Burren Portal Tomb

The following description was derived from R. Sherlock, Northwest Co. Cavan Survey. An archaeological survey of northwest Cavan: the other Burren (2007, 39): 'The remains of this site consist of three probable orthostats, one of which has apparently fallen, a large slab which was probably a capstone, and a number of other stones which may have been part of the tomb structure or may have been cairn material. The northwestern orthostat is 0.6m high, 1.2m long and 0.3m thick and is orientated SW-NE. The fallen orthostat to the northeast of this appears to have had a similar alignment and probably touched the northeastern end of the northwestern orthostat. The fallen orthostat measures 1.2m by 0.8m and is c. 0.3m thick. The southwestern orthostat, which leans heavily outwards, measures 1.2m by 0.85m and is 0.3m thick. The capstone which has apparently fallen from the northern orthostats, lies between the northern and southern orthostats and now rests on the edge of the southern orthostat and on the ground. It measures 2.6m long (SW-NE) by 1.65m wide and is c. 0.2m thick. One of the interesting points about this site is the strong similarity in size and form of the three probable orthostats, each being a very regular block of sandstone. The light covering of peat and vegetation which concealed this site originally was removed on the discovery of the tomb before this survey project commenced.' Fragments of cremated human bone recovered as a result of animal activity at the tomb in 2014 yielded a radiocarbon determination of 14C 3837+/-36 BP (UBA-32478) which at 95.4% confidence (2 sigma) provided a date range of 2438-2200 cal BC. Caution should be excercised in assuming that this date may be linked with the construction of the monument as skeletal material may have been deposited here over a considerable period of time or introduced from elsewhere (Moore 2017).