Medieval Buildings

Medieval Buildings and Miscellaneous Sites
Medieval Buildings in Ireland
Surviving medieval buildings are relatively rare in Ireland.
The surviving buildings are of stone, timber-framed buildings have not survived in Ireland.
The main surviving buildings are:Castles and other fortified residences
Ecclesiastical buildings including cathedrals, churches, abbeys and other monastic centres.
There is little surviving urban architecture that pre-dates 1700.
Early Castles
The vast majority of castles post-date the first Anglo-Norman incursions into Ireland in 1169.
Historical records refer to a number of ‘castles’ that pre-date 1169.
These appear to be earthwork castles not unlike ‘mottes’
Mottes
Mottes are conical mounds erected by the Normans in Ireland after 1169 and mainly before 1220.
Sometimes natural outcrops or earlier earthworks were modified for use as mottes.
There are at least 456 known in Ireland although these are mostly in Leinster and east Ulster.
Motte: Clonard, Co. MeathDate to late 12th to 13th century ADEarthwork castles built by the Normans
Motte: Drumcooly Hill, Co. Offaly
Mottes
Illustrated on the Bayeux Tapestry
Bayeux Tapestry showing the motte at Hastings being built.
Motte construction
Where there have been excavation, mottes appear to have been built using a particular method.
The first stages sees the construction of an earthwork ring.
Motte construction
The earthwork ring for the base of the motte and any outer earthworks are raised in height
The outer earthworks are known as baileys
Motte construction
The earthwork ring is then in-filled, probably using material dug out from around the base to add an enclosing ditch to the base of the mound
Wooden stairs may also have been added
Motte construction
The top of the motte is flattened for use.
Mainly timber buildings were added to mottes in Ireland, although some had stone buildings
Norman Stone Fortesses
The main phase of castle construction in Ireland was from 1175 to 1310.
The earliest castles were built by a handful of powerful knights, in particular Hugh de Lacy (who built Trim, opposite) and John de Courcy (who built Carrickfergus).
Carrickfergus Castle
Built on a rock promontory in Belfast LoughCarrickfergus CastleBuilt by John de Courcy from 1178 onwards
It wasn’t conceived as a single project and it appears to have evolved during construction
The earliest phase at Carrickfergus dates to 1178-1200By 1200, there was a keep, a hall and an outer precinct wall on the rock promontory
There is a fresh water well within the keep
Yellow stone (Cultra stone) used to decorate openings
The ground plan and investigations have indicated that the initial construction plan was modified considerably before it was completedThe base of the keep is not square and the Cultra stone was only added in mid-construction
The original construction may not have included the hall
The outer precinct wall appears to include two phases with the keep only raised after an initial wall was built
De Courcy may have started with a simple stone-walled enclosure for protection and only proceeded to develop the castle when his position was secure
Second major construction campaign saw an enlarged outer ward added in 1215-1223
This provided additional protection to the keep and hall
Final major construction campaign saw a second outer ward added in 1225-1250 with a gate house
The were some later modifications in the 14th century, 16th century, 17th century and 19th century.
Dundrum, Co. Down
Begun by John de Courcy between 1177 and 1203It incorporates a series of phases
It appears to have been preceded by a ringworkThere is a circular keep that seems to have replaced an earlier building
Dundrum, Co. Down
Published plans (e.g. above right) of Dundrum appear to be inaccurate as they do not include a pre-keep structure (that is visible in the interior of the curtain wall) and both towers of the gate house (which appear on maps)
Circular keeps
Nenagh Castle, Co. Tipperary built by Theobald Walter, head of the Butler family between 1200 and 1220.
Many keeps now show as great a concern for display and comfort as security
Nenagh has an ornate Romanesque doorway and large fireplaces
Trim Castle
Built between 1210 and 1220 on the site of an earlier ringwork by Hugh de Lacey
It was linked by the River Boyne to his other major holdings at Drogheda and Dublin.
As part of a major conservation plan it was fully excavated
This identified that it had been preceded by a ringworkIt also showed how it had been designed and set out for constructionTowered Keeps Built by William Marshal the elder and William Marshal the younger from 1207 to 1225 (Carlow, Ferns, Lea in Laois and Terryglass in Tipperary)
Each has a rectangular keep with circular corner towers
Ferns, Co. Wexford: Ferns Castle
Two major royal castles were built in Ireland shortly after 1210
Both gateways had twin D-shaped towers
These had an open plan without a free-standing great tower or keep
This type of castle had been recently developed in France and Wales
Dublin Castle
On 30th August 1204, King John commanded the erection of a strong castle for the defence of the city, administration of justice and safe custody of treasure.The construction of Dublin Castle was completed by 1230
Henry de Londres, Justiciar and Archbishop of Dublin, is credited with this achievement
Limerick Castle
Plan from 17th century Pacata Hibernia
Mid-13th century Castles
Knights and Barons continued to build castles into the 13th century such as Castleroche in Louth.
Castleroche, Co. Louth
Believed to have been built by Rohesia de Verdun in 1236
Exhibits a twin D-shaped gatehouseHas one projecting tower
Incorporates a large hall
Castleroche, Co. LouthView of Hall and Gatehouse from the south-eastGatehouses
Almost all late-12th and early to mid-13th century castles have elaborate gatehouses, generally these are twin-toweredIn some cases the main keep or hall is located at some distance from the gatehouse (e.g. Carrickfergus) in others it is located immediately behind the gatehouse (e.g. Castleroche)Gatehouses
