What is recorded here

Five skeletons and a separate female skull lay shallow beneath a Ballinlough gravel ridge, waiting for quarry teeth to expose them. The skulls and bones belonged to the Iron Age, when people still trusted the earth to keep their dead close. A crusher might have broken what remained, but E. Rynne dug them out in time.

Five skeletons, orientated E-W, and a female skull-burial were discovered 0.25-0.4m below the surface during quarrying of a gravel ridge. Placed with the skull were three human rib-parts and a hip bone. Possibly date to the Iron Age (JKAS 1974-5, 430-433). Rescue excavation carried out By E. Rynne under licence number E000746. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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