The construction of the new Cherrymount Link scheme resumed this week after months of delay due to the excavations of the Drumclay Crannog.

The road scheme was interrupted when the excavation of the Crannog began, 44 weeks ago.

Due to the importance of the discovery, when archaeologists successfully uncovered and recorded the habitation and construction layers of the historic monument to a depth of approximately seven metres, a depth significantly much deeper than the archaeologist had anticipated, they were granted extensions to the time to complete their work. A final extension was granted and this ended on Monday of this week.

A Roads Service spokesperson said this week; "The archaeological dig to record the crannog being uncovered in the line of Cherrymount Link Road was completed on Monday, April 15 some 44 weeks after the excavation of the crannog commenced. "The contractor has remobilised and has given a commitment to have the new link road available to traffic before the end of May, although there may be small elements of the works to be completed in June. The contractor had stockpiled fill material to help expedite the remaining earthworks and are confident that the road will be open to traffic at the end of May.

"The Coa Road to Tempo Road section of the link road opened to traffic prior to Christmas and the Carn Industrial Estate to Irvinestown Road section was completed in February." Archaeologists would have wanted more time to continue their work on the site and felt it was ironic that it was due to the road scheme in the first instance that provided them with the opportunity to uncover the artefacts. A total of 29 archaeologists were working at the site during the latter stages of the excavation.

The Drumclay Crannog has provided plenty of international interest during the many weeks of the archaeological excavations. A total of 5497 artefacts were retrieved from the excavation and over 4,000 samples of soil, wood and other material taken. They are to be analysed over the next year or so.

The Department of the Environment said this week that the analysis of the material will go to specialists in the various components i.e. pottery, wood, bone, leather, textiles, metal and stone.

A spokesman stated, "Many of these items will require conservation in advance of being sent to the relevant artefact specialist. Samples will go to specialists in environmental analysis, such as micro and macro remains (insects, seeds, pollen etc.). Some of the samples will be used to provide dates for the various strata of the crannog. This is a very detailed and multi-faceted body of work and each specialist will be commissioned." There has not been any announcement whether they will be put on permanent show to the public in an exhibition but it is thought some of the items will be exhibited around the time of the G8 Summit in June.

The excavations show existence on the site from around 670 AD and particularly during the 8th and 9th Centuries. Many of the items uncovered include hundreds of unique and rarely recorded artefacts, such as richly decorated combs, mill stones, wooden gaming pieces, leather bags, fragments of cloth and part of a wooden plough. Human remains have also been discovered.

It is now widely established that the Drumclay Crann�g has provided much more material than was previously expected.