What is recorded here

On a narrow rise between the Goulaun River and Letterkeen Hill, a small oval pit held the cremated bones of an adult, red burnt clay and charcoal. The compacted mix suggests heat and pressure during its making, while the nearby cists and later rath show that this was a long-used burial place. In a boggy, mountainous county, that little stone-covered pit marked a body worth remembering across centuries.

Located on a rise in the middle of a plateau bounded by the Goulaun River on one side and by the steep rise of Letterkeen Hill on the other, in an area of mountainous and boggy terrain. This pit-burial was excavated (E000015) in 1950 by Ó 'Ríordáin and Mac Dermott (1950-51, 93). It consisted of a small, oval pit partly covered by a stone, and was firmly packed with cremated bone of an adult human, red burnt clay and charcoal. It was dated to the Bronze Age. It was located immediately above the capstone of a cist (MA046-004004-), and a possible burial cairn (MA046-004001-), two other cists (MA046-004002-; MA046-004003-) and another pit burial (MA046-004006-) were found in close proximity. At a later period, these features were overlain by a rath (MA046-004007-). Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 9 April 2019

Pit-burial in Letterkeen is a simple prehistoric burial, likely dating to the Neolithic or early Bronze Age. Its location suggests it was part of a wider funerary or ritual landscape associated with early farming communities in the region.

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