By the mid-13th century the defences of castles become more developed and the focus moves from the keeps to the curtain walls and the gate-towers
Examples built at this time are shown here
Later Medieval Castles
Some castles can be identified that were built in the 14th century
They see further evolutions away from the protected keep with limited gateways features and the use of towers to provide flanking fire for defence
This is Clonmore, Carlow
Hall houses
A group of castles built from the early 13th century through to the 14th centuryLittle or no evidence for outer defences or gatehouses
Hall houses, polygonal castles and Irish stone castlesVarious castles are built in areas outside of Anglo-Norman control in the 13th and 14th century
Irish Castles
Castles built by the Irish, rather than Anglo-Norman lords
Mainly ditched and walled enclosures sometimes with gatehouses
Tower houses
In 1429, a statute of Henry VI decreed that a grant of £10 would be available to every man in the Pale who built a castle of stone by 1439
This should measure 20 ft by 16 ft and 40 ft highThis appears to be the origin of tower houses
True tower houses continued to be built into the 16th century and 17th century in various forms
They may have a surrounding bawn or defended enclosure
They incorporate features such as helical (spiral) staircases and intra-mural passages
Bagenal’s Castle, NewryBuilt by Nicholas Bagenal in 1570s
Plans survive in Crown Records Office in Kew London
Bagenals Castle, Newry
Excavation showed the 1570s ground plan to have a number of inaccuracies.
The real ground plan suggests a tower house like Ballug, Roodstown or Termonfeckin in Louth
Ecclesiastical Architecture
Cathedrals
Churches
Abbeys and other monastic centres
Pre-Norman Irish architecture is replaced by classical styles such as Romanesque and Gothic Romanesque
Applied to various architectural devices and types of artDetail from Clonfert cathedral (3rd quarter of 12th century)
RomanesqueWest door of Clonfert CathedralCurving arch of the door is typical of Romanesque
Romanesque: Cormacs Chapel (Cashel)Dates to 1125-1150One of the best examples of Romanesque architecture in Ireland
Cormacs Chapel
Irish Romanesque
The first Romanesque buildings: Cormac's Chapel at Cashel (1127–34) features square towers, doorways in recessed orders, barrel and ribbed vaults, quarried stone, and architectural sculpture. Cormac's chapel boasts one of the finest looking corbelled roof which is constructed of ashlar, cut from local sandstone. Although impressive in appearance, the structural components were not as well integrated as in some of the earlier examples: the barrel vault was too low to support the roof, which instead had to be reinforced by a pointed vault immediately under the external masonry.
A more radical innovation occurred here with the addition of square towers incorporated at the east end of the nave, presenting a new architectural model for the Irish church. Paired towers, flanking the chancel or the apse, were a feature of many churches within the German Empire, and it has long been assumed that those at Cashel were derived from St James at Regensburg or one of the other Schöttenkirchen. But eastern towers and turrets were also a feature of Norman churches in England, so the background may be closer to home.But this particular architectural formula was not repeated elsewhere in Ireland. Cormac’s ChapelIn addition, Cormac's Chapel was among the first Irish buildings to be embellished with sculpture, and as such is thought to mark the birth of Hiberno-Romanesque, providing an initial injection of foreign techniques, which within a few years were integrated into Irish church-building.
Cormac’s ChapelThe prominence given in the annals to the consecration of Cormac's Chapel in 1134 suggests that the novelties of the building were widely appreciated, which makes it curious that the architecture did not have a greater influence. The artistic splendor was enhanced by painted decoration, remnants of which survive in the chancel, where human figures, one wearing a crown, can be discerned on the vault. The scheme was carried out with costly materials, which included lapis lazulae, vermilion and gold leaf. The purpose of so much expenditure on one relatively small building has never been satisfactorily established.
Cormac’s Chapel
The larger and more elaborate buildings meant that Irish churches could allow the same liturgical practices as other European churches
This would bring Ireland into line with European practice
Christchurch, Dublin
Begun in 1030, earliest surviving fabric really dates from after 1180
Christchurch
Romanesque plan from crypt Compare it to St. Sernin
Gothic
Some ecclesiastical architecture in Ireland is in the Gothic style well known from Britain and FranceThis is St. Patricks Cathedral, Dublin
Christchurch, Dublin
Begun in 1030, earliest surviving fabric really dates from after 1180
Gothic: Early English1190-1250
Plain lancet windows and arches
Protruding buttresses.
Plate tracery
Circular, moulded capitals.
Pointed, moulded arches.
Capitals with stiff-leaf and crockets E.g. Salisbury
Gothic: Geometric and Decorated
1250-1350
Geometric shapes emerge in Early English styles from 1250-1290 (e.g. Romsey)
Then intersecting tracery appears in middle windows
This becomes more and more elaborate during the early 14th century (e.g. Exeter)
Gothic: Perpendicular
1330-1550
Verticals from top to bottom of windows, horizontal transoms (e.g. Winchester Cathedral shown here)Octagonal piers
Abbeys
The Cistercian introduce a specific architectural plan to Irish monastic centres, such as Mellifont
Other Orders which appear include the Dominicans and Franciscans
Cistercian Abbey (Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny)
Cistercian Abbeys are laid out on a regular format with each building given a prescribed space within the layout
Franciscan Friary, Quin, Co. Clare
Quin FriaryFranciscans were not as rich as the Cistercians

