- REDMONDSTOWN, CO. WESTMEATH, Westmeath

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Westmeath Site name: REDMONDSTOWN, CO. WESTMEATH

Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR WM025-090 Licence number: E1177

Author: ELLEN PRENDERGAST AND BREANDÁN Ó RÍORDÁIN

Site type: Early Bronze Age graves

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 631805m, N 746710m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.469474, -7.520957

Introduction
In June 1956 a short cist containing an inhumation was discovered near Castletown Geoghegan, Co. Westmeath. The cist (grave 1) was discovered when a bulldozer which was being used to level the spot came across the capstone and broke it lengthwise to reveal the cist. The find was reported to the Museum by the Gardaí at Castletown Geoghegan and was investigated on 27 June by Ellen Prendergast. The human remains were examined by Professor C.A. Erskine.339 In September of the same year two further cists (graves 2 and 3)340—one containing a crouched burial and the second a cremation and a bowl—were reported from the same site, also as a result of bulldozing operations. These were excavated by Breandán Ó Ríordáin. The following report is based on Ó Ríordáin’s and Prendergast’s accounts of their excavations. The human remains were analysed by Laureen Buckley.

Location (Fig. 3.198)
The site was in the townland of Redmondstown, south Co. Westmeath, just 3km north-west of Castletown Geoghegan.341 It was situated in a small gravel mound or quarry in the middle of a field between 140m and 150m above sea level.


Fig. 3.198—Location map, Redmondstown, Co. Westmeath.

Grave 1
The short cist was rectangular in plan, with its long axis aligned north/south. It measured 1.02m long by 0.7m wide by 0.66m high (Fig. 3.199). It was formed of four main slabs, one at each side. The cist walls were supported externally by smaller packing stones. The structure was sealed by a large capstone, which had cracked longitudinally at the western side of the cist. It measured 1.9m long by 1.75m wide by 0.2m thick. The floor of the cist was formed of bedrock. The pit dug to receive the cist does not seem to have been discovered. The cist contained a crouched inhumation of an adult male (1956:209) and no accompanying artefacts were found. Most of the larger bones had been moved from their original position but it was possible to see that the skeleton originally lay on its left side, with the head to the north and the feet to the south. Both the legs and the arms appear to have been flexed, most of the finger bones being near the lower jaw. The bones were in a good state of preservation.

Grave 2
This was located approximately 2.25m east of cist 1 (Fig. 3.200). The cist was rectangular in plan, with the long axis running north-west/south-east. It measured 0.84m long by 0.51m wide by 0.55m high. It was formed of four main slabs set on edge, one at each side. Each of the side stones (north-east and south-west) had been lengthened by the positioning of shorter stones between them and the south-eastern end. Stones had been placed flat on the four corners of the cist as an interface between the walls and the capstone. There was no evidence for the presence of packing stones around the outside of the cist. The capstone was rectangular in plan and completely covered the cist, measuring 1.33m long by 1.07m wide by


Fig. 3.199—Overall site plan (above); plan and sections of grave 1, Redmondstown, Co. Westmeath.


Fig. 3.200—Plans and sections of graves 2 and 3, Redmondstown, Co. Westmeath.

0.17m thick. The floor of the cist was not paved but was formed of the natural sand. The cist contained the crouched articulated remains of an adult female (1956:233). No associated artefacts were discovered with the burial. The body lay partly on its right side, with the skull at the north-eastern end of the cist (Pl. 67). The right hand was flexed at the elbow, the forearm bent back so that it was close to the skull. The left hand was slightly flexed at the elbow and the fingers lay across the right hand just above the elbow.

Grave 3
This was located approximately 1.7m south-east of cist 2. The cist was rectangular in plan, with its long axis running north-west/south-east (Fig. 3.200). The capstone, north-western end stone and the side stone on the western side had been displaced by the bulldozer. It was possible for Prendergast to reconstruct the cist and the measurements are based on this reconstruction. The cist measured 0.65m long by 0.47m wide by 0.45m high. It was formed of four edge-set slabs, each acting as a cist wall. No packing stones were found around the outside of the cist, apart from one edge-set slab outside the north-eastern side. The cist was sealed by two stones. The main, lozenge-shaped capstone measured 0.89m long by 0.72m wide by 0.12m thick. A smaller capstone that covered a small portion of the cist at the southeastern end was still in position at the time of investigation. This measured 0.35m long by 0.45m wide and had been recently fractured on one side. The floor of the cist was not paved but was formed of the natural sandy subsoil.
According to the original report, the cist contained a cremation deposit (1956:232) representing a juvenile and a bowl. When the remains were examined by Buckley, it was found that the bone was in fact mineralised rather than cremated. The bone had been placed at the centre of the cist. The bowl was found near the centre and towards the northern corner of the cist. It had been placed upright. The force of the bulldozing operations, which had pushed the end slab and side slab inwards at the north-western end, had also pushed the vessel towards the south-eastern end of the cist. When discovered it was filled with and surrounded by fresh clay. A sample of the human remains was submitted for radiocarbon dating, but owing to the fact that there was no collagen in the bone the results were not considered reliable.

Anomalous bowl, 1956:231 (Fig. 3.201)
Part of the rim and side of the vessel bears an encrustation of carbonate of lime, which suggests that in its original position in the cist it stood close to one of the side or end slabs. Apart from the fresh clay, the vessel was empty when found. It is in almost perfect condition. The base is flat and undecorated. The rim is steeply bevelled internally and is decorated with a row of oblique toothed lines. Externally the smooth profile is interrupted at about centre by a double scoring or grooving with a narrow band in between. The main decorative pattern on the vessel consists of lines of toothed or comb-like impressions arranged in herringbone or zigzag patterns.
Dimensions: H 9.3cm; ext. D rim 9.3cm; D base 5cm.


