- GREATDOWN, CO. WESTMEATH, Westmeath

Introduction
In March 1979 a short cist containing an inhumation and a bowl was discovered during the digging of a drain for a dwelling house near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. The cist slabs had been removed by the landowner before the contents were realised to be archaeological. The cist was reported to the NMI by Mr Jeremiah Sheehan of Moate, and a rescue excavation was undertaken by Joseph McCabe and Brian Ronayne of the Archaeological Survey, Office of Public Works, on behalf of the Museum.³²⁷ This report is based on the accounts of the excavators. The human remains were examined by Laureen Buckley.

Location (Fig. 3.187)
The site was in the townland of Greatdown, approximately 7km east of Mullingar, east Co. Westmeath.³²⁸ It was close to The Downs village, at an altitude of approximately 100m above sea level. No sites of similar date are known from the townland.

Description of site
The cist was rectangular in plan, with its long axis running east-north-east/west-south-west. Most of the cist had been disturbed, and the excavation was only able to reveal the pit dug to receive the cist.

 

Fig. 3.187—Location map, Greatdown, Co. Westmeath.This measured approximately 0.8m long by 0.5m wide. No further information as to the grave structure was retrievable.
The cist contained a crouched inhumation of an adult male (1979:110) and a ribbed bowl. The bowl had been removed from the cist and the burial was severely disturbed. The bones appeared to have been scooped out of the cist and then replaced. According to original reports, the burial had been crouched.

Ribbed bowl, 1979:109 (Fig. 3.188)
The vessel is intact except for some ancient chipping on the rim and base. A portion of the rim, inside and out, is covered in a calcitic concretion. The vessel is of coarse fabric, light brown in colour, containing many quartz grits up to 4mm in length. The neck is upright with an internally bevelled rim. There are four horizontal ribs on the body, below which the vessel tapers to a narrow base. The rim bevel, body and base are covered with comb impressions. These are arranged horizontally at the rim and base and vertically on the body. The neck is further decorated with a row of light fingertip(?) impressions forming a running zigzag, while the lower body bears a row of contiguous V-shaped impressions. The base is ornamented with a series of comb impressions arranged radially.
Dimensions: H 12cm; ext. D rim 16cm; int. D rim 15cm; D base 6.2cm.

Comment
The human remains from this site have not been dated. The typology of the vessel places it in stage 3 of Brindley’s (2007, 174–5) scheme of development for Irish bowls, which has been dated to the period c. 1980–1920 BC.

 

Fig. 3.188—Ceramic vessel, Greatdown, Co. Westmeath.HUMAN REMAINS
LAUREEN BUCKLEY

Description (1979:110)
The skull was missing, and only the lower eight thoracic and upper two lumbar vertebrae remained from the vertebral column. They were not all complete. Only one left rib and six right ribs remained. The left shoulder and upper arm did not survive, but the right scapula was complete and the lateral two thirds of the right clavicle were present. Only the shafts of the left radius and ulna were present, but the right humerus, radius and ulna were complete.
Most of the right ilium and part of the right ischium survived from the pelvis. Both femurs were almost complete but were very decayed at their proximal ends and fragmented at the distal ends. The shafts and the lateral parts of the proximal ends of both tibiae were well as the shaft of the left fibula and the distal three-quarters of the right fibula. The right patella was also present but very decayed. Only the right talus and calcaneus survived from the foot bones.

Age and sex
There was insufficient information to enable this skeleton to be sexed accurately. The sciatic notch was fairly wide but seemed to be more male than female. The diameter of the head of the humerus was the only measurement available but it was definitely in the male range. Therefore this skeleton was probably a male individual. Examination of the auricular surface of the ilium revealed it to be an older adult over 50 years of age at the time of death.
Assuming that this is a male, the living stature, using the length of the femur, is estimated at 177cm. This is much taller than the range of 170–173cm usually found in prehistoric Populations.

Skeletal pathology
A lot of bones were encrusted with cement, which had presumably occurred when the foundations were being laid. This made examination difficult. There was some degeneration of the joints, probably owing to old age. The right shoulder was affected, with mild lipping of the inferior edge of the glenoid area of the right scapula and some moderate porosity of the acromial articular facet. There was also moderate marginal lipping of the inferior part of the right acetabulum and marginal lipping and surface osteophytes of the right femur head. The knee and ankle joints were hard to examine owing to the cement but there did seem to be some porosity of the proximal ends of both tibiae.
Osteoarthritis was present in the vertebral column, with severe osteophytes and polishing of the right superior articular surface of T5. Moderate or severe marginal osteophytes were present on the posterior articular surfaces of most of the other lower thoracic vertebrae and upper two lumbar vertebrae. There was also some degeneration of the costo-vertebral joints. Schmorl’s nodes were noted on the superior and inferior surfaces of the twelfth thoracic vertebra only. The eleventh and twelfth thoracic vertebrae and the first lumbar vertebra also had mild osteophytosis of the vertebral bodies.

Summary and conclusions
Although damaged by the disturbance and by the cement from the house foundations, this skeleton was relatively complete, apart from the skull, upper vertebrae and left shoulder. It appeared to be the skeleton of an older adult male, whose living stature of 177cm made him quite tall compared to the average stature of males found from other Irish sites. He had endured a rigorous lifestyle and was suffering from osteoarthritis and osteophytosis of the spine and degeneration of other joints at the time of death.

327. As the Archaeological Survey was based in Mullingar, Mr McCabe and Mr Ronayne were asked to examine the site.
328. Parish of Killucan, barony of Farbill. SMR WM020-104——. IGR 250300 251620.