1987:27 - KILGOWAN, Kildare

Investigation and limited excavation of a disturbed burial ground in Kilgowan Td, Co. Kildare, took place 10-28 August 1987. The site, a gravel hill, is marked by a granite standing stone known as the 'Long Stone'. The area of disturbance was represented by a machine-cut trackway through the gravel hill on its northern slope. This area measured approximately 150m in length and 8m in width. A large amount of disturbed material had been redeposited on the northern and southern sides of the trackway, giving the hill a stepped appearance. The work was financed by Spollen Concrete Group Ltd.

The aim of the project was to clean the disturbed area, to retain any archaeologically significant material recovered from the machine spoil, to inspect the sections cut through the hill, to carry out limited excavation where necessary, and finally to reinstate the monument.

The results of the excavation are as follows: nine in-situ burials, including that of an infant, were recovered from the northern and southern sides of the trackway on the eastern slope of the hill. These were represented by extended inhumations in simple shallow graves. All were devoid of grave goods. The burials lay directly below the topsoil in the sand. Orientation was west, south-west to east, north-east, with the head at west, south-west. Only three of the burials were completely intact, two were disarticulated, and in three examples various arm and leg bones were not present. One burial was represented by only the lower half of the skeleton, the upper portion having been removed by the cutting of a drain at some time in the past. In some cases it was apparent that earlier burials had been disturbed by the insertion of later deposits.

Excavation of the trackway to the east of the burials uncovered a portion of a ditch-type feature. This measured 2.5m in maximum width and up to 1m in depth. It had a U-shaped profile and the fill consisted of a dark silty material with occasional flecks of charcoal. Two sherds of medieval pottery and animal bones were recovered from the fill. As no burials were found to the east of this feature it may be that it represents a surrounding ditch for the burial ground. A second feature, a hearth, was also uncovered. This appeared as a key-hole-shaped area of burnt orange sand. The maximum diameter of the nearly circular area measured 0.9m. The linear extension appears to have been formed by machine disturbance. Fragments and flecks of charcoal were recovered from the fill. Bone and burnt bone inclusions were also represented. A setting of large, flat stones lay at the base of the hearth. A large amount of skeletal material was recovered from the machine spoil. A minimum count of sixteen individuals, including children, was obtained from this material. It can be stated that these disturbed burials lay in the area of the trackway directly in line with the in situ examples, on the lower eastern slope of the hill. On the basis of the limited excavation, it is suggested that the burial ground extends over a significant area of the hillside.

Portable finds included iron knives and nails, sherds of glazed ware pottery and one sherd of prehistoric pottery.

The absence of accompanying grave goods makes the placing of the site within a chronological framework rather difficult as the practice of single extended inhumations is an extensive one. Therefore a definite date for the site will not be suggested prior to an examination of the results of C14 analyses of the bone samples.

Universitat Tubingen, Institut fur Urgeschichte (Jagerische Archaologie) , Schloss, D-7400 Tubingen 1