Linkardstown burial

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated under the centre of Poulawack cairn (CL009-032002-). Excavated by the Third Harvard Archaeological Expedition in Ireland, under Hugh O’Neill Hencken (Hencken and Movius 1935), who subsequently restored the cairn. This Linkardstown burial (1.3m NNE–SSW; 1.1m WNW–ESE; H 1m), recorded as ‘Grave 8’ and ‘Grave 8A’ by Hencken (ibid., 206), was a polygonal limestone slab structure made up of two irregular parallel E–W-oriented cists. These were constructed on exposed limestone bedrock, covered by several uneven layers of overlapping capstones, and surrounded by 49 limestone propping slabs (c. 3.45m N–S; c. 2.55m E–W) set on edge, leaning toward the cists.

The N cist (int. dims. 0.7m E–W; 0.4m N–S; H 0.75–0.85m), ‘Grave 8’, had two N sidestones and one S sidestone. Its E and W endstones were set (max. D c. 0.45m) into two parallel grykes. The cist floor was paved by three flagstones. On these were found a small number of unburnt bones, which were heavily disturbed. On the basis of the relative proportions of bones in this cist and ‘Grave 8A’ adjacent to the S, Hencken (ibid., 209–10) reasoned that this cist probably originally held the unburnt remains of an infant, about one year old. Also found in the cist were a flint hollow scraper (ibid., 208) of Neolithic type (Ryan 1981; Brindley and Lanting 1992, 13), a large boar tusk and two small non-diagnostic potsherds (Hencken and Movius 1935, 206; Ryan 1981).

Separated from ‘Grave 8’ by a double partition of upright slabs, the S cist ‘Grave 8A’ was larger (int. dims. 0.95m E–W; 0.4–0.5m N–S; H 0.9m). Its W endstone was inserted in the same gryke used to support the W endstones of ‘Grave 8’. Single upright slabs formed the E end, and N and S sides. This cist’s floor was unpaved; instead, six E–W-oriented stones (H 0.5m) stood on edge within its interior. On and between these upright stones were disarticulated bones of four individuals—a young adult female (about 21 years), a middle-aged male (40–45 years), a middle-aged female, and the infant who Hencken (ibid. 209–10) suggested was probably interred in ‘Grave 8’, with some of its bones being moved to ‘Grave 8A’ by rodents and water action. Most of one skull’s fragments lay at the W end of the cist. Also found on the floor was a large oyster shell (ibid., 209).

An analysis of human teeth from ‘Grave 8A’ has yielded some information about diet, disease and physiological stress (Beckett 2011, 404–5).

Because ‘Grave 8A’ was probably too small to hold three adult bodies, Hencken (ibid., 210) suggested that this was a secondary interment of disarticulated bones. Alternatively, each body may have been placed in the cist at intervals, resulting in disturbance by successive depositions and the overlying cairn’s construction (Beckett 2011, 411). The burial was radiocarbon-dated to c. 3350 cal BC (Neolithic period) by Brindley and Lanting (1992, 16), who proposed that during this initial phase the cairn was smaller (diam. 10m), covering this burial and encircled by the inner kerb. The builders of this Linkardstown burial constructed Poulawack cairn as a final resting place for these individuals—perhaps ‘a family for whom they had special regard’ (Hencken and Movius 1935, 210).

The following images have been uploaded:

CL009-032019-_01.jpg Plan of burial (Hencken and Movius 1935, Fig. 8)
CL009-032019-_02.jpg Section drawing (Hencken and Movius 1935, Fig. 6)
CL009-032019-_02.jpg Graves 8 and 8A with surrounding slabs (Hencken and Movius 1935, Pl. XXI, Fig. 2)

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott

Date of upload: 19 January 2022

References

Hencken, H. and Movius, H. L. 1935 A cairn at Poulawack County Clare: with a report on the human remains. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5, 191–222.

Brindley, A. and Lanting, J. 1992 Radiocarbon dates from the cemetery at Poulawack, Co. Clare. Journal of Irish Archaeology 6, 13–17.

Beckett, J.F. 2011 Interactions with the dead: a taphonomic analysis of burial practices in three megalithic tombs in County Clare, Ireland. European Journal of Archaeology 14, 394-418.

Ryan, M. 1981 Poulawack, Co. Clare: the affinities of the central burial structure. In D. Ó Corráin (ed.), Irish antiquity: essays and studies presented to M.J. O'Kelly, 134-46. Cork. Tower Books.