Sam Moore

The first detailed investigation of the human remains from the Carrowkeel passage tomb complex since their excavation in 1911 has revealed several new and important insights about life, death, and mortuary practice in Neolithic Ireland. Osteological analysis provides the first conclusive proof for the occurrence of dismemberment of the dead at Irish passage tombs, practised contemporarily with cremation as one of a suite of funerary treatments. The research also highlights changes in burial tradition at the complex over the course of the Neolithic. Providing a chronology for these changes allows them to be linked to wider trends in monument construction, which may relate to changes in both land use and climate during the period. Multi-isotope analysis hints at the presence of non-local individuals among the interred and the possible existence of different food sourcing areas at the onset of the later Neolithic period. Preliminary results from ancient DNA sequencing of six individuals from Carrowkeel provide evidence for the genetic ancestry of Irish Neolithic populations, demonstrating their Anatolian origins and links along the Atlantic façade.

Rites de passage: pratiques mortuaires, dynamique de population et chronologie dans le complexe de tombes à couloir de Carrowkeel , Co. Sligo, Irlande, de Thomas Kador, Lara M. Cassidy, Jonny Geber, Robert Hensey, Pádraig Meehan, et Sam Moore

La première investigation des restes humains du complexe de tombes à couloir de Carrowkeel depuis leur excavation en 1911 a révélé plusieurs nouveaux et importants aperçus de la vie, la mort et des pratiques funéraires dans l’Irlande néolithique. L’analyse ostéologique a apporté la première preuve concluante de l’occurence de démembrement des morts dans les tombes à couloir irlandaises pratiqué en contemporanéité avec la crémation comme une suite de traitements funéraires. Le recherche montre aussi qu’il y avait une serie de changements dans la tradition sépulcrale du complexe au cours du néolithique. Le fait de fournir une chronologie pour ces changements la recherche permet de les relier à des courants plus étendus de construction de monuments qui pourraient avoir un lien avec des changements à la fois dans l’utilisation de la terre et le climat pendant cette période. De multiples analyses d’isotopes donnent à penser que des individus extérieurs à la région figuraient parmi les personnes enterrées et qu’existaient différentes zones d’approvisionnement en nourriture à la période du néolithique tardif. Les résultats préliminaires de séquences d’ADN ancien apportent des témoignages de généalogie génétique des populations du néolithique irlandais, démontrant leurs origines anatoliennes et des liens le long de la façade atlantique

Übergangsriten: Bestattungspraktiken, Bevölkerungsdynamik und Chronologie des Ganggrabkomplexes von Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo, von Thomas Kador, Lara M. Cassidy, Jonny Geber, Robert Hensey, Pádraig Meehan, und Sam Moore

Die erste Untersuchung der menschlichen Überreste aus den Ganggräbern von Carrowkeel seit ihrer Ausgrabung von in 1911 erbrachte mehrere neue und wichtige Erkenntnisse über Leben, Sterben und Begräbnispraktiken im neolithischen Irland. Die osteologischen Untersuchungen liefern die ersten sicheren Beweise für das Vorkommen von Zerlegungen von Toten in irischen Ganggräbern, die zeitgleich mit der Leichenverbrennung praktiziert wurde als eines aus einer ganzen Reihe funerärer Verfahren. Die Forschungen bezeugen auch eine Reihe von Veränderungen in den Bestattungstraditionen in diesem Gräberkomplex im Verlauf des Neolithikums. Das Erstellen einer Chronologie für diese Veränderungen ermöglicht es, diese mit weiteren Entwicklungen in der Errichtung der Monumente zu verknüpfen, was wiederum mit Veränderungen sowohl der Landnutzung als auch des Klimas in dieser Zeitspanne verbunden sein mag. Multiisotopen-Analysen deuten auf das Vorhandensein nicht-lokaler Individuen unter den hier Beigesetzten wie auch auf die Nutzung verschiedener Regionen für den Nahrungserwerb im späteren Neolithikum. Vorläufige Ergebnisse der aDNA-Untersuchungen liefern Hinweise auf die genetische Herkunft der neolithischen Populationen Irlands und zeigen ihre anatolische Herkunft sowie Verbindungen entlang der atlantischen Fassade.

