Ulster J Archaeol 56

This study concerns the human skeletal remains of 391 individuals from the prehistoric periods in Ireland, and attempts to identify indicators of physiological stress that will contribute to the reconstruction of health and dietary status of these people. The lack of such palaeoanthropological studies in Ireland make this research significant for further archaeological interpretations of these population groups. There is an `Appendix: skeletal remains examined in this study' (16--17).

Trace elements reveal that North Antrim porcellanites formed by contact metamorphism of Jurassic clay (at Portrush) and highly weathered Tertiary basalt (at Tievebullaigh and Brockley), are geochemically distinctive. These two porcellanite types also have very different 87Sr/86Sr ratios. Preliminary data for the Tievebullaigh and Brockley lithologies suggest that a Sr-Y bivariate plot offers a potential geochemical discriminant for these two important Neolithic `axe factory' porcellanites. If upheld by more detailed sampling at each site, this discriminant will enable definitive provenancing of cored axes with powerful archaeological implications.

Three BA cists found during sand quarrying were examined in 1961--62, and a fourth, an outlier, in 1969. Three unburnt burials were found as well as cremated remains, and in one case a cremation had displaced an earlier inhumation. The five accompanying pottery vessels are all of bowl food-vessel types. A bronze awl may point to the burial of a leather-worker. There are specialist reports in `Appendix 1: report on the skeletal remains from Stranagalwilly, Co. Tyrone' by S G Rees-Jones, W R M Morton, & J L Wilkinson (55--9), and `Appendix 2: report on the awl from cist 3' by N Thomas (60).

It is suggested that some BA cinerary urns, normally found inverted over cremated remains, can be interpreted as hut- or house-urns, perhaps symbolising the ultimate resting place of the deceased. After a discussion in support of the hypothesis, the paper ends with a brief review of the purposes of funeral rites.

Ten bronze, predominantly cast, antiquities from Counties Armagh and Tyrone are described and illustrated. The material dates to the Iron Age and six categories are represented: a spear head; spear-butts; cylindrical spear-ferrules; ring; baluster-shaped fittings; and a mount.

This article presents the osteoarchaeological information obtained from twenty-two human skeletons which were recovered during the excavation at Doonbought in 1969. A summary of the main excavation report is presented (see also 79/6497), followed by the osteoarchaeological analysis of the skeletons. The report then focuses on a discussion of the burial context of the individuals. A diagram of an adult human skeleton with some of the major bones labelled and a diagram of the adult human dentition and the corresponding dental code are provided in an appended illustration.

A wooden figure found in a bog is considered to be a religious statue of the Penal period.

The authors describe the creation of a computer-readable database of spatially-referenced information from the SMR of the HMBB of the DoE NI. The SMR has a total of roughly 14,000 sites from the six counties of Northern Ireland. The authors have digitised Irish Grid References (IGRs) for these sites from the County Series Six Inch maps of NI, and created a database which includes these IGR coordinates plus site classifications and townland names. Information is tabulated about the distribution of the sites, the precision with which their locations are recorded and the systems used for archaeological classification (including frequency of different classes). The resultant data are appropriate for investigation using GIS. Maps are presented of all the sites and of crannogs, souterrains, air photograph sites, ringforts (raths and enclosures), multivallate raths, ecclesiastical sites and megalithic sites. The implications are briefly discussed, recognising both factors which genuinely determined original location and also modern and ancient factors which have biased the distributions. Proposals for future study are outlined. `Appendix A: the NI SMR of HMBB' (176--7), is followed by `Appendix B' (178).