Midden

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on SW side of the knoll on which Inch castle (DG046-004----) is located, above the steeply sloping land-edge scarp which drops to the shoreline.
This midden was exposed in section in 2021 during preparatory works for the erection of a fence around the castle. A programme of archaeological investigation (Licence no. 21E0309) was carried out in May 2021 to record and sample the midden (McHugh 2021).
The midden underlies a stone and soil overburden (D 1m) consisting of stone rubble, slate fragments and sandy mortar in a blackened silty clay matrix; this is building rubble from the partial collapse of the castle walls over time. The midden is evident in the section face as a dense, heavily compacted layer (L 7.7m; D 2m) of intact or largely intact oyster shells with occasional periwinkle shells and fragments of animal bone in a matrix of dark-brown, sandy silt. The shells are noticeably more fragmented towards the NW end of the layer. Five samples of midden material were removed from different levels within the layer for specialist analysis and for radiocarbon dating (McHugh 2021).
This midden lies close to two other middens (DG046-037----; DG046-038----) which are located to NW and S of the castle, respectively. One of the middens (DG046-038----) has been dated to the late medieval period, linking it to the occupation of the castle.

The attached image is courtesy of T. McHugh, Fadó Archaeology:
DG046-041----_01 East-facing view of the midden

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 15 July 2021

References

McHugh, T. 2021 Preliminary excavation report of midden discovery at RMP DG046-004---- Inch castle
Castlequarter, Co. Donegal on behalf of the National Monuments Service. Fadó Archaeology. Licence Number: 21E0309. Unpublished report submitted to NMS in June 2021.