2011:278 - TISAXON, Galway

In October 2011 a local person reported the existence of human remains exposed in a quarry face in the townland of Tisaxon, Co. Galway. Following further investigation by the National Monuments Service it was decided to undertake rescue excavations at the site. The archaeological works were funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and were undertaken over a period of five days between 1 and 11 November 2011.
The areas excavated are located on an esker ridge immediately west of the Tisaxon–Templemoyle townland boundary. The esker runs north-west/south-east, in the southern half of Tisaxon townland, to the west of the church and graveyard of Templemoyle (GA084-127) and would originally have continued north-east in the direction of the village of Newcastle. Most of the esker running north-east from the church and graveyard has been quarried and levelled in the last 50 years. Disturbance caused by quarrying activity was concentrated in an area measuring 30m north–south by 23m. As a result of the quarrying, the sand and gravel from the esker in the west and north had subsided. The human remains were exposed in the western face of the quarry, while the remains of a souterrain were identified in the northern face.
The burial was initially identified by a bone protruding from the section face of the quarry. This location corresponds to the southern slope of the esker and c. 8m west of the highest point. Quarrying and/or subsequent slippage had removed the lower limbs, and weathering of the protruding bone indicated that the skeleton had been exposed for some time. Cleaning down of the section face revealed a U-shaped cut filled with a mid-dark grey coarse sand and containing a human skeleton. The manual excavation of the feature exposed an east/west-aligned burial of a male aged 17–25, lying on his side and truncated at the eastern end. He had been shot through the side of the head by a socketed arrowhead and died instantly or shortly afterwards. The man had been afforded a Christian burial in an east–west alignment, but there was no evidence for a shroud or coffin. The body had been placed on its side in the grave rather than having been laid out. The small iron socketed arrowhead that pierced the skull measures 40mm in length, with the socket 10mm in width.
Located in the northern face of the quarry pit, the souterrain was identified 0.7m below the current ground level. The opening as revealed measured 0.7m wide by 0.48m high and was found to extend for a length of at least 1.8–2m in a north-north-east direction. The opening had been filled with loose stones and rubble. The passage was constructed of upright stones 0.45m in height that were laid on top of a stone surface and supported a roof of stone lintels. The feature appears to represent the creep for a souterrain.

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