Pit-burial

The National Monuments Service's description

Archaeological testing carried out under excavation licence no. 04E0012 (Part 1) by Brian O Donnchadha of I.A.C. Ltd as part of the Ballyshannon/Bundoran Bypass road scheme revealed a possible pit burial and a chert knapping site. The site is located at the base of a valley, near Donegal Bay,with a stream along its southern boundary. The glacial subsoil slopes considerably downwards under the peat bog, which occupies the 30 m of the field west of the stream, possibly indicating that it may have been a lakeshore area. The site consisted of an irregular-shaped shallow pit filled with frequent fragments of cremated bone. A lithic scatter (DG109-009001-) was uncovered from the area above the pit. The assemblage, distributed over an area of 140 m, represents a dispersed spread of stray finds, rather than a discrete matter. 23 pieces of chert debitage (primary knapping debitage, cores, flakes, blades). Information taken from NRA archaeological database website (www.nra.ie).