Aghnaskeagh Cairns is a
chambered cairn
A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable (usually stone) chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are fo ...
and
portal tomb forming a
national monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...
in
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...
, Ireland.
Location
Aghnaskeagh Cairns are located south of
Slieve Foy, to the west of the
N1.
History and archaeology
The two cairns may have been connected by a
gallery.
Portal tomb
The northern cairn is a
dolmen
A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...
(portal tomb) with the capstone missing. Two portal stones (2.8 m / 9 ft high) and a back stone remain. Six Bronze Age
cist
In archeology, a cist (; also kist ;
ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...
burials were later added. Archeologists found
potsherds
This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains.
A
B
C
D
E
F
...
, cremated bone, food vessels and a blue glass bead on the site, as well as the remains of
blackberries
BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...
under one of the cists, presumably as
grave-goods.
Chambered cairn
The southern cairn is a
chambered cairn
A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable (usually stone) chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are fo ...
with four
cist
In archeology, a cist (; also kist ;
ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...
s at the eastern end. Excavations revealed cremated bone, potsherds and
scrapers. A burial was also made here in the early Christian era.
References
{{Authority control
Archaeological sites in County Louth
National monuments in County Louth