2002:1253 - ROSSTEMPLE (BGE 3/72/5), Limerick

This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. Five pits, two of which may be cremation burials, a post-hole and a short linear feature were excavated in a 36m stretch of the pipeline easement. The archaeological deposits were not continuous in this area, however: they were arranged as a complex of features with scattered outliers.

The two possible cremation burials, one of the small pits and the gully formed a complex in an area that was severely disturbed and truncated. The pit survived to a depth of just 0.02m. The smaller possible cremation burial survived to 0.04m deep; the larger cremation pit measured 0.59m by 0.46m and was 0.16m deep, with a steeply concave profile and an irregular oval plan. Neither contained deposits particularly rich in charcoal, and the small amounts of burnt bone may prove to be animal. The fact that a piece of unburnt animal bone was included in the larger pit may support this theory.

The short length of gully lay adjacent and roughly parallel to a field boundary. The surviving length was 2.04m, and it was 0.56m wide and 0.17m deep, with a concave profile. The fill produced a small amount of burnt bone. Again, it is not known at this stage whether this bone is human; its discovery in the fill of the gully is curious. In addition to the bone, six small pieces of possibly worked chert were recovered.

A small but well-defined pit and a deep post-hole with packing stones lay 15m to the east of the main focus of the site. Another shallow pit, 15m farther east again, appeared to show evidence of burning having taken place on the surface.

In the absence of absolute dating and identification of the burnt/cremated bone little explanation of the site can be given. It is perhaps noteworthy that a complex of prehistoric features was excavated 50m to the west (No. 1254, Excavations 2002, 02E0510).

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin