Burial ground in Grange (navan Lower By.)

Situated at the N end of a NW-SE ridge (L c. 300m) and at its highest point. Archaeological testing (04E0925) by J. Roynane (2005) at Testing Area 2 of Contract 4 of the M3 motorway identified archaeological material (excavations.ie 2004:1245) that was excavated (E003124) by A. Kelly (2011) as Grange 2 in late June/July 2006 (excavations.ie 2007:1321) when two Neolithic pits, a small burial ground, and evidence of metalworking were recorded in an area of just over 800 square metres. Eight grave-cuts, each containing a single extended supine W-E inhumation with the head at W, were arranged in a limited area (dims c. 6m c. c. 7m) without intercutting. The two best preserved graves, a probable young adult male with some stone lining the grave and an adult female with a child, also have stones marking the heads of the graves. Two other graves have some stone-lining. The other skeletal remains were very fragmentary representing two adults and two adolescents, while one grave only provided tooth enamel and one produced no evidence of a burial although one would have been present. Samples of bone from the female and the male returned C14 dates of 431-571 cal. AD (UBA 13957) and 424-568 cal. AD (UBA 13958) respectively. This is supported by a determination of 432-591 cal. AD (UBA 12076) from a carbonized hazelnut shell from one of the less complete burials. There was a single posthole just W of the burials and another c. 3.5m to the E and these may have provided limits to the burial ground. (Kelly 2011, 8-10) See the attached site-plan and a group of the burials from Kelly (2011, figs 6, 8) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 24 March 2022