2005:505 - LUSK: Church Road, Dublin

Fingal County Council have undertaken a road widening and traffic management scheme at Church Road, Lusk, Co. Dublin. The site is located 150m west of, and within the precincts of, the early medieval monastic site in the historic town of Lusk. An assessment was undertaken by Linda Clarke in March 2005 (see No. 504, Excavations 2005), which revealed buried human remains that were interpreted as part of a medieval burial ground.

Fingal County Council were granted consent to carry out the works subject to a full archaeological excavation at the site. The excavation was carried out from 7 June to 3 August 2005 under ministerial consent.

Five burials were recorded in the course of the initial assessment. Two of these consisted of extended adult inhumations orientated east–west, with the head located at the west. This is typical of Christian burial practice and, in an archaeological context, indicative of the medieval period. A date of c. AD 1000 was suggested for these burials. The remaining three burials consisted of assorted upper and lower limbs. In the course of the excavation, the two extended inhumations (Burials 1 and 4) and two of the partial burials (Burials 2 and 3) were re-exposed and fully recorded. The fifth burial from the assessment was not located in the course of the excavation. It is suggested that Burials 2, 3 and 5 consisted of disarticulated human remains. Numerous other disarticulated human remains were collected in the course of clearance.

Six additional burials were recorded in the course of the excavation. They were all extended, supine and orientated east–west, with the head at the west. All were recorded very close to the existing ground surface. Of the six additional burials, five were adults and one was an infant. Two of the burials (Burials 9 and 10) were contained within the same grave-cut. Burial 9 contained an iron leaf-shaped spearhead protruding from the upper right-hand side of the torso. The spearhead was recorded in situ and had dislodged a number of ribs. The hands of both burials were joined in the centre of the grave-cut. Burial 10 was decapitated. The spearhead is of a type known from Lagore Crannóg and of early medieval date. A preliminary assessment of the burials would suggest that they are all of an early medieval date. Further burials may be located to the north of the excavated area.

The fragmentary remains of a stone-lined souterrain were also recorded at the site. This consisted of two galleries connected by a creep. Gallery 1 was an oblong chamber, with the partial remains of its stone facing recorded in situ. It was 12m long within the excavated area by 2m wide. The long axis of this chamber was orientated north-west/south-east. The stone facing was recorded on the western and southern sides at the south of the structure and consisted of mainly unworked limestone blocks and boulders built to an interior face. The western facing was c. 5m long and abutted the southern facing. Elsewhere at the base of this gallery two lines of stone sockets were present in place of the stone facing. The floor of this gallery consisted of a well-laid metalled surface. There was no roof present, but the profile of the stone facing combined with the presence of three flat slabs within the gallery suggests that it may have been a corbelled structure. A short recess/passage with dimensions of 0.4m wide by 0.4m high by 1.5m long extended at floor level from the southern side of Gallery 1. Two rotary disc quernstones were reused as roof lintels in this structure.

The second gallery was located at the west of Gallery 1. It was 2.2m long by 1.7m wide within the excavated area. It was stone-faced on all three of the recorded sides and utilised smaller limestone blocks than those recorded in Gallery 1. The floor of this gallery also consisted of a well-laid metalled surface. The southern side of a short creep between the two galleries was also recorded. This was 2m long and there was a noticeable incline from Gallery 2 to Gallery 1. The floor within the creep also consisted of a metalled surface and the southern side was lined with a series of stone sockets where stone facing once existed. There were no burials cut by the souterrain and none were recorded above it, suggesting that the souterrain and the burials may have been broadly contemporary.

The two galleries and the creep were backfilled in the medieval period when numerous animal bones and sherds of medieval pottery were dumped into them. The remainder of the stone facing may also have been robbed-out during this period.

Excavation works were confined to the area of the proposed road widening. As a result, neither of the galleries nor the creep were fully exposed. Significant archaeological deposits are therefore preserved in situ outside of the road corridor at the north of the site. All exposed archaeological features on this northern limit of excavation were covered with a geotextile membrane and backfilled in advance of road-widening works under archaeological supervision.

A substantial ditch was recorded at the eastern side of the site. It was 5m long within the excavated area, with a slight curvature noted. This ditch was steep-sided and 2.5m wide by 1.5m deep. It had a V-shaped profile and the basal fill consisted of a redeposited boulder clay, suggestive of eroded/flattened bank material. The remaining fills silted up over time. The only artefact collected from the ditch was an undiagnostic iron nail, although it should be possible to obtain a secure date from the collected soil samples. The ditch also extended beyond the northern limit of excavation.

Ground-reduction works within the site were carried on under archaeological supervision to ensure proper preservation of the remainder of the souterrain and ditch and to ensure that no further burials were disturbed.

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