Rites of Passage: Mortuary Practice, Population Dynamics, and Chronology at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Co. Sligo, Ireland

Abstract

ABS]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.

Feasting and Mobility in Iron Age Ireland: Multi-isotope analysis reveals the vast catchment of Navan Fort, Ulster

“…Strontium biosphere mapping outside of Ulster has thus far principally focused on the central eastern area (County Meath), indicating that values between 0.708 and 0.713 are likely in this region 24,25 . A limited study has also focused on the Carrowkeel area of County Sligo in western Ireland, providing values of 0.7097 to 0.7119 28 . Ireland’s geology is dominated by carboniferous limestone (Fig.…”

“…Sulphur isotope results were less variable than strontium in relative terms and the consistently high values suggest that animals were frequently brought from the west of Ireland, but that central and eastern areas supplied few animals for the feasts. However, mapping resolution and the lack of comparative data means this interpretation can only be tentatively made at present.

Figure 7Strontium isotope values for humans and fauna from Ireland compared to the Navan Fort fauna (data from 19,24,28,29,51–58 ).

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“…Strontium isotope values for humans and fauna from Ireland compared to the Navan Fort fauna (data from 19,24,28,29,51–58 ).…”

Towards a biologically available strontium isotope baseline for Ireland

“…Several recent studies using strontium isotope analysis have focussed on human mobility in Ireland, extending from Neolithic to modern times (Beaumont et al, 2013;Cahill Wilson, 2012;Cahill Wilson and Standish, 2016;Kador et al, 2014Kador et al, , 2018Knudson et al, 2012;Montgomery and Grimes, 2010;Ryan et al, 2018a;Sheridan et al, 2013;Snoeck et al, 2016;Wallace et al, 2010). Interpretation, however, has been hampered by the absence of a baseline map of bioavailable strontium for Ireland, such as that produced by Evans et al (2010) for Britain.…”

Neolithic Engagements With the Dead: Mortuary Processing on Bengorm Mountain in the North‐west of Ireland

“…Few palaeodietary studies have been carried out on prehistoric samples from Ireland using stable isotope analysis (Schulting et al 2012;Lynch 2014;Kador et al 2015;Kador et al 2018). These generally demonstrate a heavily terrestrial-based diet in the Mesolithic and Neolithic, though Ferriter's Cove, Co. Kerry (Woodman et al 1999;Woodman 2004) provides evidence for a marine-dominated diet in some parts of Mesolithic Ireland.…”