Fig. 3.201—Ceramic vessel, grave 3, Redmondstown, Co. Westmeath.

Comment
A sample of what was thought to be mineralised bone from grave 3 was submitted for radiocarbon dating but the sample did not contain any collagen. 342 A date of 3310±80 BP was produced but it is considered unreliable (Brindley 2007, 67). The bowl type is also considered to be anomalous (Ó Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 230, no. 363). The discovery of three cists indicates the site of a flat cemetery, but its overall extent is not known. Two of the three cists had no contents other than their human remains, or at least no associated finds that survived. As there are no records of the discovery of other early Bronze Age vessels from this townland (which might suggest discovery and removal of the pottery at an earlier stage), due consideration must be given to the possibility that, in some cases, only certain burials are accompanied by ceramic vessels.

HUMAN REMAINS
C.A. ERSKINE

Redmondstown, Co. Westmeath, grave 1 (1956:209)
Human skeleton, unburnt.
These bones form a single, nearly complete human skeleton in a well-preserved state. The limb bones indicate an individual of strong build. The innominate bones show clear male characteristics; the sacrum is not completely fused between the first and second segments; the state of dentition and the condition of the bones place the age at about 25 years. The sutures in the skull bones show no ossification.
The dentition appears to have been complete (or nearly complete), and the teeth are free from caries and little worn. The skull is well preserved; the palate seems rather deep, even in view of the full dentition. There is a slight symmetrical flattening over the parietal bones which might be due to a post-mortem deformation. Otherwise the skull shows no special peculiarity.
There is no evidence of violence or pathological changes in the bones. Measurement of the long bones (femur, tibia and humerus), and the application of Dupertuis and Hadden’s formula, gives the height of the individual as 5ft 8in. [1.73m].

HUMAN REMAINS
LAUREEN BUCKLEY

Grave 2 (1956:233)
At the time of excavation the cist was found to contain an excellently preserved and complete adult skeleton lying on its left side in a crouched position. When the remains were examined, however, the skull and right femur were missing, and although the bone was in good condition the outer cortex had begun to flake off the long bones and the pelvic bones. Although the skull was missing, the vertebral column was complete and in good condition. There were twelve pairs of ribs and the manubrium, body and xiphoid of the sternum were complete.
All the shoulder and arm bones were complete, apart from the acromial epiphyses of the scapulae and the head of the left radius, which were missing. The right hand consisted of the scaphoid, lunate, trapezium, capitate and hamate, along with all the metacarpals and four proximal, four middle and four distal phalanges. The lunate and pisiform were missing from the left carpals, all the left metacarpals were present and there were five proximal, three middle and one distal hand phalanges.
The pelvis consisted of both ilia and ischia and the complete sacrum. All the leg bones apart from the right femur were present and complete. All the tarsals from the foot bones were present and all the metatarsals apart from the left fourth and fifth were also present but decayed. Only five proximal phalanges from the right foot remained.

Age and sex
Only the sciatic notch was available for examination from the pelvis and this was of the female type. The metrical data, the diameter of the femoral head and bicondylar width, the diameter of the heads of the humeri and the width of the glenoid fossae of the scapulae, were all within the female range. Since the skull and teeth were missing, the only method available to determine age was by examination of the degree of epiphyseal fusion. As it was the skeleton of a young person a reasonably accurate age estimate could be made. The epiphyses at the ends of most of the long bones had fused, although the distal ulnae were unfused, as were the sternal ends of the clavicles. In some bones, for example the proximal ulnae and distal radii, distal femurs and proximal tibiae and fibulae, fusion was just complete. There was partial fusion of the epiphyses for the bodies of the lower thoracic vertebrae, the ischial tuberosity was just fused and although the epiphyses at the iliac crest were present they were unfused, apart from the anterior iliac crest, which had fused. The acromial ends of the scapulae were unfused. All these are consistent with the individual being an adolescent aged 15–20 years.

Stature
The living stature was estimated from the lengths of the femur and tibia, using the regression equations of Trotter and Gleser (1952; 1958), as 156cm.

Skeletal pathology
Spondylolysis was present in the fifth lumbar vertebra, with the arch detached just under the superior articular surfaces. There was a slight crack in the posterior part of the right foramen of the fourth cervical vertebra that was probably caused by congenital non-fusion rather than by trauma. A Schmorl’s node was present on the inferior surface of the body of the eleventh thoracic vertebra.

Grave 3 (1956:232)
The bone from this site was described as a cremation, but in fact the ‘bone’ appears to be either a reddish mineral deposit formed into various formations that resemble bone or is possibly mineralised bone. The bowl that was found in this cist was described as being encrusted with lime carbonate deposits. The teeth were not cremated but only the shells of the crowns are present, the rest of the dentine and roots having decayed away. The various teeth that were identified are given below and, where possible, their stages of development, as described by Moorrees et al. (1963), reproduced by Scheuer and Black (2000, 157).
There is no repetition of teeth, so they must have come from one individual. Sometimes it is not possible to be certain of the amount of decay and whether or not the root would have been fully formed. It is probable, however, that the individual had the following state of dental eruption:

It cannot be ascertained whether the first permanent molars were erupted or not. From the stages of tooth development, the juvenile was probably aged around 51 ⁄2 years of age, ±15 months (Table 3.126).

Table 3.126—Stage of development of teeth, grave 3, 1956:232.

339. The human remains from Prendergast’s excavation were not re-examined as part of this project.
340. Prendergast and Ó Ríordáin’s reports label the graves ‘cists A, B, and C’, but for the purposes of consistency in this volume the graves have been renumbered graves 1, 2 and 3.
341. Parish of Churchtown, barony of Rathconrath. SMR WM025-090——. IGR 231862 246686.
342. GrA-24154.