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Sandhill occupation site is a Neolithic settlement located at Coleraine in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The site lies upon bedrock formed from Palaeogene mafic lava and tuff, part of the extensive volcanic rocks that characterise this region. This geological foundation provided the raw materials and landscape context within which Neolithic communities established themselves during the fourth and third millennia before the present.
The site represents one of several Neolithic occupation locations known from the Coleraine area, evidence of sustained human settlement and resource exploitation in this part of the Ulster coast. The dark volcanic rocks underlying the site would have been familiar to these early farmers and foragers as they cleared land, cultivated crops, and managed livestock across the northern Irish landscape. Such occupations typically leave evidence of domestic activity, tool manufacture, and food processing in archaeological deposits.
The Sandhill occupation site is recorded in the Historic Environment Division's register of monuments under reference 13935 and benefits from statutory protection. The site contributes to our understanding of early farming settlement patterns in northern Ireland and the exploitation of the region's distinctive volcanic terrain during the Neolithic period.
Sandhill occupation site is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 13935. View the official record →
Sandhill occupation site is a Neolithic settlement located at Coleraine in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 13935.
Sandhill occupation site dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a occupation site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Sandhill occupation site 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 13935.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Standing stone (4 km), Rath (5.8 km), Rath (6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Sandhill occupation site'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.
Sandhill occupation site stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.