When archaeologists Halpin and Roche from the National Museum of Ireland arrived to investigate in 2003, they found a rectangular stone cist; essentially a stone box grave measuring roughly 0.85 metres north to south and 0.625 metres east to west. The burial chamber had been constructed with four main stone slabs set upright to form the walls, with smaller horizontal slabs laid at the northern and southern ends to bring them level with the longer sides. Three faint cup marks, possibly ceremonial in nature, were visible on the southern end stone, whilst the floor had been carefully paved with small slate slabs that sloped gently from south to north.

Though the cist’s original single capstone, measuring 1.11 by 0.86 metres, had sealed the burial for nearly 4,000 years, the plough’s discovery had unfortunately disturbed much of the contents. Despite this disruption, archaeologists managed to recover cremated remains scattered across most of the cist floor, along with sherds from four distinctive bipartite vessels; pottery vessels with two distinct sections that were typical of Bronze Age burial practices. The cremated bones told an extraordinary story of communal burial, revealing the presence of eleven individuals: at least five adults including two males and one female; two juveniles under seven years old; an infant between seven and eleven months; a newborn; and remarkably, two foetuses estimated to be less than five months in utero.

Radiocarbon dating of the cremated bones placed the burial between 2195 and 1768 BC, firmly within Ireland’s Early Bronze Age. This multiple burial suggests complex funeral practices and possibly familial connections amongst those interred, offering a poignant glimpse into how Bronze Age communities in Donegal honoured their dead. The presence of individuals from across the age spectrum, from the unborn to adults, speaks to either a catastrophic event affecting one family group or deliberate practices of collective burial that may have spanned generations.