Ritos de paso: prácticas mortuorias, dinámicas de población y cronología en el complejo de tumba de corredor Carrowkeel, Co.Sligo, Irlanda, por Thomas Kador, Lara M. Cassidy, Jonny Geber, Robert Hensey, Pádraig Meehan, y Sam Moore

Las primeras investigaciones de los restos humanos del complejo de la tumba de corredor de Carrowkeel, desde su excavación en 1911, han revelado algunos aspectos nuevos e importantes acerca de la vida, la muerte y las prácticas funerarias en el Neolítico irlandés. El análisis osteológico ha proporcionado la primera prueba concluyente de desmembramiento en las tumbas de corredor irlandesas, practicado simultáneamente con la cremación como parte del repertorio de los tratamientos funerarios. Esta investigación también resalta una serie de cambios en la tradición funeraria en el complejo a lo largo del Neolítico. El establecimiento de una cronología para estos cambios permite vincularlos con tendencias más generales en la construcción de este tipo de monumentos, que se pueden relacionar con modificaciones en el uso de la tierra y del clima durante este período. Los análisis multi-isotópicos indican la presencia de individuos no locales entre los enterrados y la existencia de diferentes áreas de abastecimiento de alimentos durante el Neolítico Final. Los resultados preliminares de secuenciación de ADN antiguo proporcionan una evidencia de la ascendencia genética de las poblaciones neolíticas irlandesas, demostrando su origen anatolio y sus vínculos con el resto de la fachada atlántica.

Cite as: Bonsall, J. & Moore, S. 2017. ‘The MASC Project (Monitoring the Archaeology of Sligo's Coastline): engaging local stakeholder groups to monitor vulnerable coastal archaeology in Ireland’. In T. Dawson, C. Nimura, E. Lopez-Romero, M-Y. Daire (Eds.) Public Archaeology and Climate Change. Oxbow. pp62-71.

Ireland is coming to terms with the almost annual frequency of severe storm events. The National Monuments Service – responding to notifications from members of the public – sends small teams of experts to further investigate storm-related discoveries. Despite the need for a coherent coastal monitoring strategy, funding citizen science schemes is a challenge. Archaeological and environmental staff and students at the Sligo Institute of Technology, acting as local coastal rangers, discovered previously unrecorded archaeological sites on eroding beaches in Co. Sligo during the winter of 2014–15. Our coastal rangers are engaging with local stakeholders that already have a significant presence at vulnerable erosion sites such as Scouting, anti-litter and bird watching groups. Tuition in archaeological recording techniques, including high-resolution photography for later use in photogrammetry, will initiate ‘Monitoring the Archaeology of Sligo's Coastline’ (MASC), a pilot study for rangers to act as ‘first responders’ capable of making an informed decision to notify relevant government departments. Coastal hazards and climate predictions suggest an increase in severe cyclones and wave surges in the future which will continue to threaten promontories, intertidal sites, wrecks and monuments located around the Irish coastline. The ‘Monitoring the Archaeology of Sligo's Coastline’ (MASC) Project, is a citizen science scheme that has been developed to assist archaeological research in the north-west of Ireland by recruiting amateur or nonprofessional scientists that live, work and use the coastline on a regular basis.

This study explores the burial practices and secondary funerary rites at the Carrowkeel Neolithic passage tomb complex in County Sligo in northwest Ireland. An osteological and taphonomic reassessment of cremated and unburned human bones recovered from the complex during an archaeological excavation more than a century ago has produced significant new insights into how the people of Carrowkeel perceived death and how they maintained and manifested social links with their ancestors. In addition to the rite of cremation, a complex post-mortem burial practice is further attested by the presence of cut marks on several of the unburned bones, which indicate that the bodies of the dead were dismembered before they were placed in the tombs. It is argued that both cremation and dismemberment (and possible defleshing) may have been physical expressions of similar objectives, relating to excarnation and removal of flesh from the bodies of the deceased. Processing the bodies and thereby assisting the dead to transcend to an extra-bodily realm of existence may have been the main focus of the burial rite. The passage tombs at Carrowkeel should perhaps be viewed as places of curation, transformation , and regeneration of enduring ancestors that enabled both a physical and spiritual interaction with the dead and allowed for their omnipresence among the living.

Souterrains are one of the mostly widely recognised early medieval monuments in Ireland with approximately 3,500 recorded. A fine example in Cooldrumman Upper townland, in the shadows of Benbulben Mountain, Co. Sligo, has never been archaeologically inspected or surveyed. We became interested in the site because locally it is known to have been used as an IRA hideout during the War of Independence. Here we present a survey of the site, describe debris scattered about the interior, and document other archaeological sites that were reinvented and reused during the War of Independence.

