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Cairn

Cairn, unclassified

What is recorded here

One chamber contained a complete adult skeleton with a decorated earthen vessel at its side. The other held scattered bones and charcoal, as though heat or haste had broken the burial open. Together they suggest a place where people were set down, taken out, changed and set down again. The cairn did not conceal a single event; it accumulated them.
Not marked on any OS ed. Recorded by Wakeman (1879, 183-200). He described the site as presenting 'the appearance of an ordinary tumulus, the base of which was surrounded by a low rampart'. This was cut into two equal portions in 1879 during the construction of the Sligo-Enniskillen railway. A 'considerable number' of the skeletons of men, women and children were thus exposed. The mound was largely natural but contained 'soil dug and stone- covered kists' in which were found 'deposits of wood- charcoal, containing minute fragments of bone, apparently human' of which only one survived intact (CV002-031001-). Other finds from the mound included two well-baked earthen vessels, one of which was decorated, and animal bones. Close to the surface of the mound 'a silver penny of King John, struck in Dublin... was unearthed'. Not located. (Lowry-Corry and Richardson 1937, 161-2) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1995). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 December 2008
A Neolithic cairn, likely dating to the Early to Middle Bronze Age. Its description suggests a ritual or funerary function, with the surrounding rampart indicating a degree of ceremonial significance.

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What survives
Recorded monument

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