one in Ireland which shows clear evidence of the transition from hunter-gathering to farming.
It also contains the first examples of late-Mesolithic `dwellings to be found in Ireland.
They are located on what was once a tributary of the River Bann.
Evidence of cereal farming was uncovered beneath peat deposits alongside what had been reeds growing on the riverbank.
The site itself is located on a flat plane which has been protected from the elements by a hill.
Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd was brought in by the Department of Regional Development to excavate the area before beginning the long-awaited bypass at Toomebridge.
Director of the dig Paul McCooey said he had been convinced there were archaeological relics on the hillside from his initial field walk.
"From Day One when we first came to the site we saw this hill and knew we were going to get archaeology on site," he said.
However, even Mr McCooey was stunned at how much the team uncovered from the beginning of the dig.
The site was divided into 10-metre grids, with 20 artefacts per grid needed to designate the area a "hot spot".
"Normally you would have one hot spot," he explained.
"But in fact what we found was a whole hot area. The majority of flint found on this site is late Mesolithic and there is also the earliest flint types of early man, of man arriving in Ireland for the first time."
The site combines early Mesolithic, late Mesolithic, Neolithic and specimens from the Bronze Age.
There is also evidence of farming on the site until the 18th and 19th centuries.
Archaeological experts from across Ireland have visited the site which has provoked intense interest.
Professor Peter Woodman of University College Cork – a leading authority on Mesolithic archaeology and excavator of Mount Sandel – has offered to carry out a post-excavation report on the flint artefacts.
The project manager at the University of Ulster's Centre of Maritime Archaeology, Thomas McErlean, said the find is "very exciting".
"I have been up myself and have been following it very closely. I'm very excited," he said.
"It is extremely important. For the first time we have found a late Mesolithic dwelling in Ireland.
"There have been flint scatterings in many areas but this is an example of very intensive occupation for a proper settlement site.
"It is not often we get the chance to excavate such a wide area. In fact without the bypass we would never have known that this existed. It is quite a fantastic site."
Mr McCooey said the find is important in filling in major gaps in the history of mankind in Ireland.
"It is putting a new light on the people of the past in this area and explaining better how this part of the world was used and settled in the prehistoric past" he said.
Mesolithic Period
This so called Middle Stone Age, from when the Toome dig dates, began with the end of the last glacial period over 10,000 years ago.
It evolved into the Neolithic period with the gradual domestication of plants and animals and the formation of settled communities.
Mesolithic cultures adapted a variety of hunting, fishing and food gathering techniques, depending on where they were located.
The River Bann was a rich source of salmon and appears to have attracted early settlers at a time when lower sea levels and proliferation of 'lost' islands made a boat journey to Ireland a less dangerous undertaking.
Mount Sandel, situated on a high bluff over looking the river, consists of the remains of a small collection of huts.
The site was excavated during the 1970s when evidence of up to seven structures were found.
Timeline
MESOLITHIC PERIOD
The Middle Stone Age, between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods when the retreat of ice-sheets northwards enabled people to move northwards and colonise for the first time.
It is generally agreed to have come to an end around 4000BC with arrival of Neolithic techniques and settlers.
NEOLITHIC PERIOD
The New Stone Age which lasted from around 4000BC to 2000BC. Its beginning was marked by the introduction of agriculture with waves of settlers from Britain and Europe. Pottery appears for the first time along with new types of specialised tools.
BRONZE AGE
Marked at around 2000BC by the appearance of a new type of pottery – the beaker – and smaller copper objects in graves. Single graves begin to replace collective burial.
IRON AGE
Largely obscure in Irish prehistory, although it is possible horse-riding, wheeled transport and the Celtic language was introduced. Lasted until the fifth century AD and the Early Christian Period.
