Cist in Poulawack

Situated S of centre in the upper part of Poulawack cairn (CL009-032002. Excavated by the Third Harvard Archaeological Expedition in Ireland, under Hugh O’Neill Hencken (Hencken and Movius 1935), who subsequently restored the cairn. ‘Grave 2’ in Hencken’s schema, this subrectangular cist (int. dims. 0.8m E–W; 0.45–0.5m N–S; H 0.6–0.65m) was made up of N and S sidestones set on their long edges, two overlapping endstones at the E, one at the W, and two overlapping capstones. The cist had no slab flooring; instead, the sides and ends were supported underneath by smaller stones. The grave contained cremated human remains, mostly likely of an adult female (Hencken and Movius 1935, 198). A flint end-scraper and bone point found in the cairn matrix beneath the cist were interpreted by the excavators as burial offerings from the grave which had been washed down (ibid., 201, 209, Fig. 9). This cist was constructed within a suboval pit (c. 6.5m N–S; c. 4m E–W; D c. 1.8m) dug into the top of the cairn (ibid., Fig. 2, 199). The cist did not yield samples for radiocarbon dating, however, a cist (CL009-032014-) found c. 1.5m to the N within the same pit and therefore likely to be roughly contemporary (ibid.) was later radiocarbon-dated to between c. 1610 cal BC and c. 1432 cal BC (Brindley and Lanting 1992, 16). This falls within the final broad phase of mortuary activity at Poulawack cairn, during the mid-second millennium BC, when ‘Grave 1’ (CL009-032012-) was also added, and possibly also ‘Grave 7’, a cist (CL009-0032018-) (ibid.) although the evidence for the Grave 7 date is equivocal. The following images have been uploaded: CL009-032013-_01.jpg Cist plan and section (Hencken and Movius 1935, Fig. 5) CL009-032013-_02.jpg Photograph showing the location of Graves '2' and '5' within the cairn (Hencken and Movius 1935, Pl. XX, Fig. 2) Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 12 January 2022

A Neolithic cist tomb, dating to the 4th–3rd millennium BCE, associated with the passage tomb complex of Poulawack; it is significant as part of an early excavated and documented site by American archaeologists in Ireland, contributing to understanding of Neolithic burial practices in the region.