Metals, trade and hoards in prehistory

Bronze collars from Denmark
Independent copper metallurgy?

Recognising Ores
Gold sourcing…
Early Irish goldwork appears to be derived from alluvial gold.
This is often collected by either place-mining or panning a process where the heavier density of the gold makes it sink and other soil and sediment is washed away.
Gold Sources?
Ireland continued to exploit local gold throughout the Bronze Age.
There is a synchronous change of source at the MBA-LBA transition (1150 BC).
Earlier gold was rarely re-cycled.
Chapman et al 2006 Applied Geochemistry Vol 21, 859-1092


Copper Ores
Copper mining: Ross Island 2400-2000 BC
Copper mining tools
Mount Gabriel (Cork), copper mines
Great Orme, copper mines (Wales)
Changes in Metalworking
Early Bronze Age
Simple one piece moulds



Changes in Metalworking
By the end of the Early Bronze Age
Two-piece (bi-valve) moulds in use
Metalworking Techniques in the Late Bronze Age
Some one-piece moulds and bi-valve, or two-piece, moulds continue in use
This is eventually followed by lost-wax casting in the Late Bronze Age
A model of the object to be cast is made in wax
This is encased in clay with vents and a gate left
This is heated the wax melts away via the vents
The molten bronze is poured through the gate and the mold is broken to remove the finished piece
Late Bronze Age Metalworking: Moulds(Dun Aonghusa, Inis Mór)
Casting Using Lost Wax Method
‘Kurd’ buckets
3. Cape Castle, Antrim
4. Magilligan, Derry
‘Kurd’ buckets
Hosszúpályi (Hungary)
Lunulae
Two main types:
Classical and Unaccomplished – also Provincial Type (found in France and Britain)
Tamlaght Hoard, Co. Armagh
At least two sheet bronze bowls, one placed inside the other
A sword of Irish (possibly a Type 3)
Dates to the 11th century BC

Fuchsstadt-Type vessels
Fuchsstadt-Type vessel from Austria
Fuchsstadt-Type vessels
Jenisovice Type vesselFrom Bjergsted, Skippinge, Denmark
Jenišovice-Type vessels
Pins and BraceletsBallytegan Hoard, Co. Laois
Contain sunflower pins (1, 2 and 4 below)
Disc-headed pins
(No. 3 below)
Triple-bracelet
See Danish sunflower pin below.
Bronze collars from Denmark
Raftery’s proposed development of gorgets
Sintra Collar, Portugal
Gold hats? (Probably bowls)
Gold ‘cones’
Aventon Berlin Ezelsdorf Schifferstadt

Aventon Berlin Ezelsdorf Schifferstadt
Rathgall, Co. Wicklow
Exotic finds are often associated with the major hillforts (date to around 1200 BC).
Finds have parallels in the southern Alpine area and Germany.
Shields: U-notched Type
Cloonlara, Co. Mayo
Wooden mould
Oak
48 cm diameter
Shields: U-notched Type
Churchfield, Co. Mayo
Wooden mould
Alder
Cut-out handle in rear
Shields: V-notched Type
Clonbrin, Co. Longford
Leather
50 cm in diameter
Engravings of V-notched shields
A group of monuments in Spain carry engraved scenes showing various weapons and shields. V-notched shields are prominent.
They are mostly in Extremadura
Appear to date to between 9th and 7th centuries BC.
Example on the right is from Solana de Cabañas

Brozas
V-notched shield on engraved 7th-8th century BC slab from Brozas, Cáceres in Spain

Cabeza de Buey
V-notched shields on engraved 7th-9th century BC slab from Cabeza de Buey (just south of Brozas)
Out of the distant past
Bronze and gold hoards:
Votive deposits or smiths’ stores?

Pins and BraceletsBallytegan Hoard, Co. Laois
Contain sunflower pins (1, 2 and 4 below)
Disc-headed pins
(No. 3 below)
Triple-bracelet
Tamlaght
Tamlaght
Tamlaght
Killymoon, Co. Tyrone
Gold hoard found during excavation
Dowris Hoard
Found during peat cutting in Offaly in the 1820s. Original number of objects is unknown.
Dowris Hoard
Buckets and Cauldrons
Cauldrons: Type A
Example from Dowris, Co. Offaly.
Horns
Cast bronze horns

Played using circular breathing

Two main types:
Horns: Class 1
Generally cast as a single piece

Mainly found in the north-east
Horns: Class 2
Occasionally manufactured in a number of sections
Mainly found in the south-west
Distribution ofHorns
Dowris is unusual in that both types are represented in the hoard.
Dowris Hoard
Weapons include both swords and spearheads
No. 5 in drawing is a chape (part of a scabbard)
Crotals
Purpose unknown (the term crotal denotes a small bell with an enclosed clapper)
39 from Dowris, one from Co. Antrim
Dowris hoard
Other finds include:
Axes
Chisels
Gouges
Socketed knives
Great Clare Gold Find
Gold found during railway building in 1854 near Mooghaun
Hoard was dispersed after find
Great Clare Gold Find
Some pieces are still being discovered
Great Clare Gold Find
a) 138 penannular bracelets with solid, evenly expanded, terminals.b) 3 penannular bracelets with evenly expanded hollowed terminals.c) 6 gold collars.d) 2 lock-rings.e) 2 penannular neck-rings.f) 3 ingots.g) 2 torcs.
Booleybrien, Co. Clare
Hoards
Hoards
Burton Hoard (Wales)
Single finds LBA
Weapons
Gold ornaments
Weapons
Gold ornaments
Newport, Co. Mayo

Megalithic Tombs, Mounds and Cairns

Megalithic Tombs
Mounds, Cairns, Barrows
Megalithic Tombs
•Megalithic Tombs are those stone monuments erected during prehistory including Court Tombs, Portal Tombs, Passage Tombs, Linkardstown Cists, Wedge Tombs.
•We should also include Stone Circles with this group.
•While we often use the term ‘tomb’ to describe them, the evidence from them suggest more complex uses than simply burial as they seem to have been the focus for other activities and ceremonies.
Megalithic Terms
•Orthostat
•Kerb
•Lintel
•Capstone

Megalithic Tombs
•Broadly speaking, the Passage Tombs, Court Tombs and Portal Tombs are Neolithic in date.
•The Wedge Tombs are mainly Bronze Age in date. Their distribution is also significantly different.
Court Tombs
•Also known as Court Graves, Horned Cairns

•390 examples are known (eg Creggandevesky, in Co Tyrone)

•Various types of court tomb have been identified:
–Dual Court Tombs
–Central Court Tombs
–Transeptal Court Tombs

