- BROUGHER, CO. SLIGO, Sligo

Introduction
In July 1972 a short cist containing a cremation was discovered near Lough Arrow, Co. Sligo. The discovery was made during the excavation for sand of a low gravel knoll where two other early Bronze Age burials had been discovered in 1970 (NMI 1973). One of the end stones was struck and displaced, and the ends of the side stones, the edge of the capstone and the gravel fill of the structure were revealed. The landowner, Mr John Lynch, informed Mr Patrick Kitchin of Newpark, Ballymote, who reported the matter to the NMI. A rescue excavation was undertaken on 5 July 1972 by Michael Ryan, accompanied by Dr Patrick Heraughty and Mr Kitchin. The human remains were examined by Laureen Buckley. This report is based on Ryan’s account of the excavation.

Location (Fig. 3.156)
The site was in the townland of Brougher, south-east Co. Sligo, close to the border with County Roscommon.²⁸² It lay at an altitude of 90–100m above sea level on the same gravel knoll as the cist excavated by Étienne Rynne on behalf of the NMI in 1970 (ibid.).

Description of site
The sand-digging operations revealed a section face across the upper layers of the knoll. The following strata were observed. A thin layer of topsoil was followed by a thick deposit of gravel composed in the main of small pebbles. Underlying this was a stratum of fine, clean sand.

The cist was subrectangular in plan, with its long axis aligned north-west/south-east. Internally it measured 0.54m long by 0.33m wide by 0.44m high (Fig. 3.157). It was composed of five main edge-set slabs, one each forming the northern, eastern and southern walls, and two thinner slabs (placed parallel to each other) forming the westernmost wall. According to the landowner, the end of the cist which he discovered during his digging was closed by means of two stones set on edge, one resting on top of the other.²⁸³ The precise position of the two stones was not determinable. Possible evidence of the existence of a socket for the lower stone would have been destroyed upon discovery of the cist. The two side stones were socketed into the lowest fill layer of the cist in narrow rectangular slots by pressure of their weight on the sand rather than in excavated trenches. The cist seems to have been reinforced on all external sides by a number of smaller packing stones and was sealed by a curvilinear capstone measuring 0.56m long by 0.56m wide by 0.19m thick. The floor of the cist was of undisturbed sand. It was extremely difficult to locate the edge of the pit visually or by touch because of the coarseness of the material into which it was excavated. Examination of the packing stones provided the best guidance for the line of the pit, which measured 0.74m wide by 0.45m deep.
The grave contained the cremated bones of possibly two individuals, an adult male and an adult (1972:178). No accompanying artefacts were found. The cist was filled to a depth of 0.35m below the capstone with a homogeneous gravel deposit. Below this was a deposit of cremated bone (maximum thickness 0.08m) mixed with gravel and tiny flecks of charcoal. This layer rested directly on and covered the whole area of the floor of the cist. It was noted by the excavator that some of the skull bones, radius and ulna had a green ‘cuprous’ staining, suggesting that a metal object had been on the remains when cremated. Nothing further is known of this, however, and it has also been suggested that this may be a natural stain caused by minerals in the local environment.

Comment
The human remains from this site have not been dated. In the absence of any associated finds, it is assumed to be early Bronze Age in date on the basis of its form. As a result of the investigation of the site in 1970 two ribbed bowls were acquired (Ó Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 130, figs 323, 324). One vessel was found in a cist with some cremated bone (excavated by Rynne in 1970), while the other had been found close by some years previously in what may have been a slab-covered pit, but this was not reported at the time. It was about 4.5m away from the cist excavated by Rynne. By comparison with vessels described by Brindley (2007, 173–5, 244–8), the ribbed bowl from the cist²⁸⁴ is very similar to bowls of stage 1 bowl development such as Ploopluck, Co. Kildare (Ó Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 160, no. 299), while the ribbed bowl from the pit²⁸⁵ is very similar to stage 3 bowls such as Rubane, Co. Down (Ó Ríordáin and Waddell 1993, 160, no. 8). These stages are dated to 2160–2080 BC and 1980–1930/20 BC (Brindley 2007, 328).
The discovery of two cists and a pit within a short distance of one another on a gravel knoll that was described as natural but had the appearance of a mound suggests the presence of a cemetery at this location.

HUMAN REMAINS
LAUREEN BUCKLEY

Introduction
Sample 1972:178 consisted of 3,287 fragments of cremated bone, weighing a total of 1,352g. The bone was white and was efficiently cremated, with numerous horizontal fissures on the surface. Some thicker fragments with cancellous bone were a creamy colour and seemed to be barely changed by the cremation process. The larger fragments of long bone were warped. Some of the skull and radius and ulna fragments were spotted with a green-blue colouration. This probably came from mineral deposits in the soil. The fragmentation of the sample is shown in Table 3.92, with the largest fragment being 80mm in length.

Table 3.92—Fragmentation of bone, 1972:178.

It can be seen that there is only a relatively small proportion of very large fragments but tha most of the sample is made up of large fragments more than 15mm in length. Only a quarter of the sample consists of smaller fragments less than 15mm in length. It is highly likely, therefore, that the sample was not deliberately crushed after cremation but fragmented along fissure lines.

Identifiable bone
A total of 648g (48% of the total bone) was identified (Table 3.93). This is a reasonable percentage of identifiable bone, considering that there was a high proportion of large fragments but a relatively small amount of very large fragments. It compares well to other Bronze Age cremations of this type.

