COUNTY LIMERICK, IRELAND—The Irish Times reports that a highly polished adze recovered from an ancient burial on the banks of the River Shannon 15 years ago may have been made for the funeral. Microscopic analysis of the 9,000-year-old shale blade shows that it was only used for a short time before it was blunted and placed in the grave with cremated human remains. The site was then marked with a post. “We make the argument [the adze] was probably commissioned for the burial and was probably used as part of the funerary rites, possibly to cut the wood for the pyre for the cremation, or to cut the tree used as the grave post marker,” said lead researcher Aimée Little of the University of York. To read about the roots of Halloween in Ireland, go to “Samhain Revival.”