Court Tombs: Layout
•Divided into two basic parts:
–a long chamber which contains smaller compartments in which remains were deposited
–a large open-space or court at the entrance to the chamber
•Court marked by large standing stones.
•Chamber is roofed by a stone mound which tapered toward the back.
Court Tombs – Distribution Map
Court Tombs - Distribution
•Distribution also reflected in tomb styles.
•In the north-east there is a preference for simple tombs with open crescent shaped courts.
•Elaborate monuments with more complex courts and found in the north-west
Court Tombs – Distribution Map
Note the preference for Central and Full Court tombs in the west
Court Tombs – Full Court Tombs
•Creevykeel, Co. Sligo
Court Tombs – Dual Court Tombs
•Audleystown, Co. Down

•Cohaw, Co. Cavan
Court Tombs - Transeptal
•Behy, Co. Mayo
Court Tombs - Construction
•Where chambers are present, 70% of tombs have less than 2 compartments.
•The cairn is generally retained by a revetment of orthostats
•Court is usually defined by orthostats and occasionally dry-walling
•Chambers can be separated into compartments by jamb-stones and sill-stones


Court Tombs – Finds
•Tombs show a preference in alignment – open court tombs often face between north-east and south-east
•Burnt and unburnt bones have been found in court tombs, but cremation appears to be more common
•Range of pottery and flint often found
–Carinated Bowls, Decoarted Bowls and Bipartite Bowls
–Flint arrowheads, scrapers and knives

Court Tombs - Date
•Dated examples may begin as early as 4000 BC
•Most dated examples suggest construction and use during the period between 3750 BC and 3250 BC

Court Tombs – Houses of the Dead
•One court tomb, at Ballyglass, Co. Mayo, was found to overlie a Neolithic house.
•Some people see Court Tombs as stone versions of contemporary houses, but built as houses of the dead rather than the living.
Portal Tombs
•Also known as Dolmens, Trigaliths, Diarmuid and Grainne’s Bed, Druidical Altars

•174 examples are known

•Most portal tombs are of a simple type although occasional variations have been identified but these are very rare:
–Dual Portal Tombs (e.g. Ballyrenan, Co. Tyrone)
Portal Tombs: Layout
•Usually formed of:
–a rectangular chamber
–Two stones mark either side of the entrance (the portal stones)
–A single large capstone for the roof (occasionally two stones are present)
–Largest capstone is Brownshill in Carlow (100 tons)
•There is often a cairn present, although this is not always the case.
Portal Tombs – Distribution Map
Note large gaps across areas of the midlands, west, south-west and north-east
Portal Tombs - Features
•Dual Portal Tomb at Ballyrenan, Co. Tyrone
•Note blocking stone at front of tomb - Drumanone, Co. Roscommon
Portal Tombs – Finds
•Tombs show no preference in alignment – often they roughly face east or uphill
•Many have stream-side or valley bottom locations
•Mainly burnt bones have been found in portal tombs
•Range of finds from portal tombs includes:
–Carinated Bowls and Bipartite Bowls
–Flint arrowheads, scrapers and knives
–Stone axes
–Beads

Portal Tombs - Date
•Dates seem to be very similar to Court Tombs although the picture isn’t very clear
•Dated examples begin as early as 4000 BC
•Most dated examples suggest use during the period between 3750 BC and 3250 BC

Passage Tombs
•Also known as Passage Graves, Druids Stones
•230 examples are known
•Several basic types of passage tombs have been identified:
–Simple passage tombs
–Cruciform passage tombs
Passage Tombs: Layout
•Usually formed of:
–a circular cairn or kerb circle
–A chamber within the cairn or kerb circle
–A passage providing access to the central chamber

Passage Tombs
•Newgrange, Co. Meath
The Winter Solstice
•Today it is best known for its association with the winter solstice.
•This was only re-discovered during the excavations.
Passage Tombs
•Entrance with decorated stone and famous light box.
Passage Tombs – Distribution Map
•Note gaps in distribution in most of the midlands, south-west and west.
•Also note cemeteries.
Passage Tombs – Simple Passage Tombs

Ballintoy, Co. Antri
Baltinglass Hill, Co. Wicklow
Passage Tombs – Simple Passage Tombs
•Carrowmore, Tomb 7, Co. Sligo
Passage Tombs – Cruciform Tombs
•Cruciform passage tomb at Knowth in Co. Meath
•Note the smaller ‘satellite’ tombs surrounding the main tomb
Passage Tombs - Distribution
•Passage tombs are found singly and in groups (cemeteries)
•Main passage tomb cemeteries are in the Boyne valley (Meath), Loughcrew (Meath)l, Carrowkeel (Sligo), Carrowmore (Sligo)
•A cemetery is usually defined as a group of more than 5
Passage Tombs – Finds
•Tombs often seem to be aligned towards significant astronomies such as the winter solstice
•Mainly burnt bones have been found in passage tombs
•Large stone basins are known
•Range of finds from passage tombs includes:
–Carrowkeel Ware pottery
–Beads, pendants, bone and antler pins
–Stone Balls

Passage Tombs - Date
•Some dated examples begin as early as 5500 BC – this is often challenged
•Most dated examples suggest use during the period after 3500 BC and before 2850 BC
•The great passage tombs like Knowth and Newgrange were built between 3250 BC and 2950 BC.

Wedge Tombs
•Also known as Gallery Graves
•505 examples are known
•Two basic types of wedge tombs have been identified:
–Short gallery (Parknabinnia, Co. Clare)
–Long gallery (Ballyedmonduff, Co. Dublin)
Wedge Tombs: Layout
•Usually formed of:
–A gallery
–An outer revetment
–Generally roofed with large stones decreasing in size from front to rear

Wedge Tombs – Distribution Map
Note that wedge tombs do not observe the northern preference of other megalithic tombs

Wedge Tombs – Finds
•Tombs show no preference in alignment – often they roughly face west
•Burnt and unburnt bones have been found in wedge tombs
•Range of finds from wedge tombs is very limited and includes:
–Beaker Pottery
–Barbed and Tanged arrowheads
Wedge Tombs - Date
•Dated examples may start as early as 3000 BC, but it seems more likely most are built after around 2600 BC.
•Most dated examples suggest construction and use during the period between 2600 BC and 1400 BC
•It is possible that some of the stone circles built in the south-west are a late variant style of Wedge Tomb.

