Pit-burial

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a slight gravel ridge in farmland. This marks the approximate location of a Bronze Age pit-burial uncovered in 1964 in a tillage field, at a depth of c. 10cm below surface. It consisted of a circular pit (diam. 0.5m; D 0.35m) sealed at top by a stone slab (L 0.54m; Wth 0.46m; T 0.06m). In the base of the pit, a pottery urn was inverted over a pile of cremated bone. A polished stone mace-head lay adjacent to the urn on the SE side of the pit. The urn had collapsed and shattered in antiquity. It was identified as a Cordoned Urn, decorated with raised bands or cordons, with bands of zig-zag and horizontal twisted cord impressions on the neck and bevelled rim. Two decorated sherds of a smaller pot, possible a Food Vessel were also found. The highly polished and well-made stone mace-head has a splayed cutting edge, and an hour-glass-shaped central perforation, which would have held the shaft. A concave facet, defined on its outer edge by a well-defined groove, encloses the top of the central perforation on the two narrow faces of the axe (Ó Ríordáin 1967, 39-44). In the 1960's several flint blades and flakes were recovered from the surface of the tillage field, suggesting prehistoric settlement in the area (Lucas 1963, 119; Lucas 1967, 4-5). In 1966 a cist (DG103-065----), possibly also of Bronze Age date, was found c. 180 to S. There is a standing stone (DG103-063----) close by.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of revised upload: 6 December 2017

References

Lucas, A.T. 1963 National Museum of Ireland: Archaeological acquisitions in the year 1961. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 93, 115-33.

Lucas, A.T. 1967 Archaeological acquisitions 1964. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 97 (1), 1-28.

Ó Ríordáin, A.B. 1967 Cordoned urn burial at Laheen, Co. Donegal. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 97, 39-44.