Tiny remains of babies thought to have been condemned to “lie in perpetual limbo” have been uncovered by volunteers digging at an island archaeological site.

The find is said to have disturbed the group, who were carrying out excavations at St Moluag’s Cathedral on the Inner Hebridean Isle of Lismore, where they had hoped to uncover evidence of early Christianity.

They were exploring an area of the cemetery close to the Sanctuary Stone – thought to mark a “safe area” offering protection to individuals fleeing from punishment – when they uncovered what has been described as a “preponderance of infant burials”.

The remains are said to include those of a number of clearly newly-born or miscarried babies, and some which “showed little respect at the time of burial”. It has led to a theory that the infants had died before being baptised.

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Under the strict rules of the medieval Catholic Church, unbaptised stillborn, miscarried and, it is believed, illegitimate babies, could not be buried in consecrated ground.

Instead, it was believed their souls could not go to heaven, and they would remain in a place known as “limbo”.

The practice of burying stillborn and miscarried infants in unmarked graves on unconsecrated ground continued in Scotland after the Reformation and until the early-20th century.

The remains have now been removed for further study and possible dating.

It was only after the discovery that archaeologists found details in a mid-19th-century note relating to the island churchyard, which described a small walled burying place of 12 yards square where unbaptised children were buried.

Secret burials

THE practice of burying unbaptised infants in secret burial grounds was carried out for centuries, particularly across northwest Scotland, according to Glasgow University research carried out by Morgana McCabe.

The exact locations of the unmarked graves would be known only to a few members of the local community.

Infants would often be buried under cover of night, with just a handful of family members involved and allowed to know the exact location of the graves.

The graves were often regarded as dangerous and even deadly, with folk tradition advocating that people stay away.

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However, abandoned holy ground was often chosen by communities as sites for infant burial grounds – meaning the finding could be particularly significant as archaeologists attempt to discover more about the location of the island’s early church.

A post on the Lismore archaeology blog explained: “We know that the early church cemetery was abandoned at some point as the area shows evidence of domestic and craft activities, including several hearths, in the upper layers.

“It looks as if the unbaptised Lismore infants were buried in the area round the Stone because of its earlier role as a cemetery and in the hope that the earlier consecration might still hold.

“We will know a great deal more once the bones have been studied and, possibly, dated.”

Christianity

ST Moluag is believed to have brought Christianity from Ireland to the Isle of Lismore in the middle of the 6th century, around the same time that Columba was establishing his monastery on Iona.

Excavations at the site have been carried out for six years, with Lismore Historical Society and Lismore Parish Church working in partnership on community archaeological projects.

Work has involved raising eight medieval grave slabs, repairing them and displaying them in a shelter, and exploring the cathedral nave.

In 2018, archaeology teams trying to find evidence of the ancient monastery found signs of a 7th-century Christian burial within an older cemetery enclosure, while there are fragments of an 8th-century cross in the island museum.

The latest three-week dig began in September following a successful crowdfunding bid to fund the excavation concentrating on the area of the cemetery close to the Sanctuary Stone.

It has been led by professional archaeologists Dr Clare Ellis and leading bone specialist Dr Angela Boyle, and involved a dozen volunteers from the island and other parts of Scotland.

Ancient artefacts

WITHIN days it had uncovered several prehistoric artefacts including a slate pot lid, flint scraper, worked flint fragment, worked slate and a possible pendant. It later uncovered a medieval penny and several medieval fragments of pottery.

The aim of the dig was to take samples of as many burials as possible, with a view to determining date of burial, age, gender, some aspects of health, and the geographic area of origin.

As well as potentially uncovering vital information about the island’s history, samples from the dig will go to the Crick Institute in London for DNA analysis as part of the “1,000 Ancient British Genomes” project, which aims to create an extensive catalogue of human genetic variation.