County: Wicklow Site name: Britonstown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: WI009-039 Licence number: 13E0032
Author: Faith Bailey & Maeve Tobin
Site type: Early medieval cemetery
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 694693m, N 708271m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.116580, -6.585450
Excavation was carried out between 22 and 29 January 2013 at the site of a percolation area in Britonstown, where skeletal remains were identified during the initial ground works. The burials were located c. 4m north-east of three burials excavated in 1980, which are recorded as WI009-039. The excavation was carried out by Faith Bailey on behalf of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Five rows of graves, oriented west-south-west/east-north-east, were excavated within an area measuring c. 6m x 10m. A total of 32 grave cuts were identified in these five rows, 19 of which were fully excavated, four were partially excavated and nine were unexcavated. Of the 23 excavated graves 14 contained poorly preserved human remains. The burial activity has been dated to the late 6th and 7th century (2-Sigma date ranges AD 560–676 and AD 617–678). It is suggested that this burial ground supported a local familial community over a relatively short period of time. The skeletal remains ranged from very poor to moderate preservation and many of the graves only contained partial fragments of bone. As such it was only possible to determine minimal demographic data during the osteological analysis. It may be significant that the only adult remains with indicators of sex present were identified as females or possible females. While this may suggest distinct burial areas for males and females it is more likely a product of poor preservation. Children were also represented at Britonstown albeit in a minor way as the size of at least two of the grave cuts indicate juvenile burials.
The only artefact retrieved from the burial area was a quartz manuport which was deposited by the head of the young adult (Sk. 4) in stone-lined grave C12. There was no evidence for settlement or industrial activity as was the case with the burials excavated in the 1980s. Samples of slag, weighing 2.2kg, retrieved from pits excavated at this time have been submitted to metallurgical specialist Tim Young for analysis and the results of will be incorporated in a future publication.
IAC Ltd, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
