Book review of CATRIONA J. MCKENZIE, EILEEN M. MURPHY & COLM J.DONNELLY (ed.). The science of a lost medieval Gaelic graveyard: the Ballyhanna Research Project (TII Heritage 2). (original) (raw)
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Back to Basics: contexts of human burial on Irish early medieval enclosed settlements
This paper comments and describes the wide range of contexts in which human bone occurs in early medieval Irish enclosed settlements. It looks at the occurence of disarticulated human bone, settlements with small numbers of primary burials (in purpose dug graves), settlements with deviant burials (unusual positions or placed within secondary contexts such as ditches or pits) and compares them with different types of larger enclosures which contain cemeteries. The paper stresses that the focus on categorising sites sometimes obscures the very different processes through which they evolved. It views human burial as an active agent for change in the early medieval Irish landscape - an event which was a performance related to movement and the ability for the mourners to control who viewed it
Irish Late Prehistoric Burials Volume I (of III Volumes)
PhD Thesis, UCD, Dublin., 2008
This is a study of the treatment of the dead during Irish late prehistory. It concerns what was done to the body prior to burial, how and where it was buried, what was buried with it, and who was buried. It also explores possible causes for diachronic developments and possible reasons for the general scarcity of burials from this period.
Archaeological Investigations at Ballylin Hillfort, Co. Limerick
Ballylin hillfort near Ardagh is the largest prehistoric monument in Co. Limerick. This paper presents the results of an archaeological investigation conducted there in 2012 by a research team from University College Cork. The surface features of the hillfort are presented by aerial LiDAR survey, with geophysical prospection also undertaken at the site. The defences, including one of the original entrances, were excavated to recover dating evidence, and to understand details of design and construction. Radiocarbon results suggest the hillfort was built in or around the twelfth century BC, during the transition from the Middle to Late Bronze Age in Ireland.
Topsoil stripping by Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd at a development site at Ballyloran, Larne, in 2005 revealed five areas (Sites 1–5) of archaeological potential. Sites 1 and 2 produced evidence of both ritual and domestic activity, including the deliberate deposition of unworked stones during the Early Neolithic period. A second phase of occupation occurred during the Late Bronze Age. A similar preoccupation with the deliberate burial of stones was noted at Site 3, though dated to the end of the Late Neolithic and into the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. Site 5 revealed extensive remains from the Early Neolithic and appeared to be formally divided into areas of domestic activity and ritual deposition. The domestic area was centred on a number of metalled surfaces around a large trough-like feature, while the ritual area was composed of a low hollow with a metalled base and a vertically set stone, surrounded by a low bank. Significant quantities of flint and pottery were deposited in this area.
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society
The first detailed investigation of the human remains from the Carrowkeel passage tomb complex since their excavation in 1911 has revealed several new and important insights about life, death, and mortuary practice in Neolithic Ireland. Osteological analysis provides the first conclusive proof for the occurrence of dismemberment of the dead at Irish passage tombs, practised contemporarily with cremation as one of a suite of funerary treatments. The research also highlights changes in burial tradition at the complex over the course of the Neolithic. Providing a chronology for these changes allows them to be linked to wider trends in monument construction, which may relate to changes in both land use and climate during the period. Multi-isotope analysis hints at the presence of non-local individuals among the interred and the possible existence of different food sourcing areas at the onset of the later Neolithic period. Preliminary results from ancient DNA sequencing of six individual...
Empirical and Theoretical: Making Heads or Tales of Early Irish Archaeology
Unpublished
In examining the burial practices of the prehistoric settlers of Ireland, researchers hope to gain some understanding of the ancient peoples’ culture and society. Comparing finds from one tomb with those of other tombs has become an established methodology for drawing inferences about the people who constructed and used the tombs. Such comparisons can be broad-based using sites of different types and time periods, or more focused examining the similarities and differences within a single type or time period. Both approaches illustrate interesting differences in the archaeological record; however, these differences are not in and of themselves self-explanatory. The findings have to be put into perspective by the researchers. Generating acceptable theories from the empirical data can be very challenging, however, the need to interpret that data cannot be undervalued.
Bioarchaeology International, 2017
This study explores the burial practices and secondary funerary rites at the Carrowkeel Neolithic passage tomb complex in County Sligo in northwest Ireland. An osteological and taphonomic reassessment of cremated and unburned human bones recovered from the complex during an archaeological excavation more than a century ago has produced significant new insights into how the people of Carrowkeel perceived death and how they maintained and manifested social links with their ancestors. In addition to the rite of cremation, a complex post-mortem burial practice is further attested by the presence of cut marks on several of the unburned bones, which indicate that the bodies of the dead were dismembered before they were placed in the tombs. It is argued that both cremation and dismemberment (and possible defleshing) may have been physical expressions of similar objectives, relating to excarnation and removal of flesh from the bodies of the deceased. Processing the bodies and thereby assisting the dead to transcend to an extra-bodily realm of existence may have been the main focus of the burial rite. The passage tombs at Carrowkeel should perhaps be viewed as places of curation, transformation , and regeneration of enduring ancestors that enabled both a physical and spiritual interaction with the dead and allowed for their omnipresence among the living.