THE Belfast Hills Partnership along with the National Trust are tooling up for this year’s Big Dig on Divis and the Black Mountain.
This year’s archeological excavation starts on Monday, when the focus will be on the stone walled enclosure close to a structure known as the long barn. On June 17 there will be a free public open day, from 10am to 4pm. All ages will help dig a section of the site and view any unearthed artefacts.
There will be an opportunity to have a go at making your own Bronze Age style pot as well as seeing the ancient skill of flint knapping in action.
Malachy Conway, National Trust archaeologist, said: “We know that Divis and the Black Mountain hold the prospect of revealing really valuable information about our past, stretching back millennia. In choosing one of the stone walled enclosures that survive on the mountain as our site for this year's dig, we are going to investigate one of the more enigmatic sites on the mountain, one never before excavated.
"We have evidence for over 4,000 years' worth of human activity in the Belfast Hills, ranging from worked flint scatters derived from the toolmaking efforts of our prehistoric ancestors to prehistoric burial cairns and hut sites, 18th and 19th century farmsteads and even remains from our 20th century defence heritage."
Over the two weeks the excavation will host around 16 schools alongside youth groups and the general public. It will be led by academics from the centre for archaeological fieldwork at Queen’s University Belfast and the Ulster Archaeology Society along with the National Trust.
There will also be an opportunity to meet archaeologist Harry Welsh, who will lead a free Walk & Talk event on Thursday June 22 from 7-8:30pm, giving a summary of all that has been uncovered.
Contact the Belfast Hills Partnership directly on 028 9060 3466. Further event details can be found at http://belfasthills.org/events/
Up-to-date news and analysis will be posted on Facebook (NationalTrustBelfast & Belfast Hills Partnership) and on Twitter Belfasthills #bigdig during the dig.
