Burial in Dunbell Big

Between September 1990 and January 1991 remote sensing and trial trenching was carried out at a ringfort (KK024-010001-) in Dunbell Big (Cassidy 1990, 38-9; Cassidy 1991, 18-20). A pit-burial was uncovered under the S wall of an early medieval house (KK024-010006-) (Cassidy 1991, 20). According to Cassidy (1991, 20), ‘The pit was filled with rubble which showed signs of burning and at its bottom was a badly crushed Bronze Age Food Vessel containing and surrounded by burnt bone…it would appear to belong to the period c. 2000-1500 BC…the vessel was decorated with unusual vertically applied stripped decoration’. A cist burial (KK024-010008-) was uncovered 0.4m to the S (ibid.). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 9 November 2021

A pit-burial within a ringfort context, likely dating to the Early Christian or medieval period; its significance lies in providing evidence of burial practices associated with ringfort settlements in the region.