Burial in Ballyglass Middle

At a quarry (diam. 25-30m; D 3m), on Kiltullagh Hill, which straddles the Mayo-Roscommon border. Two standing stones (MA103-042001-; MA103-042002-) once stood on the Mayo side of the border, and there are a standing stone (RO032-001001-), a ringbarrow (RO032-001002-) and burials (RO032-001004-) located c. 25-30m to NE on the Roscommon side. In 1991 a scattering of fragmentary human and animal bone was recovered from displaced soil at a quarry. Analysis of the human bones and teeth indicted that there were at least two adult individuals, a male and a female, but possibly up to four adult individuals in total. In addition, a mandible fragment of a child of c. 3-5 years of age was recovered. Two samples of bone sent for radiocarbon analysis produced late Iron Age dates. The original context of the bones was destroyed and no information was retrieved about the mode of burial. The authors did note a preponderance of skull fragments relative to limb bones and suggested the possibility that conventional burials were not represented but some form of ritual deposit or possible human head cult, possibly in association with two standing stones (MA103-042001-; MA103-042002-). (Cribbin et al. 1994) Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 23 November 2022