Slab-lined burial

The National Monuments Service's description

Located beneath an elongated mound (MA008-010001-), on a cliff edge overlooking the E side of Lacken Bay. This is one of two cists (see also MA008-010002-) discovered in 1990 during the Fás-sponsored construction of a road, which cut through the mound. A rescue excavation of the cists was undertaken in the same year by the National Museum (NMI Reg. No. 1990:54) (Cahill and Sikora 2011, 102-6).
This cist (1.83m E–W; 0.48m N–S; H 0.3m, int.) was rectangular in plan, constructed of long, thin slabs set on edge, some of which leaned outward slightly. The S side was formed of four slabs, and the N of three slabs. The E and W ends of the cist were not closed with stones. Three capstones, which had slipped from position, were found at the E end. The W half of the cist was partly paved with three slabs. The pit dug to take the cist was lined with clay. Two bones were recovered: an unidentifiable fragment, and a single femur of an adult human, possibly male, which lay on a paving slab. From the position of the femur, it was clear that the skeleton lay with its head at the western end of the cist. A sample of the bone was submitted for radiocarbon dating and yielded a calibrated date of 545-664 AD (Cahill and Sikora 2011, 105). The other cist (MA008-010002-) was situated 0.85m to SE, also beneath the mound. The exact relationship of the burials to the mound is uncertain.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 1 July 2019

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.