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Larne Neolithic Settlement is a prehistoric site on the County Antrim coast where successive communities left their mark across millennia. The site's bedrock of Palaeogene mafic lavas and tuffs—volcanic rocks formed around 60 million years ago—provided a stable foundation for occupation beginning in the Neolithic period, when hunter-gatherer communities first established themselves here. This early settlement represents an important record of Neolithic activity in north-eastern Ireland.
The archaeological layers reveal a pattern of reoccupation typical of attractive coastal locations. Bronze Age communities later constructed a round cairn at the site, building a substantial earthen or stone mound that served ritual or burial purposes. This monument endured for over a thousand years before being overlain by a seventeenth-century settlement, whose occupants unknowingly built upon the archaeological heritage beneath their feet.
Today the site is protected by the Historic Environment Division as a scheduled monument under reference 2393, recognising its significance for understanding prehistoric settlement patterns and land-use in this region. The stratigraphic sequence—from Neolithic through Bronze Age to post-medieval occupation—makes it valuable for studying how communities adapted to and utilised the Larne coastline across successive periods.
C17th settlement overlying neolithic settlement & bronze age round cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2393. View the official record →
Larne Neolithic Settlement is a prehistoric site on the County Antrim coast where successive communities left their mark across millennia. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2393.
C17th settlement overlying neolithic settlement & bronze age round cairn dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a settlement site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
C17th settlement overlying neolithic settlement & bronze age round cairn is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 2393.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Mounds (2) and neolithic & bronze age pottery and flint scatters (5.3 km), Findspot of flint and pottery (5.6 km), Kilwaughter mote. motte (6.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of C17th settlement overlying neolithic settlement & bronze age round cairn's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
C17th settlement overlying neolithic settlement & bronze age round cairn stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.