Project overview

IAC were invited to give a talk to the fifth-class students at Sallins National School following the discovery of archaeological remains adjacent to their playground. In 2019 an early medieval burial was identified and excavated by IAC during archaeological monitoring of ground works for an all-weather pitch. Following completion of specialist analyses and reporting our osteoarchaeologist, Maeve Tobin, returned to the school to present the results of the investigation.

Our talk described what archaeology is and how important it is to record, protect and understand our heritage for future generations. Maeve explained how osteological analysis can help us understand who a person was and how they lived. The students then had the opportunity to have hands-on experience with the artefacts and examine some of the human bones. The handling of skeletal remains was conducted ethically and was supervised by an osteoarchaeologist. It involved teaching the students the responsibility and sensitivity of excavating and analysing human remains. It was a very enjoyable, engaging day with a lively Q&A session afterwards.