County: Wexford Site name: Mersheen
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 12E159
Author: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil
Site type: Early Bronze Age cremation pit
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 672564m, N 609594m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.233303, -6.937686
A single cremation pit was discovered and excavated during monitoring on an access road into a forestry plantation at Mersheen, Hook head, county Wexford. The pit was an oval shape and measured 0.33m x 0.28m x 0.1m deep. In total 905 fragments of human bone were recovered and these fragments weighed 48.1g. However these only represent a small fraction of the bones in the human body which clearly suggest that the burial is a secondary cremation and does not represent the site of the cremation pyre. A cremated bone was AMS radiocarbon dated to the Early Bronze Age, 1940-1770 cal. BC (Beta 330306).
The discovery of a cremation pit at Mersheen is of significance considering the limited evidence for prehistoric activity on the Hook peninsula. The location of the burial on a ridge overlooking Waterford Harbour is also of interest as it may suggest that this burial site was chosen due to its prominence in the landscape.
Kilkenny Archaeology, 12 Parliament Street, Kilkenny
