Cairn - burial cairn

The National Monuments Service's description

On top of a drulin ridge in pasture. A badly damaged cairn of loose stones(L 9m, Wth 8.5m, H 1.40m). In 1996 the digger-driver removed a large stone, the capstone of a cist, during the course of the removal of a cairn. A rescue excavation was subsequently undertaken by Gibbons on behalf of the National Museum of Ireland. Rectangular short cist (dims. 1.17m NW-SE; 0.64m NE-SW; D 0.75m) whose long sides were defined principally by slabs set on edge. Its short sides were largely delimited by irregularly-shaped upright boulders. To heighten the structure at W and E, two courses of stone had been laid, one on top of the other. These stones lay almost level with the side stone on the W side. However at E they projected inwards, suggesting a partial corbelling effect. The floor comprised a single slab augmented with smaller stones. The capstone (dim. c.2m) has been displaced. The cist contained fragments of the unburnt skull of an adult individual (1996:229). No artifacts were found. However two small quartz fragments were found in proximity the cist (Cahill and Sikora, 2013, Vol 1. 88-91).

Compiled by: Patrick F. O'Donovan

Date of upload: 04 March 2013

References

Cahill, M. and Sikora, M. (eds) 2011 Breaking ground, finding graves - reports on the excavations of burials by the National Museum of Ireland, 1927-2006, 2 vols. Dublin. Wordwell Ltd. in association with the National Museum of Ireland.