Stone Circles: Drombeg, Co. Cork
•Radiocarbon dated to the Late Bronze Age




Linkardstown Cists
•Small group of tombs known which are recognised as a distinct group of individual burials
•Named after first excavated example at Linkardstown in Co. Carlow
•Sites have a central burial chamber located in the centre of a cairn or mound which is not accessed via a passage
•Most dated examples suggest use during the period between 3600 BC and 3300 BC

Linkardstown Cists
•Jerpoint West, Co. Kilkenny showing typical form of central burial chamber: i.e. a polygonal stone cist
•Baunogenasraid, Carlow
Linkardstown Cists
•A group of definite Linkardstown-type burials are known
•Some related ‘individual’ Neolithic burials are also known and considered to be related
Linkardstown Cists – Finds
•Mainly unburnt bones have been found in Linkardstown Cists, mainly of adult males
•Range of finds from Linkardstown Cists includes:
–Bipartite Bowls
Linkardstown Cists
•Poulawack, Co. Clare
•Linkardstown Cist phases – central burial cists covered by a cairn of stones and encircled by a kerb
Linkardstown Cists
•Poulawack, Co. Clare – Typical Linkardstown Cist – not recognisable prior to excavation
Linkardstown Cists
•Poulawack, Co. Clare
•Excavation revealed multiple phases of use
Ballintruer More, Co Wicklow
Clogher Lower (Co. Roscommon)
•Typical mound – Bronze Age in date.
•Central burial sealed by cairn/earthen mound.
Clogher Lower (Co. Roscommon)
Ballinagore (Co. Wicklow)
Knockast, Co. Westmeath
Individual Burial
•CISTS
Segmented Cist
Laughanstown, Co. Dublin
Barrows
•A number of types of burial monument are defined by the presence of a circular ditch
•These might enclose a central burial or include numerous burials
Cherrywood,Co Dublin:Typical Barrow
After excavation – viewed from the north.
Late Bronze Age burial and pit F77
Child burial
Barrow with capping and cremation deposits removed and pit F77 exposed (viewed from north-west)
Pit F77 with circle of stones and cattle teeth in situ
Plan showing location of cremation deposits overlying capping and within ditch fill (see key).
Viewed from the north-west. This is the barrow with the cremated ditch deposits visible and the clay capping in situ.
Beads from cremations with ditch fill

Stone Circles and Rock Art

Stones Circles, Standing Stones, Alignments, Rock Art…

Stone Circles
•There are various types of stone circle in Ireland:
–Great Circles
–Embanked Circles
–Northern-type(s)
–Multiple Stone Circles
–Recumbent Stone Circles
–Stone Circles with Boulder burials
–Five Posters
–Four Posters
Stone Circles - Terminology
Great Circles: Newgrange, Co. Meath
•The Great Circle at Newgrange
Newgrange – The Great Circle
Newgrange – The Great Circle
•There are 12 surviving standing stones around the mound of Newgrange out of a possible original 35 to 38 orthostats.
•The Great Circle has an average diameter of 103.6m (340 ft), which is larger than the diameter of Stonehenge, the outer bank of which is 97.5m (320 ft).
•The stones consist of greywacke, which is a type of sandstone, as well as limestone, granite and other igneous rocks and stand at a height of approximately 2 metres each
Newgrange, Co. Meath
•Stones in front of the tomb’s entrance.
Embanked Circles - Beltany, Co. Donegal
•Stones stand on a raised bank.
Embanked Circles - Beltany, Co. Donegal
•The ring is 44.2m (145ft) in diameter and still contains 64 stones, though originally there were eighty or more
Embanked Circles - Beltany, Co. Donegal
•Note the entrance in the top slide (bottom left of the circle).
•This is also visible in the bottom photo.
Embanked Stone Circle:Athgreaney, The Pipers Stones, Co. Wicklow
Embanked Stone Circle:Castleruddery, Co. Wicklow
These ‘embanked’ stone circles are very similar to henge monuments and appear to be of the same sort of date (i.e. Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age).
Embanked Stone Circle:Grange, Co. Limerick
•Excavated in the 1940s.
•Appears to date to the Bronze Age
Embanked Stone Circle:Grange, Co. Limerick
•Embanked stone circles show many of the symmetrical features of henge monuments.
Ballynahatty, Co. Down (Henge)
Northern Type(s)
•While a lot of stone circles are known from the northern half of Ireland – the various types have not been properly studied.
•There are a number of early circles which may be embanked circles (other than Beltany)
•The remainder are best described individually!
Similar to Breton circles called Fer-aux-chevaux
Stonehenge – Bluestone phase
Ballynoe, Co. Down
Ballynoe, Co. Down
Copney, Co. Tyrone
Copney: Circle A
Beaghmore: Site B
Along alignment towards B
Beaghmore: Site D
Beaghmore: Site E
Drumskinny, Co. Fermanagh
Four-Poster: Mullaghmore, Co. Down
•Four-Poster Circle
•Excavation produced traces of a cremation in a bucket-shaped pot.
Four-Poster: Mullaghmore, Co. Down
•Mullaghmore as excavated: M marks the spot where the bones of an adult male cremation were recovered, C is where the similar remains of a child were recovered.
Ring ditch 2 burial
•Oval in plan 6 by 5m
•Central burial used twice
•First burial a small cist, contained remains of an adult male 35 years+
•The second burial an adult 35 years +
•Capstone recovered from ditch
•No associated funerary vessel
•Four post holes surrounding central burial
•Dated Cal BC 1380-920
A Four-Poster in a barrow at Loughbrickland, Co. Down
Multiple Stone Circles: Drombeg, Co. Cork
Bohonagh, Co. Cork – Boulder Burial
•Boulder Burial located close to the Stone Circle
Bawngare, Co. Cork
•Boulder burial. Similar to an out of proportion portal tomb.
Kenmare, Stone Circle and Boulder Burial
Five Stone Circle: Oughtihery/Keel Cross, Co. Cork
•Has same symmetry as recumbent and multiple stone circles.
Five Stone Circles
Kealkil, Co. CorkFive Poster with Stone Row in background
Stone Circles: Dating Evidence
•The different types of circle appear to be of different dates.
•The Great Circle at Newgrange and the embanked circles seem to date to around 3000-2000 BC
•Many of the Northern types appear to date to 2000-1500 BC
•The Four-Poster and many of the types from Cork and Kerry date to the Late Bronze Age (1200-800 BC)
Maughanasilly, Co. Cork: Stone Row
Standing Stones: The Rocking Stone, Carrowkeel (Sligo)
Standing Stones:The Longstone, Co. Armagh
Standing Stone:Rathiddy, Co. Louth
Rock Art:Reyfad, Co. Fermanagh
Rock Art: Mullagharoy, Co. Meath
Rock Art:The Witches Stone, Oldbridge, Co. Wicklow
Rock Art:Clearagh, Co. Cork
Kealduff Upper, Co. Kerry
Stone with rock art from pit in the interior ofHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
•Private and public art
Turoe Stone, Co. Galway
Killycluggin, Co. Cavan
Boa Island, Co. Fermanagh

