The skeletal remains of a child dating to the early Viking period discovered at a site near Dublin Castle.
The death of a child in the early Viking era (9th to 10th century) has been discovered following excavations near the original Dubh Linn or black pool that gave Dublin its name.
The almost intact human skeleton was uncovered at the base of the old Poddle river estuary. The body was not in a grave, which leads Alan Hayden from the UCD School of Archaeology to surmise,
It's a victim of warfare or murder or mishap, or something like that, its a body that people didn't respect and just threw into the river.
After it was excavated, the skeleton was discovered to be that of a child aged between 10 and 12 years of age, most likely a boy, who had been wrapped in a shroud. A fastening buckle was also found with the body.
The dig, which is being carried out on the site of an office development on Ship Street, beside Dublin Castle, has found that the size of the original Viking settlement, or Longphort, can be shown to be double the extent previously established. This has not come as a surprise to Alan Hayden, as there were some Viking warrior burials in the area but an idea of the scale was not clear until now.
The excavation shows that Vikings continued to live at the Dubh Linn even after the late settlement at Wood Quay was founded a kilometre away.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 25 September 2020. The reporter is John Kilraine.
