- KILWARDEN, CO. MEATH, Meath

Introduction
In May 1978 human remains and some textile were discovered during turf-cutting in a bog at Kilwarden, Co. Meath. The site was investigated the following day by Gardaí at Kinnegad, by which time the remains had been disturbed by visitors to the site. Two Polaroid photographs of the remains had been taken by Gardaí on Sunday 28 May, and on the advice of the Meath County Coroner, Dr Nathaniel Lacey, the remains were collected.²⁷ The remains were retained at Kinnegad Garda Station. They consisted of human bones with some skin tissue and hair and fragments of a woven woollen garment in fragments (the largest about 0.2m long). The NMI was alerted to the find by a report in the Evening Herald on 30 May 1978. The site was investigated on 1 June 1978 by Raghnall Ó Floinn.

Location (Fig. 5.15)
The site was in the townland of Kilwarden, west Co. Meath, just 3km north-east of Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, and only 40m due east of the border between the two counties.²⁸ The bog lay at an altitude of 60–70m above sea level.

Description of site
The find area had been completely disturbed by visitors to the site, and there was no evidence

Fig. 5.15—Location map, Kilwarden, Co. Meath.

of any structure. A few fragments of cloth, hair and bone were recovered from an area approximately 2m long east/west by 1m wide north/south.

The remains were found at a depth of 0.46m below the present ground level. The burial (1978:149) had been removed from its original location, but according to the finders the body lay extended in a supine position, with the arms stretched back over the head and crossed at the wrists. It lay in an east/west direction, with the head to the east. The legs were extended and the left leg was apparently broken upon discovery. Woollen cloth (1978:150) covered the chest and legs and was in a fragmentary state when recovered. The remains were found to represent a young adult female.

Comment
Two different types of textile were found associated with the body, and the weave of one was identical to the cloak from Meenybraddan, Co. Donegal, and that from Killerry, Co. Sligo, suggesting a late medieval date for this burial. The woman appears to have been clothed at the time of burial and was wearing stockings. A sample of the human remains was submitted for radiocarbon dating and yielded a result of 400±80 BP, which calibrates to AD 1400–1660.²⁹

HUMAN REMAINS
RAGHNALL Ó FLOINN AND LAUREEN BUCKLEY

Description of body
The body was ‘folded up’ in the plastic bag and had been transferred to a box in the museum, where it lay untouched for 25 years. It was then examined by an osteoarchaeologist as part of the unpublished burials project. As a first step in this process, a CT scan of the body was carried out at the Advanced Radiology Centre, Sandyford, Co. Dublin. The body was simply lifted out of the box and put through the scanner still in its folded-up position. From the scan it was possible to determine that there were no metallic or unusual objects present with the body. Most of the bones could be identified individually and an initial assessment indicated that the skeleton was female and probably a relatively young adult, as some epiphyseal lines were still visible at the ends of the femurs and tibiae. Two groups of vertebrae, still articulated, were visible, one consisting of five vertebrae and one consisting of six vertebrae. The presence of ribs near both sets of vertebrae suggested that they were still articulated.

In the Museum, the burial was placed on a table and unfolded, whereupon it separated into three distinct groups, and photographed. The first group corresponded roughly to the lower half of the body and consisted of the complete left femur, the distal two-thirds of the right femur, both tibiae and both fibulae, some tarsal bones and a patella. Also present, however, were a complete left scapula, a right radius, a right ulna and the distal end of a right humerus. There were also a few cervical and upper two thoracic vertebrae, as well as the sternum. Presumably the bones from the upper half of the body fell into this area when the skeleton was lying in a folded position. A small piece of adipocere was present and seemed to be attached to a fragment of ilium from the pelvis.

There was a large amount of textile present. In the area of the proximal right tibia, just below the knee area, there was a large piece of knitted fabric, probably part of a sock or stocking. It appeared to have been knitted in stocking stitch with very fine needles. Another fragment of knitted fabric was found near the distal tibia and there were some small holes and ladders in the stockings here. The remainder of the textile appeared to be a tweed fabric. Some of it was found in the area of the radius, and the sternum was also lying in a large piece of fabric. In the middle of this part of the skeleton was a strip of fabric, 13cm long.
Also present in this bundle were two large pieces of cranium, one of which had curled over when soft and had a piece of tweed fabric trapped inside. There was also a portion of left maxilla present. The second group contained five lower thoracic vertebrae that were still articulated and had ribs attached. A first lumbar vertebra was present near this group and was still partially attached to it. There was a large portion of the base of the skull, with the foramen magnum intact, that was folded up against the upper surface of a vertebra. Also present in this group was a large mass containing the left innominate from the pelvis, part of the right innominate and the sacrum. The other part of the right ilium was found in the first group of bone. Traces of the tweed material were found over the right innominate bone. The top of the left femur was still in the socket of the pelvis. Also in this group were some twigs, a lot of hair and the fifth metacarpal of the left hand. Photographs were taken of this group of bones.

