Urn burial in Harristown

Harristown passage tomb (WA027-007----) was excavated in 1939 by J. Hawkes (1941). The covering cairn (diam. c. 15.25m) had spilled outside the orthostats, and it may have had an outer kerb of dispersed orthostats. The cairn contained secondary burials, all cremations, one with a vase food vessel, three with cordoned urns, one of which had a pygmy cup, and an unclassifiable urn. The cremated remains of at least four others were found in two deposits, and the associated finds of the secondary burials comprise a razor, a faience bead and perforated bone pins. This urn (Hawkes, 1941, 141, No. V) was standing upright outside the kerb of the passage tomb at SW with a slab over its mouth, and it contained the remains of a child, possibly male, and a pygmy cup (Kavanagh 1977, 71). (Kavanagh 1976, 374-5, No. 52; Waddell 1990, 145, 5) Hawkes, J. (1941) Excavation of a megalithic tomb at Harristown, Co. Waterford. JRSAI, vol. 71, 130-47. Kavanagh, R. (1976) Collared and cordoned cinerary urns in Ireland, PRIA 76C, 293-403. Kavanagh, R. (1977) Pygmy cups in Ireland, JRSAI, vol. 107, 61-95. O'Ríordáin, B. and Waddell, J. (1993) The funerary bowls and vases of the Irish Bronze Age. Galway University Press. Waddell, J. (1990) The Bronze Age burials of Ireland. Galway University Press. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 31 May 2011

Urn burial in Harristown is a Neolithic passage tomb, dating to the Early to Middle Neolithic period (c. 3700–3000 BCE). Its excavation in 1939 provided important insights into burial practices and megalithic architecture in the region.