Work at Toome Bypass unearths ancient artefacts

It has been revealed that a series of important archaeological finds have been made as work continues in the construction of the Toome Bypass.

The Roads Service has reported that a wealth of important artefacts have been unearthed providing important evidence that the site had been in use as a settlement for thousands of years.

Ronnie Faloon, Roads Service, said: "As part of this important scheme we employed a team of archaeologists to carry out a full examination of the site, and construction work is continuing on schedule. The site has already yielded over 8,000 pieces of flint including small blades called microliths and larger tools used for hunting, and fishing."

Archaeologist Paul McCooey said: "The finds range from Mesolithic (7,000-3,500 BC), through Neolithic (4,000-2,500 BC) to Bronze Age (2,500-1,200 BC) right through to a sprinkling of 18th and 19th century finds.

"These rare sites are very important to our understanding of ancient society and the wealth of archaeology uncovered provides a fascinating insight into the lives of our ancestors.

"Archaeological finds have confirmed that this area would have been an ideal home for our early ancestors. These hunter-gatherers concentrated their activities on waterways, foraging on the shores of the seas, lakes and rivers."

Other finds made along the Bann at Castleroe, Newferry and now Toome confirm the migration of Mesolithic man up the River Bann to Lough Neagh. A visible shoreline around the west edge of the drumlin confirms that the Mesolithic Lough Neagh was much larger than today's.

Paul McCooey continued: "The family groups lived a nomadic lifestyle in houses made from animal skins spread over a bowl-shaped timber frame, indicated by traces of a circular pattern of postholes found at Toome.

"The finds at Toome also include flint tools and shards of decorated pottery from the New Stone Age, or the Neolithic period. Neolithic man built more permanent rectangular dwellings whose foundations show up as linear gullies with stone foundations packed with organic material."

Later activity is evident at the southern end of the drumlin, where several Bronze Age, (about 2,500 to 1,200 BC) 'fulachta fiadha' have been found. These cooking places were wood-lined troughs dug in the ground and filled with water. Stones, heated in a fire beside the trough, were thrown into the water warming it sufficiently to boil meat.

The 3.5 kilometre dual carriageway Toome Bypass starts at a new roundabout constructed on the A6 Hillhead Road west of the village and continues eastwards and north-eastwards to cross over the Lower River Bann some 500 metres north of the existing bridge.

(GMcG)