Skeletal remains on Shop Street to be excavated

Archaeologists are to excavate skeletal remains found on Shop Street during the ‘big dig’ due to fears they would not survive future work on underground services if left in situ.

Fragments of a skull, pelvis, vertebrae and leg were uncovered half a metre from Café Express’ front door on Shop Street during the current excavation.

After consultation with the National Monuments Service, the Moore Group applied for an excavation licence to remove the bone fragments. It appeared that most of the skeletal remains had been disturbed before and been laid together in one pile. However, there was one group of bones which may be in their original burial.

Declan Moore of the Moore Group Archaeological and Environmental Services said they could not say when the human remains would be removed as they were still waiting for official permission.

“These are disarticulated human remains – they are not fully complete – so it is a sensitive matter. We are going to remove them within the next few weeks but I couldn’t say at this stage when that will happen.”

Galway City Council Heritage Officer Dr Jim Higgins said the remains will now go to the National Museum for a more forensic examination by an osteoarchaeologist.

“They will see if the remnants belong to one or two or more people. They’ll be able to tell if there was anything unusual about the death, if they died from disease or a natural death. To determine the age, they will need a long bone to determine the height of the corpse or they may can look at the dentition (teeth),” he explained to the Galway City Tribune.

“To date the remains, they can send a sample for carbon dating to determine whether it’s medieval but you can often determine that from the context – if found in a particular layer of earth – or if beside pottery that goes back to the 13th or 14th century.

“I would say it’s most likely from St Nicholas’ Cemetery but radiocarbon dating would clarify that.”

The osteoarchaeologist will write up a report in a matter of weeks, which will be sent to the archaeologists, Galway City Council and the National Monuments Service. The remains will stay in the National Museum unless a request is made from another designated museum to display them.

“Galway City Museum is one of 17 or 18 designated museums in the country that have been approved by the National Museum of Ireland so the director could apply to have them displayed here in Galway if the bones were of sufficient interest which depends on the report.”

Their removal has not delayed work on the underground services due to the presence of an archaeologist during the project.

The pedestrianised spine of the city is being dug up in stages as part of a multi-million upgrade of the drainage and underground service system and will eventually be covered by a new surface to replace the cobblestones.