COUNTY DOWN, NORTHERN IRELAND—BBC News reports that archaeologists and community volunteers led by Brian Sloan of Queen’s University in Belfast discovered the remains of 14 people next to Down Cathedral, known as the burial place of the fifth-century Christian Saint Patrick. An earlier investigation at the cathedral unearthed traces of a thirteenth-century Benedictine monastery nearby, and, at first, the currrent researchers thought they might have found the monks’ cemetery. However, the oldest skeleton uncovered during the new excavation belonged to a child of about six who died about 1,000 years ago. The remains of a teenaged girl who suffered from severe tooth abscesses and may have traveled to the monastery for medicine and prayer have been dated to between 1317 and 1429. To read about the Ireland's Viking period, go to "The Vikings in Ireland."
