Audleystown Court Tomb


Map Reference: J562504 (3562, 3504)

This megalithic tomb is set in a wedge-shaped cairn about 27m long. The cairn is aligned NE-SW. It has straight edges and survives to less than 1m high. At either end is a shallow forecourt, each of which leads to a four-chambered gallery.



Excavation in 1952 removed rubble which blocked each forecourt and revealed a roughly paved surface. Some corbel stones remained in place in the north-east gallery but elsewhere the corbel stones had collapsed and lay on top of the burial deposits. Burials were found in the two outer chambers of the north-east gallery and in all the chambers of the south-west gallery. All the bodies were fragmentary and some of the bones were partly burnt. The bones represented the remains of 34 individuals of both sexes and all ages, 17 in each gallery. They were mixed with teeth, mammalian bones, artifacts, burnt earth and charcoal.



There were abundant grave goods. These included at least 15 fragmentary pottery vessels and worked flint including a large leaf-shaped javelin head, and 12 leaf-and lozenge-shaped arrow heads, with several scrapers and knives.







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