BA Cultures

Bronze Age Burial

Individual Burial in Ireland during the Bronze Age

Bronze Age: Chronology
•The Bronze Age begins around 2350 BC in Ireland
•First evidence of use of copper dates to around 2350 BC
•By 2000 BC, copper is being alloyed with tin to make bronze
•Gold appears around this time as well
•Conventionally the Bronze Age is divided into three phases:
–Early (2350 BC to 1700 BC);
–Middle (1700 BC to 1200 BC)
–Late (1200 BC to 700 BC).

Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•Individual burials
•Flat axes
•Tanged daggers
•Barbed and tanged arrowheads
•Decorated pottery
•Archers wristguards
•V-perforated buttons
Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•Individual burials
•Flat axes
•Tanged daggers
•Barbed and tanged arrowheads
•Decorated pottery
•Archers wristguards
•V-perforated buttons
Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•Individual burials
•Flat axes
•Tanged daggers
•Barbed and tanged arrowheads
•Decorated pottery
•Archers wristguards
•V-perforated buttons
Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•Individual burials
•Flat axes
•Tanged daggers
•Barbed and tanged arrowheads
•Decorated pottery
•Archers wristguards
•V-perforated buttons
Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•Individual burials
•Flat axes
•Decorated Pottery
•Tanged daggers
•Barbed and tanged
arrowheads
•Decorated pottery
•Archers wristguards
•V-perforated buttons
Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•Individual burials
•Flat axes
•Decorated Pottery
•Tanged daggers
•Barbed and tanged
arrowheads
•Decorated pottery
•Archers wristguards
•V-perforated buttons
Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•GOLD
Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•GOLD
Lunulae
Two main types:
Classical (heavily decorated, symmetrical), from Killarney, Co. Kerry
Unaccomplished (i.e. little decoration, asymmetric) as shown here from a hoard of four from Dunfierny in Co. Kildare

Characteristics of the Early Bronze Age
•Halberds
•Battleaxes
Pottery
Bowl Tradition pottery



Vase Tradition pottery
Urns from the Vase Tradition
Collared Urn (Tara, Co. Meath)
Cordoned Urn (Gortlush, Co. Donegal)

Ballinagore (Co. Wicklow)
Finds associated with Collared Urns
Finds associated with Cordoned Urns
Razors found with Cordoned Urns
Faience Beads




Burial Mounds
•Poulawack, Co. Clare
Burial Mounds
•Poulawack, Co. Clare
•Excavation revealed multiple phases of use
Poulawack, Co. Clare
Clogher Lower (Co. Roscommon)
•Typical mound – Bronze Age in date.
•Central burial sealed by cairn/earthen mound.
Clogher Lower (Co. Roscommon)
Ballinagore (Co. Wicklow)

Knockast, Co. Westmeath
Knockast, Co. Westmeath

Individual Burial
•CISTS
Segmented Cist
Laughanstown, Co. Dublin

Ballygalley,County Antrim

Death and Burial in continental Europe
Variation in practice across Europe
Early Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Ireland, Britain, Southern Russia, Southern Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Netherlands, Brittany, East Hungary, West Serbia, Albania

•Flat Inhumation Cemetery: Central Europe, Italy, Central Russia, Northern Russia.

•Cremation Cemetery: Hungary

Early Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Ireland, Britain, Southern Russia, Southern Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Netherlands, Brittany, East Hungary, West Serbia, Albania
•Novaya Kvasnikovka, Volgograd (kurgan 4, burial 5) – 2000 BC
Early Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Novaya Kvasnikovka, Volgograd (kurgan 4, burial 5) – 2000 BC
Early Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
Early Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Ireland, Britain, Southern Russia, Southern Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Netherlands, Brittany, East Hungary, West Serbia, Albania
•Chastiye, Kurgan 20, Lower Don (Russia)– 2000 BC
Kurgan, Aliaga Steppe, Ukraine
Kurgan Vizir, Romania
Normanton Down barrow cemetery
Bush Barrow
Bush Barrow Finds
Golden Barrow
Golden Barrow
Helmsdorf, Germany (EBA)
Leubingen, Germany (EBA)
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Inhumation Cemetery: Rare
•Cremation Cemetery: Rare
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Egtved kommune, Denmark
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Egtved kommune, Denmark
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Egtved kommune, Denmark
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Egtved kommune, Denmark
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Boat-shaped graves (Sweden)
Lugnaro, Sweden
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Toterfout (Netherlands)
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Toterfout (Netherlands)
Middle Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe, Northern Europe, Pontic Zone, Parts of the Balkans
•Balkans (various)
Late Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Tumulus Burials (i.e. in a mound, barrow, cairn or kurgan): Central Europe (rare), Parts of Balkans, Steppe zone
•Inhumation Cemetery: Central Europe (rare)
•Cremation Cemetery: Ireland and Britain, Central Europe, Italy, Northern Europe, France, Spain, most of the Balkans
Late Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Inhumation Cemetery: Central Europe (rare)
•Vyčapy-Opatovce
Late Bronze Age: Dominant Burial Rites
•Cremation Cemetery: Ireland and Britain, Central Europe, Italy, Northern Europe, France, Spain, most of the Balkans
•Vollmarshausen (Germany) - Urnfield Cemetery
Vollmarshausen - Urnfield Cemetery
Cemeteries
•Provide useful data on population health and general demographics.

