Abstract
Archaeological studies of belief, ideology and commemorative strategies in Ireland, and elsewhere in Europe, neglect the continuation of cremation far beyond the supposed fifth-century AD threshold for the shift to inhumation under the influence of Christianity. A database of radiocarbon dates from first-millennium AD Ireland permits the identification of new patterns in early medieval (AD 400–1100) mortuary practices, including a new phase of cremation. The authors discuss archaeological and historical implications to demonstrate how data-driven approaches can enhance and challenge established metanarratives. They also highlight serious methodological and interpretative issues that these data pose for current narrative frameworks, and their influence on post-excavation strategies.
Highlights
While archaeology is widely recognised as a powerful tool for assessing social, religious and cultural developments, diachronic accounts of burial have always posed considerable methodological and conceptual challenges
This paper identifies newly recognisable phenomena in the radiocarbon data, reviewing their nature, and establishing a new chronology for the evolution of burial practices in Ireland
Cremations from six further sites are likely early medieval due to directly associated material, including: five examples dated by grain in pits containing cremated human bone at Castletown-Tara (Meath); one from Knoxpark (Sligo), where animal bone stratified below cremated bone was dated to AD559–663 and AD716–971; charcoal from a cremation at Glebe South (AD232–-531); and charcoal associated with cremated bone within a ditch at Ardsallagh 2 (AD643–774)
Summary
While archaeology is widely recognised as a powerful tool for assessing social, religious and cultural developments, diachronic accounts of burial have always posed considerable methodological and conceptual challenges. The first millennium AD is well resolved in this dataset, encompassing a quarter of all radiocarbon dated samples. This presents a significant empirical basis for questioning dominant views of burial rites and their socio-religious imperatives, but that potential remains heretofore underexploited. This paper identifies newly recognisable phenomena in the radiocarbon data, reviewing their nature, and establishing a new chronology for the evolution of burial practices in Ireland.
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