2016:294 - Glennamong, Mayo

On 1 August 2016, human bones were discovered by a local hillwalker in a natural boulder chamber in psammitic schists and quartzite geology, in Glennamong townland, on Bengorm Mountain in the Nephin Beg Mountain range, Co. Mayo. The Gardaí were contacted and subsequently visited the site on 3 August, then removed a quantity of human bones that were delivered to the State Pathologist’s Office. The NMI and NMS were subsequently informed of the discovery.

A rescue excavation of the site was carried out by the author on behalf of the NMS over two days in August 2016. The natural boulder chamber at Glennamong is the result of the natural collapse of massive boulders on the mountain side. The ‘entrance’ is a small gap between boulders which provides cramped access into an internal chamber that measures 7m north-south x 3.5m x 1.45m maximum height. The ‘walls’ and ceiling comprise massive collapsed boulders. The chamber floor comprises medium- and large-sized stones and occasional small pieces of quartz.

The human bones removed by the Gardaí were localised to an area approximately 2m north-south x 0.6m. They had lain exposed on the surface of the chamber and were not buried in sediment or covered over. The rescue excavation focussed in on this area.

The earliest archaeological activity recorded was an artificial rectangular pit along the western side of the chamber. This had been created by removing stones that made up the natural floor of the chamber thereby creating a void in the rubble. The pit measured 1.4m north-south along the base, 0.6m east-west at the top, 0.4m deep at the northern end and 0.3m deep at the southern end. The floor and western side of the pit consisted of a massive sloping collapsed boulder. The three other sides of the pit were defined by large stones that are likely to have been naturally occurring but partially manipulated into place. Four relatively flat slabs partially stacked on one another were located on the surface of the rubble floor, against the northern end of the pit.

The pit contained two fills that, combined, filled approximately 0.25m of the 0.4m depth of the feature. The lowermost fill was a mid-grey blackish brown silt that rested on the natural boulder floor of the pit. It contained moderate quantities of small stones, occasional fragments of quartz, occasional fragments and flecks of charcoal, and human teeth and bone fragments. The uppermost fill was a mid-brown gravelly silt with a high gravelly inclusion. It contained moderate small and medium sized stones, occasional quartz fragments, charcoal and human bones. Further human bones rested on the surface of the pit fills. A smaller concentration of human bone rested on the natural rubble floor 0.55m to the south of the pit, spread over an area 0.4m x 0.4m.

Flecks and tiny fragments of charcoal were recovered from the surface of a shallow skim of sediment that rested on a natural boulder ledge located approximately 1m above ground level and 1.3m from the pit.

Analysis of the human remains recovered from the boulder chamber at Glennamong revealed the presence of eight individuals, each represented by a disarticulated quantity of remains. Nothing resembling a complete skeleton was retrieved. Represented in the deposit were two older adults (45+ years old), two adults, an adolescent, a 7-11 year old child, a 7-9 year old child, and a 3-5 year old child. No artefacts were recovered during the excavation. Radiocarbon dates are awaited.

School of Science, IT Sligo