A recent archaeological excavation at Cabinteely in Co. Dublin has uncovered a number of human skeletons of probable early medieval date. Directed by Ken Wiggins, on behalf of Judith Carroll & Co, the excavation indentified the remains of at least five individuals, who had been interred in shallow, east-west oriented graves.

These newly discovered burials appear to be related to a large early medieval cemetery that was partially excavated at Cabinteely in the 1990s by a team of archaeologists led by Malachy Conway (Conway 1999).

During this earlier investigation over 1500 skeletons were found in a small area that measured just half the size of a tennis court. This enormous density of human remains was a result over 700 years of accumulated burial activity that had commenced sometime during the 5th century AD.

The majority of burials on Conway’s site had been laid out in a supine position (on their backs), with their heads to the west and many appeared to have been buried in shrouds. Subsequent specialist analysis of the remains identified a variety of pathologies, many of which were suggestive of hard, labour intensive lifestyles.

Some more unusual burials were also identified at the cemetery, including an individual with a trepanated skull, a male who had been killed by multiple sword blows and a pregnant woman, who had sadly died during child birth.

Due to the limits of the original development site Malachy Conway’s excavation revealed only a small portion of a much larger burial ground, which appeared to extend into adjacent properties. The five newly discovered skeletons are located just a short distance from this site and it seems highly likely that form part of the same cemetery. Hopefully post-excavation analysis of the burials will confirm this hypothesis.

References

Conway, M. (1999) Directors First Findings from Excavations in Cabinteely, Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd, Dublin

Thanks

Thanks to Ken Wiggins & Judith Carroll for their assistance in producing this blog post