SKELETAL REMAINS FOUND yesterday outside Trinity College are believed to be medieval in origin.

During utility trench excavations for the Luas Cross City line, the monitoring archaeologist on site noticed the some bones in the trench.

The works were stopped, and further hand excavation revealed the bones were the “articulated remains of a human burial”, said a Luas spokesperson.

The person had been buried on their side in a flexed position and was preserved at a depth of 1.5m below the footpath level.

The archaeologists have contacted the National Monuments Service and the National Museum and are agreeing on the method of excavation with them.

Human bone specialist

It is assumed that the upper half of the skeleton is also at the site, and the soil above this area will now be carefully excavated by hand.

An osteo-archaeologist (a human bone specialist) will visit the site today to advise the archaeologist on the best way to excavate the bones and how to lift them carefully from the ground.

The bones will be analysed later by the specialist in a lab, and it is hoped they will be able to confirm if it was a male or female, and find out more information about the person.

Source: Cliodhna Russell/TheJournal.ie

There are recorded Viking and medieval sites in the area around College Green, including the medieval Augustinian All Hallows Priory.

Because the person was buried on their side, this gives an indication that the burial was likely from medieval times.

In addition to this, some large pieces of well-preserved medieval pottery fragments were recovered on site yesterday, so it is likely that the burial is in a medieval layer, said the spokesperson.