Dem bones, dem bones,..........

Hotei

I recently discovered a previously unrecorded enclosure (possibly a ring-barrow) in tillage which I have reported to the National Monuments Service. This evening while at the site, I found quite a few bones within the enclosure itself which appear to have been scattered about by a plough (the bones were concentrated in one particular area). Ordinarily, one wouldn't pay too much heed to a scatter of bones in a field, but because they've come from what may possibly be a prehistoric enclosure ......... well, you know what I'm thinking?!! I've been called fanciful here in the past, and maybe I'm being so once again.

The bones don't look robust enough to belong to that of a large beast like a horse or cow, and may belong to a smaller domesticated creature. The bones include skull fragments, long bones, tarsal bones, a rib, and the Petrous portion of a Temporal bone. The broadest of the long bones measures 3cm. across. I also found two teeth:








Both ends of an Ulna?




Wrist end of an Ulna?




The larger tooth measures 2.2 cm. long:







Tarsal bones:






Skull fragments:




A Rib fragment:




The petrous portion of a temporal bone (I think?!):




Any thoughts?

cfuserkildare

Last pic looks more like Occipital bone,
Hole is Auditory canal.

Arsemageddon

The bones in the pictures are human.

They should not have been removed from the site.

You need to contact the National Museum and ask to speak to the duty officer in the Irish Antiquities division.

Hotei

I reported the finds to the Duty Officer in the Antiquities Division of the NMI this morning.

Aelfric

Very observant of you Hotei, well done for spotting the site and the bones. You should also have informed the Gardai, even though you suspected them to be from an archaeological monument. The forensic anthropologist would then be called to examine and collect the material. Hopefully something will be done about visiting the site to assess the potential damage. I'll be meeting the Chief Archaeologist later today anyway, so feel free to PM me more details and I'll be sure the site gets a visit from National Monuments.

Dr Strange

Aelfric wrote: »

Very observant of you Hotei, well done for spotting the site and the bones. You should also have informed the Gardai, even though you suspected them to be from an archaeological monument. The forensic anthropologist would then be called to examine and collect the material. Hopefully something will be done about visiting the site to assess the potential damage. I'll be meeting the Chief Archaeologist later today anyway, so feel free to PM me more details and I'll be sure the site gets a visit from National Monuments.

Correct. Any human bone finds have to go through the coroner first, even archaeological human bone finds are (or should be) reported to the local coroner first as a matter of good practice.

cfuserkildare

Very irrisponsible to remove Anything from a site without having it investigated first.

Aelfric

cfuserkildare wrote: »

Very irrisponsible to remove Anything from a site without having it investigated first.

Yes, and no. There are provisions in the Legislation for removal for the purposes of protection from destruction, which I'm confident would apply in this case. As a general rule though, it's leave well alone and report to NMI & NMS, both of which Hotei has now done.

cfuserkildare

My experience of contacting the NMI/NMS was that an archaeologists or surveyor Might have a look, sometime in the next 24-36 months.

bizidea

Any updates has anyone had a look at the site

Hotei

bizidea wrote: »

Any updates has anyone had a look at the site

No, I'm afraid the NMI nor the NMS have come back to me as yet.
I contacted the NMS once again (about a month ago), but did not get a reply.