County: Westmeath Site name: MARLINSTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 9:66 Licence number: —
Author: Valerie J. Keeley
Site type: Burial ground
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 646241m, N 752722m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.522434, -7.302670
During a five-week period in April-May 1991 a second season's excavation was conducted on the site. Over the season's work the eastern half of the monument which is scheduled to be destroyed by motorway construction was fully excavated as was a significant portion of the remaining area. The bank and ditch were further investigated establishing that the bank was best preserved on the western side of the monument where it attained a maximum height of 2m. The outer ditch was also well preserved in this area and had not been affected by soil action as had occurred on the eastern side of the monument.
The inner enclosure ditch was fully excavated confirming that this feature post-dated the initial phase of activity at the fort. It comprised a well-defined ditch which varied in depth and content from the western to the eastern side of the monument. On the west the fill consisted of an homogeneous clay fill with scattered animal bone inclusions while on the north and east side the feature was narrower in width and contained a considerable amount of material including animal bones, crucible fragments, iron slag, bronze artifacts etc. A simple entrance feature was located at the south-east. A metal working area was uncovered in the area of the northern bank. Here a bowl furnace and associated pits were discovered.
Additional burials were uncovered at the site bringing the maximum count to 14. Where burial was formal all were represented by extended inhumation with the head at west. The skeleton of an adult male was recovered from the outer ditch; this was an extended inhumation lying along the line of the ditch. The inner enclosure ditch also contained skeletal material. Here the remains of a child were uncovered. Not all the bones were present but skeletal analysis indicates that the child may have fallen or been thrown into the ditch. It lay across the ditch with the head at west. The skeletons of two children buried simultaneously were also recovered from within the monument. These lay facing each other with the skulls touching. The remains of an adult female placed front downward in a grave were also found. This represents the second example of an atypical burial from the site.
A significant amount of animal bone, charcoal and finds were recovered from the site, the bulk of these being found in the fill of the inner ditch. Finds include iron knives, an iron leather scorer and pin fragments, a bronze ring and bracelet, crucible fragments much vitreous material.
29/30 Duke St., Athy, Co. Kildare
