2014:629 - QUARRY 3, M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy Scheme, Wexford

Quarry 3 was located on the M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy Scheme, Co Wexford. The site was situated in a large pasture field overlooking a watercourse. The excavation revealed evidence of an Early Bronze Age cremation cemetery, including two urn burials and several pit burials, and an early medieval kiln dated to the 8th – 10th centuries AD. Limited evidence of Early-Middle Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age activity was also recorded. A post-medieval field ditch continued beyond the limits of the excavation.

The earliest dated feature was a pit containing the cremated remains of at least one adult and one infant, dated to mid-24th to mid-20th centuries with the greatest possibility that the actual date was towards the end of that range. A unique grooved bone dagger hilt and bone pin appear to have been included on the cremation pyre, suggesting an individual of some status was buried here. Perhaps this significant burial formed a founding deposit for the cemetery, with later generations being buried close to an important ancestor. Two collared urns, likely dating to 1800-1650 BC, were recovered and a large assemblage of cremated human bone was retrieved representing several individuals.

The cemetery seemingly spanned the entire Early Bronze Age, potentially from the end of the Chalcolithic (i.e. before 2200 BC) to the start of the Middle Bronze Age (after 1600 BC). Whilst this does not necessarily mean that the site was in continuous use for 600 years, it demonstrates that people were returning to use the cemetery and that the knowledge of its presence was passed on from one generation to the next.

The archaeological features and deposits within the site were fully excavated and the excavated area was backfilled and reinstated.