Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 51, 1988 pp 132-134
A Note on Medieval Pottery from Cave Hill and the Archaeology of Caves
By R.J. Ivens (Milton Keynes Archaeology Unit, 16 Erica Road, Stacey Bushes, Milton Keynes MK12 6PA)
This note describes a selection of medieval coarse pottery found on Cave Hill, Belfast and suggests that further studies of Early Christian and medieval cave sites could be rewarding. Ancient use and occupation of caves has received scant attention from archaeologists in the N. of Ireland. There were sporadic investigations in the nineteenth century: Bryce and Andrews in 1834, and Young in 1895 examined some of the caves near Ballintoy , Co. Antrim; Portlock reported on Piper’s Cave, Co. Londonderry in 1843; and in 1896 Steen investigated the Craiganogh Cave, Seaport, Co. Antrim (Jackson 1933, 230). (See also Steen, N. 1896 The Craiganogh Cave, County Antrim. Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 4: 295) For almost a decade, between 1931 and 1939, May and Jackson carried out a series of excavations in the caves worn into the chalk of Whitepark Bay, Co. Antrim May 1943; Jackson 1933-38). It was also during this period that Lawrie collected material from the vicinity of the caves on Cave Hill, Belfast (below). Since then the archaeology of Ulster’s caves has been almost entirely ignored. The excavations of both Jackson and May demonstrate that there was a substantial if intermittent use of these caves from prehistoric to post-medieval times, and the collections of pottery indicate that they were important in Early Christian and later medieval times. Both sets of excavations yielded a considerable range of artefacts and the reports make it quite clear that these were well stratified, alongside a series of hearths and other features. Such caves offer a considerable archaeological potential, not least as a contrasting ‘settlement’ type to the range of archaeological sites which have been excavated in recent years. The role of such caves in prehistoric times must await further study. Were they the settlements of a specialised coastal economy, or seasonal camps. Similarly, for the Early Christian and medieval periods, such questions cannot yet be answered. A detailed study of the quantities of well stratified pottery which are evidently to be found in these caves might assist in the dating of Everted-rim/crannog ware and perhaps even of Souterrain Ware as well. Any development in this field would be of the greatest value. (Everted-rim: A rim which turns sharply outwards and upwards from the shoulder of the vessel. Pic: http://edgarlowen.com/b4418.jpg ) (Souterrain Ware: a class of simple `saucepan' shaped vessels found almost excl usively in eastern Ulster and known to archaeologists as 'souterrain' ware.13 M. F. Ryan, `Native pottery in Early Historic Ireland', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 73c, 1973, pp. 619-645. Cave Hill Among the Ulster Museum collections are two small groups of pottery and other artefacts found on Cave Hill, Belfast. One of these groups was collected by Mr Angus Maconald from the scree immediately below the caves, the other was collected by Mr Paul Lawrie from several sites about the caves. None of the material has any context other than its find spot. These small groups contain a number of quite unusual, hand-made , late medieval vessels and a selection is described below and illustrated in Fig. 1. Nos. 1, 4, 7 and 11 are from the MacDonald collection. The remaining eleven are from the Lawrie collection and are labelled ‘1938 Lawrie – site near first cave’. The vessels have been divided into three distinct fabric groups. Fabric 1: moderately densely gritted with fine mica/quartz chips and round quartz grains of c. 0.25mm. diameter, together with occasional pebbles of black rock (up to 1mm. in diameter), large angular quartz grains (c. 2mm. in diameter) and fragments of limestone (c. 2-3mm. across). All the sherds are fairly soft and can be easily scratched with a finger nail and usually have, grey cores with buff-brown-red surface layers (though a few examples are buff-brown-red throughout). Fabric 2: moderately densely gritted with fine mica/quartz-chips, round quartz grains of c.0.25mm. diameter, large angular fragments of pink and white quartz, FeO nodules and red and grey rock fragments ( all c.3mm in diameter), together with occasional black pebbles (up to 4mm. in diameter). All the sherds are grey throughout, and are hard fired i.e. can be scratched with a knife but not with a fingernail. Fabric 3: moderately densely gritted with very fine round quartz, together with sparse amounts of sub-round quartz (c. 0.25mm. in diameter), very fine mica/quartz-chips and large black pebbles (up to 5mm in diameter); occasional large angular fragments of quartz and black rock also occur. All the sherds are grey throughout with thin buff-red to brown surface layers, and are fairly hard fired i.e. can only just be scratched with a finger nail. 1. Plain flat-topped everted-rim vessel. The exterior surfaces are wiped and heavily carbonised. Fabric 1. 2. Small section of flat-topped rim from a large diameter souterrain ware vessel. The rim top is heavily knife-slashed, though otherwise plain. The surfaces are roughly wiped and the exterior is smoke-greyed. 3. Simple pointed and everted rim with knife-slashing along the inner edge. Slight traces of incised zig-zag decoration can be seen on the body wall. The exterior is wiped and smoke-greyed. The interior rough and irregular. Fabric 2. 4. Simple pointed and everted rim with faint knife-slashing on the inner edge. The surfaces are wiped and smoke-greyed. Fabric 1. 5. Simple, plain, flat-topped rim from a very small diameter vessel. Fabric 3. 6. Everted, flat-topped rim with crude knife-slashing. The neck and rim are also decorated with irregular and crudely executed incised zig-zags and swags. The surfaces are lumpy and irregular though apparently carefully wiped. The exterior and interior of the rim are smoke-greyed. Fabric 1. 7. Everted, flat-topped rim. Decoration is limited to incised multiplication crosses on the top of the rim. Surfaces are all wiped. Fabric 1. 8. Slightly everted rim on a long, vertical and very thick neck which swells out into a fairly straight sided vessel. It seems likely that the rim was added to the body. Decoration is limited to knife-slashing on the inner edge of the rim. Fabric 1. 9. Rim and upper body of a large diameter and straight walled vessel, c. 30cm. in diameter. The heavy and rather clumsy rim seems to have been formed by adding a fillet of clay to a simple slightly flaring rim. The exterior is wiped and heavily smoke-greyed, the interior rough and unwiped. Fabric 3. See also No. 11 10. Large section of a vessel with a simple flat-topped vertical rim, strong shoulder and near vertical body walls. The rim top and exterior surface are wiped and densely covered with curving rows of c. circular stab marks which appear to have been made with a hollow tool such as a reed. Both the interior and exterior are heavily smoke-greyed. Fabric 1. 11. Flat, slightly rounded, vertical rim with very light slashing. A rather crudely made cordon has been applied just below the rim forming a heavy collar around the top of the vessel. The surfaces are wiped and smoke-greyed. Fabric 1. See also No.9. 12. A body sherd with a strong curve and applied handle, perhaps from a costrel. The handle was applied as a vertical lug and then pierced horizontally. The interior is rough and unfinished, the exterior smooth and wiped. Decoration is limited to two lightly incised, intertwined zig-zags. Fabric 1. 13. Large sections of a vessel with fairly straight sides and an everted rim. The rim is pointed and knife-slashed on the inner edge. The shoulder is decorated with a band of shallow, incised, intertwined zig-zags. The surfaces are smooth and wiped. Fabric 3. 14. Everted rim, neck and shoulder. The vessel is plain except for deep knife-slashing on the rim. The surfaces are heavily carbonised, the interior rough and the exterior smoothed and wiped. Fabric 2. 15. Base: flat bottom, strongly flaring side walls with a slight outward kick at the base. Very slight thumbing may be seen around the exterior base angle. The surfaces are smoothed and wiped. Fabric 1. REFERENCES Jackson, J. W. (1933). ‘Preliminary report on excavations at the caves of Ballintoy, Co. Antrim’, Ir. Naturalists. J., 4 (1933), 280-5 Jackson, J. W. (1934). ‘Further excavations at Ballintoy Caves, Co. Antrim, Ir. Naturalists. J., 5 (1934), 104-114. Jackson, J. W. (1936). ‘Excavations at Ballintoy Caves, Co. Antrim Third Report’ Ir. Naturalists. J., 6 (1936), 31-42
