An Early Medieval Settlement/Cemetery at Carrowkeel, Co. Galway

A multi-period settlement/cemetery was excavated at Carrowkeel, Co. Galway. The main phase of the site was a substantial early medieval enclosure ditch with a cemetery area contained in its eastern half. The enclosure and associated features were divided into three phases. The human remains assemblage is made up of 132 individuals, although the cemetery could originally have been much larger, extending beyond the limit of excavation. It was separated into four subphases, from the seventh to the fifteenth century AD, and contained a disproportionate percentage of non-adults, with predominantly infant and foetal remains in the later phases. Non-metric traits indicate a degree of relatedness in the assemblage, consistent with the possibility that Carrowkeel was founded by an extended family splitting from a larger kin group. The distribution of burials in the cemetery appears to represent the spatial segregation of non-adults within a normal cemetery population rather than a cillín, a type of burial-ground which is common in the later and post-medieval period, especially in the west of Ireland. The segregation at Carrowkeel may be a precursor to this Irish tradition, however.