•Estimated life expectancy in Britain was 31.3 (male) and 29.9 (female). Only 3.3% live to see 50.

•Central Europeans – life expectancy poor beyond 40, but in Iberia it is a different picture.

Thapsos, Sicily
Tholos, Mycenae

The "Agamemnon" MaskGold, from Tomb V at Mycenae Sixteenth century BC

Trackways in Ireland

TRACKWAYS
Valentia Island Tetrapod Trackway, County Kerry
A series of the footprints of a tetrapod - a large amphibian animal that walked on soft sediment 385 million years ago. A unique record of the transition of life from the sea to land.
Valentia Island, Tetrapod Trackway, County Kerry
First major modern find was Corlea in Co. Longford
This was dated by dendrochronology to 148 BC
Corlea
Excavated by Prof. Barry Raftery from UCD
This led to some international debate over the lack of research in Irelands bogs.
Trackways in Bogs
Further examination of the Corlea part of the Mountdillon Bogs revealed further sites
Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit (IAWU)
IAWU was set up in UCD in the early 1990s and a programme of bog surveys was started.
Corlea Visitor Centre
A portion of the Corlea trackway was preserved and put on display in a visitor centre in the bog.
Function?
Their function isn’t always as obvious as we would expect.
Some trackways bridge a chain of bogs.
Some are designed to use part of the bog.
Cooleeny, Site 31, Co. Tipperary
Dated to c. 620 BC, crosses bog.
Cooleeny, Site 31, Co. Tipperary
Cooleeny, Site 31, Co. Tipperary
Killoran, Site 18, Co. Tipperary
Dates to c. 1450 BC – crosses bog from east to west.
Killoran, Site 18, Co. Tipperary
Trackways that don’t cross a bog…
Some trackways are built to access the resources available in bogs (trees, bushes, water courses, wild-life).
Some structures are built as dry islands for various uses.
Trackways that don’t cross a bog…
Derryfadda, Co. Tipperary
Short trackway
Trackways that don’t cross a bog…
Derryfadda, Site 23, Co. Tipperary
Short trackway made of planks
Dated to 1590 BC
Trackways that don’t cross a bog…
Cooleeny, Site 306, Co. Tipperary
Short trackway using mixture of brushwood and roundwood (but no planks)
Trackways that don’t cross a bog…
Killoran Site 315, Co. Tipperary
Short trackway incorporating panels of woven wood (hurdles)
Platforms in bogs
Similar to crannogs and other artificial islands but smaller and not permanently occupied.
Post Rows
Sometimes a long line of posts are recorded.
These are often marking off areas of very wet bog.
Killoran Site 54, Co. Tipperary.
Post Row
Derryfadda 209, Co. Tipperary.
Marks off area of very wet bog.
Dates to Late Bronze Age
Trackways have been found dating to all periods
Fenor Bog, Co. Waterford
Building a Trackway

Fulachta Fiadh/Burnt Mounds

FULACHT FIADH and BURNT MOUNDS

Burnt Mound v Fulacht Fiadh
Fulacht Fiadh: A horseshoe-shaped or kidney-shaped, mound consisting of fire-cracked stone and charcoal-enriched soil built up around a sunken trough located near or adjacent to a water supply, such as a stream or spring, or in wet marshy areas. The term 'fulacht fia' is ascribed to these sites by Geoffrey Keating. Often associated with cooking, they date primarily, but not exclusively, to the Bronze Age.
Burnt Mound: A burnt mound consists of a circular or irregularly shaped mound of material consisting of burnt stones, ash and charcoal with no surface evidence of a trough or depression. See also fulacht fia.

Keating’s account (from 17th century AD)
'However, from Bealtaine until Samhain, the Fian were obliged to depend solely on the products of their hunting and of the chase … And it was their custom to send their attendants about noon with whatever they had killed in the morning's hunt to an appointed hill …
Keating’s account (from 17th century AD)
… and to kindle raging fires thereon, and put into them a large number of emery stones: and to dig two pits in the yellow clay of the moorland, and put some meat on spits to roast before the fire and to bind another portion of it with súgain in dry bundles, and set it to boil in the larger of the two pits, and keep plying them with the stones that were in the fire … until they were cooked. And these fires were so large that their sites are today in Ireland burnt to blackness, and these are now called Fulacht Fian by the peasantry.

