Burial

The National Monuments Service's description

During the course of research excavations centered on the north entrance of the middle enclosure of Dún Aonghasa (GA110-039----), the remains of two crouched inhumations were uncovered in the entrance passageway itself. Only one of the burials was recognised during the excavation, the other came to light during post-excavation analysis. The latter was represented by three incomplete bones and possibly some teeth. The more complete skeleton lay on its back with its legs tightly flexed. The skull was missing. The remains were those of two juveniles, the more complete skeleton was that of a 12- to 14-year old. The second individual may have been slightly older. The burials were inserted into the backfill at the NW corner of the passageway. The grave was delimited by the revetment wall of the passage on the W side and its innermost threshold slab along the N side. There was no evidence of any attempt to delimit it along the E or S sides. A large slab sealed the grave and a second smaller slab was placed on top of it. No grave-goods were found. Radiocarbon dates for both individuals yielded a date cal. AD 770-970 (Cotter 2012, vol. 1, 257-9). (Ó Donnabháin ibid., vol. 2, 194-196)

Compiled by: Olive Alcock

Date of upload: 23 June 2020

References

Cotter, C. 2012 The western stone forts project. Excavations at Dún Aonghasa and Dún Eoghanachta. 2 vols. Dublin. Wordwell Ltd.