Outside of life: Traditions of infant burial in Ireland from cillin to cist

The infant forms an ambiguous class of individual, located on the periphery of normal lifecycle events. This is often reflected in the character and c hoice of burial location. During the Historic period in Ireland the separat e burial of unbaptised infants reused earlier monuments, particularly those with Early Christian associations. These cillini (children's burial ground s) were frequently situated in marginal locations and their identification with the host site often enhanced their ambiguous and liminal character. A review of the prehistoric evidence also suggests the differential treatment of infants during the Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, in particular the locati on of infant burials in the passage of two later Neolithic sites at Fourkno cks, Co. Meath. The reuse of earlier megaliths for infant burials may refle ct the reinvention of these sites in the contemporary mythological landscap e at a latter stage in their own monumental lifecycle.