The third group contained the right scapula and clavicle, and a group of six upper thoracic vertebrae with the ribs attached, four on the left and two on the right. The ribs had been bent over when soft. The left radius, the proximal end of the left humerus, an almost complete right humerus, left wrist bones and some metacarpals were also present. Most of the hair was found in this group. The fabric present in this group included a strip of tweed, 13cm long, that was folded over at the edge, and there was some thread at one end where a button may have been attached. One square piece of fabric may have been a pocket. This group of bones was photographed too.

It seems that the groups were divided into three main areas of the skeleton: the legs, the pelvic area and the thoracic skeleton. Bones from each part of the skeleton had fallen into other groups when the skeleton had been folded over. The skull in particular was very fragmented and had fallen apart. The fabric was removed for conservation. It was then much easier to see the bones, and after more photography the bones were placed in their usual anatomical positions. It could be seen that the skeleton was virtually complete and that some skin and tissue had also survived. The skull consisted of most of the frontal bone, including the orbital parts, both parietal bones, part of the occipital bone and the right mastoid temporal bone. The right greater wing of sphenoid, right zygomatic and the maxillae were also present. The vertebral column was complete apart from the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae, which were missing, and the lower three lumbar vertebrae, which were probably in the mass of the pelvis and were not visible. The seventh cervical and first thoracic vertebrae were still attached to ligaments. The second to seventh thoracic vertebrae were joined by ligaments; six ribs from the left side and three from the right were also attached to the vertebrae by ligaments but the ribs had bent where they had been folded over. The ninth thoracic to first lumbar vertebrae were also fused together by the preserved ligaments. There were two ribs from the left side and four from the right side still attached. There was also an additional one left rib and four right ribs that were not attached to the vertebrae.

Both clavicles and scapulae were complete. Some soft tissue was attached to the internal surface of the left scapula. The proximal two-thirds of the left humerus, the complete right humerus, complete radii and right ulna and the proximal two-thirds of the left ulna remained from the arm bones. The left ulna was curled over on itself and this must have happened while the bone was still soft. Some dried tissue was present on the outside of the ulna. There was a large amount of ligament or muscle tissue attached to the left humerus with some fabric attached to it. Some muscle tissue was attached to the back of the right humerus and some ligament was attached to the proximal end of the right ulna.

The hand bones consisted of the left third and fifth metacarpals, right triquetral and right hamate, right first, second and third metacarpals, and three proximal, three middle and one distal hand phalanges. The left third metacarpal was broken in the middle post-mortem. The ends were torn like a broken twig. The fifth right metacarpal was also broken post-mortem.

The pelvis was fused into one piece although some of the right ilium had broken off. The anterior surface of the pelvis had a lot of soft tissue present and some adipocere was present in the pelvic area. The left femur and tibia were complete but the proximal end of the left fibula was present. The tibia and fibula were extremely curved anteriorly/posteriorly as a result of softening in the bog and then compression in the plastic bag. The right femur was broken in the proximal third and the upper part of the bone was still in the socket in the pelvis. The break did not seem to have occurred during life as the ends had a torn appearance rather than being fractured. The right tibia and fibula were complete but the fibula was severely curved laterally. The left foot consisted of the talus, calcaneum and first metatarsal, and the right foot consisted of the talus, cuboid, navicular and middle cuneiform, all the metatarsals and two proximal phalanges.

Age and sex
The supraorbital ridges, orbital rims and right mastoid process were all of the female type. Only the inferior part of one pubic bone was visible in the pelvis and this also appeared to be of the female type. All the metric data were consistent with this being a female. The age was estimated from the epiphyseal fusion visible on the CT scan as no other features used in ageing were observable. It could be seen that it was the skeleton of a young adult. Stature was estimated using the lengths of the femur and tibia as 150–165cm.

Dentition

The crowns of the teeth were mostly destroyed by the acid conditions in the bog.

Summary and conclusions
The remains represent the almost fully skeletonised body of a young adult female. Virtually all the bones were present although some had been softened by the acid in the bog. A certain amount of flesh was preserved, particularly in the pelvic area and on the shoulder and upper arm areas. No injuries or pathology were noted on the bones.

The hair had been well preserved and there was a large quantity of clothing fibres around the body. This appears to represent two different fabrics: a woven tweed-like material probably used as a cloak, and knitted woollen stockings.

27. Dr Lacey had advised the Gardaí to collect the remains and rebury them.
28. Parish of Clonard, barony of Upper Moyfenrath. SMR ME040-002——. IGR 262425 247194.
29. GrA-24439.