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Stone Dead: Uncovering Early Mesolithic Mortuary Rites, Hermitage, Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2016

Aimée Little
Affiliation:
BioArCh Department of Archaeology University of York Environment Building Wentworth Way York YO10 5DD UK Email: aimee.little@york.ac.uk
Annelou van Gijn
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Science Faculty of Archaeology Leiden University PB 9514 2300 RA Leiden Netherlands Email: a.l.van.gijn@arch.leidenuniv.nl
Tracy Collins
Affiliation:
Aegis Archaeology Ltd 32 Nicholas Street King's Island Limerick V94 V6F7 Ireland Email: tracy@aegisarc.com
Gabriel Cooney
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland Email: gabriel.cooney@ucd.ie
Ben Elliott
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology University of York Kings Manor Exhibition Square York YO1 7EP UK Email: ben.elliott@york.ac.uk
Bernard Gilhooly
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland Email: bernard.gilhooly@ucdconnect.ie
Sophy Charlton
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences Natural History Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD UK Email: sophy@palaeo.eu
Graeme Warren
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland Email: graeme.warren@ucd.ie

Abstract

In Europe, cremation as a burial practice is often associated with the Bronze Age, but examples of cremated human remains are in fact known from the Palaeolithic onwards. Unlike conventional inhumation, cremation destroys most of the evidence we can use to reconstruct the biography of the buried individual. Remarkably, in Ireland, cremation is used for the earliest recorded human burial and grave assemblage (7530–7320 bc ) located on the banks of the River Shannon, at Hermitage, County Limerick. While we are unable to reconstruct in any great detail the biography of this individual, we have examined the biography of a polished stone adzehead interred with their remains. To our knowledge, this adze represents the earliest securely dated polished axe or adze in Europe. Microscopic analysis reveals that the adze was commissioned for burial, with a short duration of use indicating its employment in funerary rites. Before its deposition into the grave it was intentionally blunted, effectively ending its use-life: analogous to the death of the individual it accompanied. The microwear traces on this adze thus provide a rare insight into early Mesolithic hunter-gatherer belief systems surrounding death, whereby tools played an integral part in mortuary rites and were seen as fundamental pieces of equipment for a successful afterlife.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2016 

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