Table 3.94 summarises the main parts of the skeleton identified from this sample. It can be seen that the skull is overrepresented, as the proportion of skull is twice what it should be. The axial skeleton is just over half of what it should be. This is not surprising, as the vertebrae are very light, fragile bones that would break easily on disturbance, and the small fragments of cancellous bones are easily lost either during excavation or during post-excavation

Table 3.93—Proportion of identified bone, 1972:178.

Table 3.94—Summary of identified bone, 1972:178.

Description of identifiable features of the bones
Skull
There were several fragments of the squamous part of the frontal bone, including a left orbit with the rim and supraorbital ridge, indicating that it is from a male individual.
There were several large fragments of parietal bone from the anterior and posterior parts, with the coronal, sagittal and lambdoid sutures present in various fragments. The sutures did not appear to be fused. One large fragment of the squamous part of the occipital bone, including most of the lambdoid suture, was present. The almost complete mastoid area of a right temporal bone was present and the large mastoid process indicated that it was from a male. A small fragment of mastoid area from another temporal bone was present. There were also two fragments of the petrous portion of the temporal bone and one fragment of the squamous part.
The complete right zygomatic and part of the left zygomatic bones were present. The body and right greater wing of sphenoid were present.

Mandible and maxilla
Most of the right side of the body was present and there were a few small fragments of the mandibular body, including a small fragment with two unidentified sockets for single-rooted teeth. There was also part of the left ramus with the coronoid process present and a fragment of right ramus from near the angle. One mandibular condyle was also present.
The frontal process of a right maxillary bone was present, as well as part of the right side of the palate with tooth sockets present. The left side of the maxilla was also present.
The roots of at least four molar teeth, two premolars and a few of the anterior teeth were present and there were also a few fragments of shattered crowns.

Dentition
The following tooth sockets were present:

Vertebrae
Most of the left sides and a fragment of the posterior part of the neural arch of the first cervical vertebra were present. Part of the centrum and left side of the arches of two lower cervical vertebrae were present, as well as the complete body and part of two other bodies. Part of the bodies and arches of two upper and one lower thoracic vertebrae were present, as well as fragments of two other arches and a few articular surfaces. There were a few articular surfaces only from the lumbar vertebrae and a few fragments of sacrum.

Ribs
Several rib fragments were present; most were from the shaft and some were split through the middle of the bone, but there were at least six fragments from the left and six from the right with the transverse articular processes present.

Pelvis
Fragments of auricular surface from two ilia were present, as well as a few fragments of acetabulum and other small fragments of ilium.

Clavicles
A few fragments of shaft and one partial sternal end were present.

Scapulae
A large fragment of lateral border from a right bone and a coracoid process were present.

Humerus
Most of the fragments were shaft fragments, including fragments from the proximal end of the shaft. There were fragments from two distal joint ends with the capitulum and part of the trochlea present. Another distal joint end from a right bone was also present.

Radius
The proximal third of the shaft of a radius with the radial tuberosity visible was present, and there was also another fragment of proximal shaft with a proximal joint surface. Several fragments of the distal half of the shaft were also present.

Ulna
There were several fragments from both the proximal and distal halves of shaft, as well as a fragment of proximal articular surface from a right ulna.

Carpals, metacarpals and phalanges
Left and right lunate and a smaller left lunate were present, as well as a right scaphoid bone. Two first metacarpals, one second and ten other metacarpals were present. There were also six proximal, three middle and five distal hand phalanges.

Femur
There was an almost complete femoral head and a fragment of another head. Most of the fragments were shaft fragments, some with the linea aspera present, although it was not particularly pronounced. Fragments from the distal end of the shaft were present and there was a fragment of distal joint end. The head of the femur seemed to be fused to the shaft.

Tibia
There was a large fragment of shaft with the lateral surface and interosseous border present. Some fragments were from the posterior surface near the proximal end, and one had a nutrient foramen visible. The anterior border with part of the medial and lateral surfaces was also present. The left proximal articular surface was almost complete and there were fragments of the right.

Fibula
Fragments of shaft only were present.

Patella
Part of an anterior surface of a patella survived.

Tarsals/metatarsals
A fragment of talus and a few fragments of other tarsal bones were present, as well as six metatarsal shafts, the heads of two first metatarsals and three other metatarsal heads. There were two first proximal phalanges, four other proximal phalanges and three distal phalanges, including two from the first toes.

Minimum number of individuals
There appear to be two individuals here, based on the number of humeri, carpals and metacarpals present. Both seem to be adult and at least one is an early middle adult male.

Summary and conclusions
This cremation consisted of 1,352g of white, efficiently cremated bone. The bone was not highly crushed, although a relatively low proportion of very large fragments was present. It was possible to identify 48% of the bone and all skeletal elements were identified, although the skull was overrepresented at the expense of the axial skeleton. The sample represents the remains of at least two adult individuals, one of whom was an adult male in early middle Age.

282. Parish of Toomour, barony of Corran; OS 6in. sheet 40; exact location not marked but apparently on the same gravel knoll as that excavated by Rynne in 1970. IGR (mound barrow) 175470 307520. SMR SL0 40- 155001–003 are recorded as a barrow mound, a cist and a pit.
283. The end discovered by the landowner is presumed here to be the end which is drawn in section (see Fig. 3.157), that is, the easternmost end.
284. 1970:18.
285. 1970:19.