Audleystown Court Cairn
Encyclopedia
Audleystown Court Cairn is a dual court grave
situated near the south shore of Strangford Lough
, north-west of Castle Ward
, 1.75 miles from Strangford
village in County Down
, Northern Ireland
, at grid ref: 562 504). It contained human and animal remains, as well as pottery and flint implements.
ling of the galleries was found. The galleries are each about 10m in length, 1.2m in width and about 1.2 to 1.5m high.
found included a large javelin head and 12 lozenge-shaped arrowheads, as well as a number of scrappers and knives. Two of the bowls found are exceptional in having lugs like vessels found in some tombs in Scotland
. Fingertip fluting on three bowls makes them similar to bowls found in Scotland and the Isle of Man
. The animal bones found included ox, sheep, goats, pig and dog or wolf, as well as bird bones. There was a food vessel and a horse bone found in one of the chambers.
Court cairn
The court cairn or court tomb is a megalithic type of chamber tomb and gallery grave, specifically a variant of the chambered cairn, found in western and northern Ireland, and in mostly southwest Scotland...
situated near the south shore of Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough, sometimes Strangford Loch, is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. The name Strangford is derived ; describing the fast-flowing narrows at its mouth...
, north-west of Castle Ward
Castle Ward
Castle Ward is an 18th century National Trust property located near the village of Strangford, in County Down, Northern Ireland. It overlooks Strangford Lough and is 7 miles from Downpatrick and 1.5 miles from Strangford....
, 1.75 miles from Strangford
Strangford
Strangford is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 people at the 2001 Census.On the other side of the lough is Portaferry and there is a ferry service between the two villages...
village in County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, at grid ref: 562 504). It contained human and animal remains, as well as pottery and flint implements.
Features
It is a, now roofless, trapezoidal long cairn, with the sides revetted by dry-stone walling almost 27m long and a shallow forecourt at each end opening into a burial gallery of four chambers. The cairn material of local stone, survives to a height of 2–3 ft and was probably originally filled sufficiently highly to cover the heavy flags which roofed the burial galleries. The basic unit of a forecourt giving access to a gallery divided into four burial chambers is repeated at each end of the long, wedge-shaped mound, so that the two individual units almost, but not quite, meet back to back near the centre of the mound. There is an intervening gap of just over 2m. Traces of at least partial corbelCorbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
ling of the galleries was found. The galleries are each about 10m in length, 1.2m in width and about 1.2 to 1.5m high.
Excavations
The site was excavated in 1952 by AEP (Pat) Collins of the Archaeological Survey. The burial deposits included human bones and teeth, mammal bones, artefacts, burnt earth and charcoal. At least 34 individuals of both sexes and all ages were identified, with 17 in each gallery. In the northeast gallery the remains of ten individuals were found in the chamber and another seven in the second chamber, but there were no bones or grave goods in the third and fourth chambers. All the remains were disarticulated in such a way as to suggest that they must have been defleshed before being put in the tomb, and some were burned. Over 20 of the sets of bones were unburnt and had been placed in a defleshed condition, sometimes in small neatly arranged groups, at all levels in the burial deposits, which contained burnt bone throughout. At least 15 pottery vessels, reduced to fragments by roof collapse, were identified. Some were decorated, but most were plain Western Neolithic carinated bowls. Worked flintFlint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
found included a large javelin head and 12 lozenge-shaped arrowheads, as well as a number of scrappers and knives. Two of the bowls found are exceptional in having lugs like vessels found in some tombs in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Fingertip fluting on three bowls makes them similar to bowls found in Scotland and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. The animal bones found included ox, sheep, goats, pig and dog or wolf, as well as bird bones. There was a food vessel and a horse bone found in one of the chambers.