The Neolithic passage tomb complex at Carrowkeel, County Sligo, Ireland, is one of the best preserved and most significant megalithic funerary and ritual landscapes in Europe. The most substantial archaeological excavations at the complex were undertaken in 1911, from which a relatively large sample of commingled unburnt and cremated human remains from seven chambered passage tombs was recovered. Although the archaeological value of this material is reduced as its spatial and stratigraphic context is uncertain, the skeletal remains have the potential to provide insights into how these monuments were used. This study is a quantitative reassessment of that osteological material from the passage tombs excavated in 1911, with a focus on a contextual analysis of the remains. Overall, the age-at-death and sex ratios do not indicate any demographic differentiation between monuments in selecting locations for the deposition of bodies, and there is no clear evidence to suggest any selectiveness of certain skeletal elements took place. There may however have been a differentiating age and gender aspect in terms of the unburnt versus cremated bone surface depositions within the passage tombs, as a higher proportion of 5+ years non-adults and adult females were present in the cremated material. By using the log-ratio metric scaling technique on the cremated adult material, a statistically significant difference in skeletal dimensions is observed between individual passage tombs; however, it is unclear how significant this disparity is from a biocultural point of view. Despite apparent methodological difficulties in assessing an archaeological bone assemblage collected by early 20th-century antiquarians, the material can still yield new knowledge about the rituals conducted at Carrowkeel. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Neolithic passage tomb complex at Carrowkeel, County Sligo, Ireland, is one of the best preserved and most significant megalithic funerary and ritual landscapes in Europe. The most substantial archaeological excavations at the complex were undertaken in 1911, from which a relatively large sample of commingled unburnt and cremated human remains from seven chambered passage tombs was recovered. Though the archaeological value of this material is reduced as its spatial and stratigraphic context is uncertain, the skeletal remains have the potential to provide insights into how these monuments were used. This study is a quantitative reassessment of that osteological material from the passage tombs excavated in 1911, with a focus on a contextual analysis of the remains. Overall, the age-at-death and sex ratios do not indicate any demographic differentiation between monuments in selecting locations for the deposition of bodies, and there is no clear evidence to suggest any selectiveness of certain skeletal elements took place. There may however have been a differentiating age and gender aspect in terms of the unburnt versus cremated bone surface depositions within the passage tombs, as a higher proportion of 5+ years non-adults and adult females were present in the cremated material. By using the log-ratio metric scaling technique on the cremated adult material, a statistically significant difference in skeletal dimensions is observed between individual passage tombs; however it is unclear how significant this disparity is from a biocultural point of view. Despite apparent methodological difficulties in assessing an archaeological bone assemblage collected by early twentieth-century antiquarians, the material can still yield new knowledge about the rituals conducted at Carrowkeel. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The Carrowkeel complex represents one of the four main groups of passage tombs in Ireland. Although less well known than its counterpart in the Boyne Valley, new discoveries in recent years have renewed interest in this internationally significant yet under-investigated site. This paper reviews the 1911 excavation of passage tombs at Carrowkeel and presents new research and discoveries that have been made since. New dates (from a radiocarbon dating project undertaken by the authors) which demonstrate activity within the complex towards the end of the fourth millennium BC are discussed. The authors consider the significance of the recently discovered passage tomb art within the complex, and outline the prospects for future research there, particularly with regard to human bone assemblage from the 1911 excavations.

Cite as: Bonsall, J. and Moore, S. 2015. ‘The Men and Women behind the MASC Project (Monitoring the Archaeology of Sligo’s Coastline): Engaging local stakeholder groups to monitor vulnerable coastal archaeology in Ireland’. Session on ‘Engaging the Public with Archaeology Threatened by Climate Change’. In L. Campbell (ed.) Abstracts of the Oral and Poster Presentations, 21st Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, 2-5 September 2015, University of Glasgow, Scotland, p405.

Recent winter storms had a considerable impact on vulnerable archaeological sites in Ireland. Stone forts fell into the sea. Castles crumbled to the ground. Shipwrecks, middens, timber trackways and ancient drowned forests were revealed for the first time in centuries. Heritage venues were flooded and a large number of archaeological sites were lost entirely. Ireland is coming to terms with the almost annual frequency of severe storm events. The National Monuments Service - responding to notifications from members of the public - sends teams of experts to further investigate storm-related discoveries. Irish legislation requires intrusive fieldwork to be carried out only by archaeologists working under a pre-approved licence, which limits the contribution of citizen scientists to discovery and non-destructive recording. Despite the need for a coherent coastal monitoring strategy, funding citizen science schemes - even for basic tuition in recording methods - is still a challenge. Archaeological and environmental staff and students at the Institute of Technology Sligo - acting as local coastal rangers - have discovered previously unrecorded burnt mounds of stone, middens, peat shelves and trackways on eroding beaches in Co. Sligo during the winter of 2014-15.
Our coastal rangers are engaging with local stakeholders that already have a significant presence at vulnerable erosion sites; Scouting, anti-litter and bird watching groups. Tuition in archaeological recording techniques, including high-resolution photography for later use in photogrammetry, will initiate 'Monitoring the Archaeology of Sligo's Coastline' (MASC), a pilot study for rangers to act as ‘first responders’ capable of making an informed decision to notify relevant government departments.

Cite as: Bonsall, J. and Moore, S. 2015. ‘Surf 'n' Turf: Archaeological Discoveries by Citizen Scientists Strolling along the Beach’. Citizen Science and GIS Training School. National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland, 21-23 August 2015