Flat cemetery

The National Monuments Service's description

A small flat cemetery containing nine small token cremation pits, a token cremation deposit
and a burial pit with an in-situ food vessel was recorded in the SE quadrant of Area 1A was excavated in 2020 under licence 17E0292 by Muireann Ní Cheallacháin for IAC Archaeology during construction phase of residential development by Cairn Homes PLC.
Excavation was carried out in Area 1A following the identification of crop marks within the southwest corner of the proposed development a geophysical survey was carried out by Joanna Leigh in 2015 (Licence 15R0124). Following on from the geophysical survey, a programme of testing was undertaken in 2017 by Rob Lynch and Enda Lydon of IAC under licence no. 17E0292 (Lynch and Lydon 2017). Three areas of archaeology were identified in the testing assessment (Archaeological Areas 1–3). The remains are likely to be Bronze Age in date and are similar to other sites that have been recorded within the surrounding landscape. The core of Archaeological Area 1 comprises the two circular anomalies, an outer enclosure and associated features as identified in the geophysical survey and aerial photography in the southwestern portion of the site. Monument consisted of 'a small area measuring 12m southwest–northeast and 4m northwest–southeast. Three pits and two areas of in-situ oxidisation were recorded in the periphery of the flat cemetery. A cluster of intercutting burial activity was recorded at the western extent of the flat cemetery. Burial pit C142 was the earliest pit in the sequence and it was truncated by burial pit C156 and partially sealed by a shallow cremation deposit (C125). The final burial pit in the sequence (C109) contained a large quartzite stone that appears to be have been deliberately placed within the pit and the token cremation was then deposited around the stone' (Ní Cheallacháin and Spencer 2020, 6).

Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien

Date of upload: 10 November 2020

References

Lynch, R. and Lydon, E. 2017 Archaeological Assessment at Farrankelly, Greystones, Co. Wicklow (Licence: 17E0292). Unpublished report prepared by IAC Ltd for Cairn Homes PLC.

Ní Cheallacháin, M. and Spencer, D. 2020 Preliminary archaeological report monitoring and excavation at Farrankelly (Sites 1-6) Greystones, Co. Wicklow (Licence: 17E0292) Unpublished report prepared by IAC Ltd for Cairn Homes PLC.