Archaeologists find bones of a Stone Age child and an adult in tiny cave

Knocknarea Mountain with Maeve's Cairn on Top

The Irish News edition of 28^th February 2014, reported that archaeologists at IT Sligo had found bones of a Stone Age child and an adult in a tiny cave high on Knocknarea Mountain. Radiocarbon dating has shown that they are 5,500 years old, which makes them among the earliest human bones found in the county. While this discovery is very exciting it is not entirely surprising, given the rich archaeological heritage of the county. The find provides important new evidence of Knocknarea’s Neolithic past and a prehistoric practice known as “excarnation” or de-fleshing.

Researchers discovered a total of 13 small bones and bone fragments in an almost inaccessible cave in November 2013. Three of the bones were from the child aged 4 to 6 years and 10 were from an adult aged 30 – 39 years. They included foot bones and fragments of skull. It was not possible to establish gender.

Archaeologists believe that the adult had been placed in the cave about 300 years before the child, who died about 5,200 years ago. The small number of bones and their small size suggest that the cave was an excarnation site. This process involved a corpse being placed in a cave and, after decomposition, the dry bones being transferred elsewhere. Fragments were sometimes accidentally left behind.

Dr Marion Dowd of IT Sligo is quoted as saying:  “When people died in prehistory, their corpses were sometimes laid out in caves. After one or two years, when the flesh and soft tissue had decomposed, the dry bones were collected and removed to another location.”

The final resting place of these ancient remains will probably never be known but this area of Sligo is rich in megalithic burial sites. Maeve’s Cairn, also known as Miosgan Meadhbha, is situated on the top of Knocknarea Mountain and must be a possibility. It has not been excavated but archaeologists believe that it belongs to the Irish megalithic tradition and dates from c3,200 BC - around the time the remains were deposited in the cave. It is the largest monument in the region and comparable to the Boyne Valley monuments in size and age.

Knocknarea Mountain overlooks Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, which is the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland. It is also among the country’s oldest megalithic cemeteries with dates ranging between 4,500 – 3,500 BC. The meaning and function of these early stone monuments remain one of the mysteries of archaeology. It is known that the Megalithic tradition died out about 5,000 years ago when it was at its peak.

The earliest dates from the excavated tombs at Carrowmore centre around 5,000 BC with the latest about 3,000 BC. Archaeologists believe that most of the monuments were erected and used between 4,300 and 3,500 BC.

Listoghil Megalithic Tomb - Carrowmore

It is known that during the building of Listoghil, the main monument at Carrowmore, ritual activities took place involving extensive fires and these have been dated to 3,650 – 3,450 BC. A number of pits had also been dug during these ritual activities. Two cremations containing the remains of several humans were deposited in the circle behind the southern and western kerbstones and these were dated to 3,550 BC. The recovery of a piece of human skull dated to 3,500 BC shows that inhumations took place within the building period.

The discovery of 5,500 year old human bones in a cave on Knocknarea Mountain reminds us of the importance of Co. Sligo in pre-historic times and provides evidence for the practice of “excarnation” or de-fleshing prior to final burial.

The Derrymaquirk Bog Bodies

In 1959 the skeleton of a young woman, the skull of an infant, approximately two years old together with some animal bones (sheep/goat, dog and antler), were found in a bog in the townland of Derrymaquirk on the eastern side of Lough Gara, Co Roscommon. A large stone had been placed on the stomach of the woman and a piece of wood lay under her head.  Archaeologists believe that the piece of antler may have been significant in terms of the religious beliefs of the time. This burial has been dated to between 750 - 200 BC. Unlike other bog bodies which appear to have been placed in bog pools, the Derrymaquirk remains were in a cut grave and archaeologists believe that this was a formal burial rather than the disposal of victims of sacrifice.

Other examples of human remains similar to those at Derrymaquirk have been found in bog areas in the west of Ireland. The bodies of a man and child were found in Sheegeragh townland, Co. Roscommon and a deer antler was found nearby. A human skeleton found in the bog at Kinnakinnelly townland, Co. Galway, was also found with deer bones and dated from the Iron Age. Another bog body from Gallagh, Co. Galway, was dated from the same period.

Archaeologists believe that the siting of the Derrymaquirk grave in boggy ground may have been coincidental.  The Derrymaquirk grave is a boundary burial of a type known as a ferta. Many such burials have been identified on sites that are not boggy in nature. By locating cemeteries on boundaries during the Iron Age and early medieval period, it was believed that the ancestors interred there would act as guardians and protect the people. Burials in such cemeteries regularly contain red deer bones and antlers placed there as votive offerings.

Hundreds of bog bodies have been discovered in the boglands of Europe over the last few centuries, of which about 130 have been found in Ireland. The cold, acidic and anaerobic conditions in peat bogs preserve the bodies. The skin and internal organs are frequently well preserved while the bones are often dissolved by the acid. Some of the human remains discovered show signs of torture and execution, with evidence of hanging, strangulation, stabbing and bludgeoning. The majority of Irish bog bodies date from the Iron Age

More recent discoveries of Irish bog bodies are Clonycavan Man, Oldcroghan Man and Cashel man. These have provided important new insights into the ancient practice of disposing of bodies in bogs and have received extensive coverage in the media.

Clonycavan Man was discovered in 2003 on the border between Co. Meath and Co. Westmeath and has been dated to 392 – 201 BC. He was between 25 – 40 years of age and had been ritually killed. The nipples of Clonycavan Man had been partly cut.

The body of Oldcroghan Man (362 – 175 BC) was also found in 2003 while digging a drain along a parish boundary that once formed the boundary of the ancient tuatha of Croghan, Co Offaly. As in the case Clonycavan Man, circular cuts were visible around the upper parts of both nipples but it is not certain whether these occurred before or after death.

In ancient Ireland, sucking a king’s nipples was a gesture of submission and a means of placing oneself under the protection of the king. Archaeologists believe that the cutting of the nipples of Oldcroghan Man was part of the ritual in which he was ‘decommissioned’ from the role of king.

Cashel Man was found in 2011 in Cashel, Co. Laois and dated to 2000 BC. It is believed to be the oldest fleshed bog body to have been found in Europe.

The boglands of Ireland have provided us with a unique insight into the lives and beliefs of our ancient ancestors.