- RATHNASKILLOGE, CO. WATERFORD, Waterford

Introduction
In January 1935 a short cist containing a cremation and a possible vase urn was discovered near Bunmahon, Co. Waterford, and reported to the NMI. The cist had apparently been discovered 25 years previously but had not been reported to the Museum at that time. The grave was noticed when the landowner was knocking down a portion of a field fence on his farm and came across a large stone at the base of the wall. This stone (apparently the capstone) was removed and was found to be ‘supported by masonry’, presumably the cist walls. The vessel in the cist was removed and broken soon afterwards and, according to reports, fragments of pottery were visible in the area of the cist for many years afterwards. The cist was not excavated by Museum personnel but the site was investigated by Mr Liam Mongey, a pharmacist in Dungarvan. According to Mr Mongey, the vessel was found, reinterred and dug up at midnight, as part of local lore about ‘buried treasure’. Mr Mongey ran a ‘short trench’ across the site of the cist. The human remains were analysed by Laureen Buckley.

Location (Fig. 3.171)
The site was in the townland of Rathnaskilloge, south Co. Waterford.³¹⁰ It was situated on farmland at the base of a field boundary, at an altitude of 60–70m above sea level. According to Mr Mongey, the field to the east of the site contained many flat slabs, which were occasionally exposed during ploughing. These were not investigated.

Description of site
As the grave was not excavated, very little information survives as to its structure. According to Mr Mongey’s account, the capstone measured 0.84m by 0.53m by 0.2m, but the rest of the stones had apparently been removed from their original positions and were not located.
The grave contained a cremation of an adult and an infant (1935:132)³¹¹, accompanied by a vase urn (Waddell 1990, 146). The vessel was broken on removal from the cist and only a few sherds survive. Very little information survives about the disposition of the grave contents, but apparently the cremation was contained within the vessel.

Vase urn, 1935:67–131 (Fig. 3.172)
Brindley (2007, 348, 358) includes this vessel in her catalogue of vase urns. Based on the surviving sherds, the vessel is described as having an ‘everted rim and a short shoulder’. The decoration is incised and arranged in undefined bands including cross-hatching and chevrons, with a more formal arrangement based on triangles on the rim and neck.

Comment
The human remains from this site have not been dated. The vessel is incomplete and fragmentary, with ill-defined decoration. The rim is everted and there is a shoulder, which suggests that it belongs to stage 2 in the development of vase urns as suggested by Brindley (2007, 206–7). This is the only vase urn recorded from County Waterford. Stage 2 vase urns are dated by Brindley to the period 1930/20–c. 1830 BC.

HUMAN REMAINS
LAUREEN BUCKLEY

Description of cremation
Sample 1935:132 consisted of 189 fragments of cremated bone weighing a total of 107g. The bone was white in colour with a chalky texture, indicating efficient cremation. Some of the bone had a weathered appearance. The fragmentation is shown in Table 3.105, with the largest fragment being 50mm in length.

Table 3.105—Fragmentation of bone, 1935:132.

Since this was not a full cremation, it is not possible to assess the fragmentation of the entire cremation. Most of the fragments collected are large and there is a relatively small quantity of medium or small fragments.

Identifiable bone
A total of 52g (49% of the total bone) was identified (Table 3.106). Considering the small sample size, this is a good proportion of identifiable bone and probably is another indicator that the bones were not originally highly crushed.
In a small sample the addition of one extra identified fragment to any of the bones could make a significant difference to the proportion of that bone identified. Therefore it would not be expected that the various parts of the skeleton would be found in their correct proportions or that any significant conclusions could be drawn about the identified bone.
Nevertheless, the proportion of skull and lower limb was similar to that found in a full cremation, and there was a low proportion of axial skeleton. This is not surprising, as the axial skeleton is usually underrepresented even in a full cremation. Despite this being an incomplete collection of bone, most skeletal parts are represented.

Table 3.106—Proportion of identified bone, 1935:132.

Description of identifiable features of the bones
Skull
Most fragments were small fragments of calvarium, including the parietal and occipital bones.

Vertebrae
There were some fragments of posterior articular surfaces only.

Ribs
Small fragments of rib shafts were present.

Pelvis
This consisted of fragments of ilium only.

Humerus
Fragments of shaft only were present.

Radius
Fragments of the shaft only were present.

Ulna
This consisted of fragments from the shaft only.

Phalanges
One middle hand phalanx only was present.

Femur
This consisted of fragments of shaft only.

Tibia
Fragments of shaft were present, including a fragment with the nutrient foramen on the posterior surface visible.

Minimum number of individuals
The fragments described above are all from an adult individual. There were also three fragments of infant long bone, probably from an infant not more than one year old, as well as part of an infant mandible with the mental symphysis unfused. This usually fuses by the age of one year.

Summary and conclusions
This represents the cremation of one adult individual and one infant aged 0–1 year. The remains are only a sample from the original cremation deposit, which had been thoroughly disturbed. Nevertheless, there are a variety of bones and some large fragments present, so it is likely that the remains had been carefully collected from the funeral pyre and were not deliberately crushed.

310. Parish of Stradbally, barony of Decies without Drum. SMR WA024-051——. IGR 238241 100323.
311. A piece of iron slag was found at the base of the trench dug by Mongey. This was probably redeposited; 1935:133.