A Cemetery of the Ronaldsway Culture at Ballateare, Jurby, Isle of Man

Extract

The excavation of a Viking mound in the north of the Isle of Man during October and November, 1946, led to the discovery of older remains beneath and around the mound. The site was in the yard of the disused farmstead of Ballateare (formerly called Killane) in the parish of Jurby.

It lies on a slight rise some 50 feet above sea level half a mile distant from the sea, which is now eroding this region of the west coast at an estimated rate of one yard per year. To the south the ground slopes down to the Killane river which runs a quarter of a mile away in a broad marshy valley. To the north and east the ground is flat, and from the site there is a wide view over the sea, the distant mountains to the south, and the plain to the north. In this district the light sandy soils alternating with more clayey soil are good for agriculture. The sub-soil in the farmyard is a fine yellow diluvial sand with some bands of coarser gravel. The ground around the mound had been much disturbed by agricultural activities, and for a long time the yard had been used for storing potatoes in clamps: only superstition had preserved the mound undisturbed.