Burial

The National Monuments Service's description

In 2001, extensive archaeological monitoring of soil-stripping in advance of the development of a large scale sand and gravel quarry resulted in the identification and excavation of a small enclosure containing five burials (Tobin 2001: Excavation Licence Nos. 01E0078; 01E0153; 01E0229 and 01E1007). An almost circular area (11.5m N-S; 11.25m E-W) was defined by a shallow fosse (D 0.2–0.4m; Wth 1.6–1.7m) ). The fosse-fill was humic, with large quantities of animal bone, some of which appeared to be butchered, and also contained an iron spear-point. The enclosure had two, almost opposing entrances: an E entrance with flanking post-holes, and a W entrance which was flanked by a single possible post-hole. The interior contained five burials. A central burial was in a well-defined grave-cut, completely lined by contiguously set pebbles. The body appeared to have been interred in a shroud, given the positions of the feet, legs, arms and scapulae. The other burials in the enclosure may have been buried in shrouds, but the lining of the grave-cuts was either incomplete or non-existent. The burials appeared to represent three adults/adolescents and two children (5–7 years old).

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy

Date of upload: 21 December 2012

References

Tobin R. 2001 Archaeological Interim Report, Field 4, Corbally, Co. Kildare. M. Gowan & Co. Ltd. Unpublished report, National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.