Pit-burial

The National Monuments Service's description

Four pits (dims 0.33m x 0.26m; D 0.27m to 0.8m x 0.57m; D 0.12m) dispersed about the SE end of the excavated area had fills of charcoal-enriched soils which produced calcined bone that cannot be positively identified as human and in two cases certainly contains some animal bone. One of the pits contained six sherds of mid to late Bronze Age pottery and a hammer-stone. The charcoal was dominated by wild fruitwoods, and samples of bone from two returned C14 dates of 1420-1294 (UBA 12942) and 971-807 cal. BC (UBA 15475), suggesting a Late Bronze Age date for the practice. The pits are more than 30m apart and if they are pit-burials there can have been no intention to create a cemetery. Two other isolated burnt pits that did not have burnt bone could be tentatively added to these. (Kelly 2010, 29-30)

See the attached site plan adapted from Kelly (2010, fig. 6)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 24 March 2022

References

Kelly, A. 2010 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 4, Navan to Kells and Kells Bypass. Final Report on Archaeological Excavation of Grange 3, Co. Meath. Licence: E003123. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Roynane, J. 2005 M3 Clonee-North of Kells; Contract 4, Navan - Kells and Kells Bypass. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 2 in Grange, County Meath. Licence: 04E0925. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy