Recent excavations at the corner of Ship Street Great and Stephen Street Lower have produced unexpected and exciting evidence of a single male Viking burial, furnished with several grave goods. The site was always considered potentially significant due to its location between the important pre-Norman church site of St Michael le Pole to the west and a ditch of similar date to the east, which is possibly associated the church of Peter.
Of more significance, however, was the discovery of single furnished male Viking grave, which was found at Bride Street in 1860 and contained a sword, spearhead and a shield boss. It formed one of a small group of five such burials known to have existed in the Dublin area, four of which were on the south side of the river and all of which are presumed to have dated to the 9th/10th century (Donnybrook, Cork Street, Kildare Street , Dollymount: O Floinn 1998, 144).
The more normal Viking burial practise was interment within a cemetery, two of which have been identified in Dublin, at Islandbridge and Kilmainham (O’Brien 1995, 14). Four graves in College Green are also suggestive of a third cemetery, close to the later medieval centre of Dublin. In summary, evidence for an estimated 70 to 80 male burials and a minimum of seven female graves have been found in Dublin to date (O Floinn 1998, 142).
The site at Ship Street Great
The archaeological assessment (Licence no. E10772) located the remains of medieval garden soil deposits, which extended in a narrow band along the western side of the site and could be dated from the 13th to the 18th century. The remainder of the site, however, had been completely destroyed in the post-medieval period by the insertion of cellars. It was during the removal of one of the 19th century cellars that human bone was first noted in the western section of the cut for the cellar. On excavation, this was revealed as the very truncated remains of a human skeleton, which only survived from the chest up and was in very bad condition. It was orientated east-west with the head to the west and was in a supine position, within a cut in the boulder clay, which was 0.20m in depth. All that survived was the cranium (badly crushed), the left mandible, some of the cervical vertebrae, as well as fragments of ribs. Part of both scapulae were also present, as well as a fragment of the upper arm or humerus.
A series of five artefacts were found associated with the skeleton, four of which were found around the base of the skull. These consisted of a glass bead,a silver finger ring, a small twisted r ing and a metal disc. Theglass bead was found lodged between the first and second cervical vertebrae and the metal disc, the finger-ring and the twisted ring were found between the cervical vertebrae and the left mandible. The fifth item was a section of an iron blade, which was found in the boulder clay, to the south-east of the burial. This was later identified as a part of a pattern-welded Viking sword.
Conclusion of skeleton
The skeleton clearly represented a deliberate burial, which pre-dated all other activity on site but was, unfortunately, very badly damaged. It was orientated east-west, with the head at the western end, more suggestive of Christian rather than pagan burial rite. However, Shetelig has argued that the normal Scandinavian burial rite in Ireland did place the head to the west (Shetelig 1945, 88). This was parallel in Temple Bar West, Dublin where the skeleton of a child, probably dated to the 9th century, was orientated with the head to the west (Simpson 1999, 16). In addition to this, the objects found with the burial at Ship StreetGreat may be considered indicative of a pagan burial rite, as these presumably represent grave-goods.
The location of the burial close to the church of St Michael le Pole is also very interesting, as the excavations there suggest that, although the stone church was probably built in c. 1100, there was earlier settlement activity, which could be dated to the 8th century (Gowen, 2001). Thus there was a pre-Viking presence in this area, presumably related to the monastic establishment thought to be located somewhere in the vicinity. Of extreme significance is the location of a second Viking burial in Bride Street, which has also been identified as an isolated male Viking burial. Thus out of a possible six individual graves in Dublin, two of these grave lie in the southern suburb, with a third further west at Cork Street. The close proximity of the Bride Street and Ship Street burials is striking, on either side of the church of St Michael le Pole. Both locations may have been chosen because of their close proximity to the early graveyard associated with St Michael le Pole (Simpson 2000, 18).
Oestological analysis of the Ship Street Great skeleton has suggested that it may represent the remains of a male, probably in his mid to late twenties (report by Ms Laureen Buckley). The individual had suffered either from nutritional deficiency or from an acute illness at some stage during his life and was already showing signs of a degenerative disease of the spine, perhaps suggestive of a strenuous lifestyle with hard physical activity. The identification of the skeleton as male is strengthened by the discovery of the pattern-welded blade of a sword.
Grave goods are a feature of early Viking burials and in male grave these usually include swords, spearheads, shield bosses, as well as axes, knives and arrowheads. The female graves could contain beads, textile, pins brooches and mounts, as well as reused as brooches (O Floinn 1998, 140). The collection of grave goods at Ship Street Great is relatively unusual and originally it appeared to represent a female as it includes personal jewellery in the form of a silver finger ring, a glass bead, a small twisted ring and a metal decorated disk. The finger ring is of silver and has a small undecorated bezel and a spiral twist at the back, while the small ring (12mm in diameter) also had a twisted section.
The perforated bead was of very dark glass and measured 15mm in diameter and this was originally decorated although it is now damaged. The small square disk is in very bad condition and this measures approximately 14mm in diameter. An x-ray, however, has revealed that it may have been originally decorated. The most surprising discovery was made when the corroded iron object/blade was x-rayed (by Ms Cathy Daly). This revealed the iron object was, in fact, part of the blade of a pattern-welded Viking sword.
Bibliography
Gowen, Margaret, 2001 ‘Excavations at the site of the church and tower of St. Michael le Pole’ in Seán Duffy (ed), Medieval Dublin II pp. 13-52, Dublin.
O’Brien Elizabeth, 1995, ‘A tale of two cemeteries’ Archaeology Ireland 9:3 13-55
O’Floinn Raghnall, 1998, ‘The archaeology of the Early Viking Age in Ireland’ in Howard B. Clarke, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh and Raghnall O Floinn (eds), Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age, pp. 132-65. Cornwall.
Shetelig, H., 1954, ‘The Viking graves’ in H. Shetelig (ed) Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, VI. Oslo.
Simpson, Linzi, 1999 Director’s findings: Temple Bar West. Dublin
Simpson, Linzi, 2000, ‘Forty years a-digging: a preliminary synthesis of archaeological investigations of medieval Dublin’ in Seán Duffy (ed) Medieval Dublin I pp. 11-68. Dublin.
tely, very badly damaged. It was orientated east-west, with the head at the western end, more suggestive of Christian rather than pagan burial rite. 
Grave goods are a feature of early Viking burials and in male grave these usually include swords, spearheads, shield bosses, as well as axes, knives and arrowheads. The female graves could contain beads, textile, pins brooches and mounts, as well as reused as brooches (O Floinn 1998, 140). The collection of grave goods at Ship Street Great is relatively unusual and originally it appeared to represent a female as it includes personal jewellery in the form of a silver finger ring, a glass bead, a small twisted ring and a metal decorated disk. The finger ring is of silver and has a small undecorated bezel and a spiral twist at the back, while the small ring (12mm in diameter) also had a twisted section.