County: Clare Site name: PARKNABINNIA (153)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0230
Author: Carleton Jones, Department of Archaeology, NUI Galway
Site type: Megalithic tomb - court tomb
Period/Dating: Neolithic (4000BC-2501 BC)
ITM: E 529486m, N 679574m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.862453, -9.047165
The excavation of Cl. 153 has been completed. Both chambers 1 and 2 were excavated down to bedrock. What was thought to be a third chamber at the rear of the tomb was found to be part of the cairn. Trenches C and E within the cairn were excavated to bedrock.
Large amounts of bone, mostly human, were recovered from Chambers 1 and 2. Some of the bone was cremated and some was inhumed. Of the inhumed bone, much was disarticulated but some appears to have been partially articulated. At least eighteen individuals are represented. They are both male and female and range in age from infant to adult. As was the case last year, osteophytosis on vertebrae and peridontal disease and calculus build-up on teeth were identified.
Finds from the tomb for all seasons included potsherds, bone and stone beads, two bone items that are probably opposing ends of a barbell-shaped toggle, leaf-shaped arrowheads, various lithic scraping and cutting implements, some débitage, quartz crystals and a few limpet shells.
The Parknabinnia ‘court’ tomb, Cl. 153, appears to be related to other court tombs but the shape of its forecourt and cairn sets it apart. Its forecourt is very narrow and straight-sided, about as wide as the chambers, while the cairn is roughly circular or U-shaped. This may be a regional variety of tomb as the nearby Ballyganner North and Leamaneh North ‘court’ tombs have similar features. All three should perhaps be referred to only cautiously as court tombs until the relationship to other court tombs is better understood.
The tomb will be partially reconstructed in 2002 and full publication, including a suite of radiocarbon dates, will follow. Funding was provided by Dúchas, on the recommendation of the National Committee for Archaeology of the Royal Irish Academy.
