2005:1617 - CHURCHTOWN, HOOK HEAD, Wexford

In 2000 Karl Brady and Connie Kelleher of the Underwater Archaeological Unit of Dúchas, The Heritage Service, undertook a rescue excavation of part of a burial that was exposed following the erosion of a low sea cliff at Little Cove, Churchtown, Co. Wexford (Excavations 2000, No. 1049, 00E0872). The complete removal of the skeleton was necessitated by continued erosion and, to this end, the author was requested to undertake the excavation by the National Monuments Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
The burial lay 435m from the early 13th-century Hook Lighthouse (SMR 54:10) and 300m from the medieval parish church of Churchtown (SMR 54:9). It was positioned on bedrock at a depth of 0.85m from the surface and was contained in a 0.38m-wide grave-cut that was visible in the exposed section. The north-east/south-west-orientated (with head to the north-west) grave truncated a 0.75m-deep raised beach, which produced an optically stimulated luminescence date of c. 6900 BP; i.e. in the late Mesolithic. No finds were recovered during the excavations.
Analysis of the burial by Laureen Buckley and Denise Keating indicated it was that of a 5’7–5’9 male aged c. 21–25 years at the time of death. Accentuated muscle markings in the upper body demonstrated that the individual was no stranger to hard work and the interment is interpreted as perhaps that of a sailor, pirate or victim of a shipwreck washed ashore and hastily buried. Direct AMS dating of the skeleton provided a determination of 1650–1950 cal. AD (2 sigma) or 1720–1780 cal. AD (1 sigma). Of interest was a discrete deposit of sand on the feet, which probably represents the contents of the individual’s shoes at the time of burial.