Flat cemetery

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a slight E-facing slope and inside the bank of the henge (ME019-016001-) NW-NE. Archaeological excavation (E000090) in 1970 recorded 12 cremated burials, 9 in pits often with rounded stones closing the pit, and 2 in cists while one was on the old ground surface. Some of the pits had no contents, although all were covered with a red clay that appeared to have been introduced.

Pit 1 (dims 1m x 0.8m; D 0.45m) had no bones or artefacts but was covered by a large stone (dims 1.05m x 0.4m) which may have been a grave-marker. Pit 2 was a shallow depression with a Carrowkeel ware bowl and the cremated remains of a child. Pit 3 (dims 1.75m x 1.25m; D 0.5m) was covered by small overlapping stones but had no bones or artefacts. Pit 4 was rectangular (dims 1.1m x 0.9m; D 0.5m) and had some cremated bone near the top but produced no artefacts. Pit 5 was a polygonal cist (dims c. 0.45m x c. 0.4m; D c. 0.6m) consisting of 6 upright slabs splaying outwards slightly as they rose but there was no covering stone, which may have been removed in recent land works. A small amount of cremated bone was on the flag floor. Pit 6 was a polygonal cist (dims c.0.95m E-W; c. 0.7m N-S; D 0.45m) with 8 upright slabs and some collapsed drystone walling covered by a single capstone (1.4m x 0.9m; T 0.25m). It had a flagstone at the W edge of the base on which was a cremation, while just to the W and slightly higher in the fill was the partially burned skull and part of the pelvis of an adult male aged 30-40 years. (Sweetman 1971, 136).

Pit 7 (dims 0.7m x 0.4m; D 0.35m) was filled with gravel and a few fragments of cremated bone. Pit 8 was circular (diam. 1.1m; D 0.5m) and had a setting of three stones which covered the remains of a large bucket-shaped vessel (diam. of base 0.17m; H 0.3m) that contained large pieces of cremated bone. Pit 9 was a circular straight-sided pit (diam. 1.3m; D 0.5m) lined with flat stones at the base, but only a single flint was found in the gravel fill. Pit 10 (diam. 0.8m; D 0.4m) was filled with gravel but contained neither bones nor artefacts. Pit 11 was a small pit with some cremated bone which was marked by a large flagstone (dims 0.6m x 0.65m). Beneath the flagstone was a large pit (diam. 2.3m; D c. 0.5m) cut through the tail of the bank of the henge. It contained two concentrations of rounded stones. Pit 12 was circular (diam. c. 0.7m; D c. 0.4m) and filled with gravel. (Sweetman 1976, 28-35)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 10 July 2007
Amended: 28 January 2021

References

Sweetman, P.D. 1971 An earthen enclosure at Monknewtown, Slane preliminary report. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 101, 135-40.

Sweetman, P.D. 1976 An earthen enclosure at Monknewtown, Slane, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 76C, 25-73.