Burnt Mound
Spread of heat shattered stone.
Employ shallow fresh water wells to get water
Cherrywood, Site 3, County Dublin(dated c. 2400-2100 BC)see www.excavations.ie
Killoran, Site 240 (County Tipperary)In Gowen, Ó Néill, Phillips (eds) 2005 Lisheen Mine Archaeological Project. Wordwell
Wells are sometimes lined with wood
These are often referred to as troughs.
Pit and spread of heat-shattered stone.
Killoran Site 26, Co. Tipperary.
Shows typical layout – shattered stone spread around the pit or trough.
What can they tell us?
Where the stones survive from the last use, we can gain some idea of how they were used…

Plot showing the volume of stone required to raise the temperature of 1 litre of water by 1° C, relative to the temperature to which the stone was heated.
Buildings
Some burnt mounds have produced evidence of buildings.
These are simple circular settings of posts
These are simple stone-built buildings.
These are complex, 2-roomed structures.
Drombeg, Co. Cork
Functions other than cooking?
Keatings story ends by saying:
'As to the Fian … each of them stripped off, and tied his shirt around his waist; and they ranged themselves around the second pit … bathing their hair and washing their limbs, and removing their sweat, and then exercising their joints and muscles, thus ridding themselves of their fatigue.
Central America
Charlesland, Co. Wicklow
Panpipes
Dates for Ireland

Out of the Distant Past: Domestication Timeline

Neolithic Notes on the Development of Agriculture

Domesticating the wild
The origins of farming in the Levant
In this lecture we will discuss the beginnings of food production, primarily focusing on the region of southwest Asia known as the Levant, but we will also briefly discuss the beginnings of farming in other parts of the world. We will review the various forms of evidence archaeologists have employed to investigate the onset of cereal cultivation and animal domestication from c.10,000 years ago. This will be addressed in relation to several key sites that provided a focus for early agriculture. We will close with a discussion on the different interpretations on how and why these changes may have taken place in the Levant at that particular time.
Key terms and phrases: origins of agriculture, domestication, cultivation, plants and animals, Levant, Natufian, Epi-palaeolithic, tell sites, PPNA/B, Abu Hureyra, Jericho, Çatalhöyük

Marching West
The 'advance of agriculture' across Europe
For the second lecture in this series we will move further west to central and eastern Europe and consider the arrival of neolithic lifeways there. We will discuss a number of key locations and review the main changes as well as continuities from earlier periods. While considering the large scale, global, phenomenon of these developments we will continually hone in on the local events visible in the archaeological record, such as evidence for settlement, material culture and the treatment of the dead.
Key terms and phrases: spread of agriculture, models, colonisation, migration, demic/cultural diffusion, Mediterranean, Cyprus & Crete, the Balkans, Franchthi Cave, Danube Gorges, Lepenski Vir, central and west Mediterranean, cardial ware.
Lecture 10. Longhouse life ? Settlement and daily life in neolithic Europe
This lecture will continue the themes of the previous one but will pay particular attention to aspects of daily life within the so called Linear Potter Culture (LBK) of central and eastern Europe. We will primarily examine the evidence from the longhouse ?villages? so typical of the period from c.5500BC and discuss what this evidence can tell us about people?s lives within and around these settlements. Again we will seek to make inferences about technology, social organisation and ideology, but in slight contrast to the previous lecture aim to focus our analysis at a smaller scale with questions relating to people?s daily life in early neolithic central Europe at its heart. As part of this we will also explore questions of social organisation, conflict and ideology.
Key terms and phrases: Linear Pottery Culture (LBK), Long house settlements, distribution, rapid spread, treatment of the dead, ideology, conflict
Lecture 11. Postcard from the Alps ? Ötzi the Iceman, a case study for neolithic daily life
For the final lecture on the neolithic period in continental Europe we will change our perspective, from looking for clues on a rather broad scale level of the earlier lectures to the material related to one particular discovery. More specifically, we will consider in detail the fate of one later neolithic person who died in the Similaun glacier close to the Italian ? Austrian border around 3300BC. Instead of asking who that person was and what brought him there we will investigate what this find can reveal about the conditions of the lives of people in late neolithic ? also known as Chalcolithic ? central Europe.
Key terms and phrases: ice mummy, Ötzi, organic preservation, equipment, materials, tattoos and body art, conflict
Lecture 12. Neolithic beginnings in Ireland
The first lecture on the neolithic period in Ireland will begin by addressing the question of the earliest evidence for domesticated animals and cultivated cereal crops on the island. We will then move on to discuss other developments of the late fifth and early fourth millennia BC, such as the first use of pottery, the construction of large timber and stone built structures, and changes in lithic technology. We will consider this evidence in the context of contrasting views, interpreting these developments as primarily economic ones on one hand or largely ideologically driven ones on the other.
Key terms and phrases: Island ecology, environmental signatures, elm decline, pollen diagrams, cereal crops, domesticated animals, pottery, lithic artefact technology, timber post built structures, neolithic ?houses?, causewayed enclosures, colonisation, migration, indigenous adoption
Lecture 13. Grand statements in stone ? Irish middle neolithic trends
This lecture will concentrate on the period between c.3600 and 3100BC, best known for the increase and diversification in the construction of large megalithic monuments, with three of the four commonly classified tomb types largely dating to this phase, although at least some of these may have had their origin in preceding centuries. Therefore along with continued construction of rectangular timber structures ? often referred to as neolithic ?houses? ? the use of these monuments suggests some degree of continuation from early neolithic times. We will also address the significance of wide and far reaching exchange links between many parts of Ireland, Britain and continental Europe, which represent another important feature of the archaeology of the fourth millennium BC.
Key terms and phrases: megalithic tombs (passage, court, portal tombs), Linkardstown burials, continuity, exchange networks, stone axe ?trade?, communication
Lecture 14. Continuity and change in late neolithic Ireland
The final lecture in our neolithic series will concentrate of the last five centuries of the period, preceding the arrival of metal working. Once again this phase shows continuity from the earlier middle neolithic but equally into the earlier Bronze Age. While initially passage tombs appear to remain in use we will see that they are oftentimes associated with new pottery styles and also a tendency to create ?ritual complexes? or landscapes. We will also discuss the significance of an increase in open-air ?ceremonial? enclosures. Our exploration of neolithic Ireland will draw to a close with the arrival of the fourth type of megalithic tomb in Ireland and that of beaker pottery. These events, which appear to immediately precede ? or even coincide with ? the development of metallurgy, will provide us with a suitable point from which to reflect on the changes of the preceding 1500 years.
Key terms and phrases: passage tomb complexes, open air enclosure, henges, cursus monuments, grooved ware, wedge tombs, beaker pottery.

Palaeolithic and Mesolithic

This lecture will provide an introduction to the topic and will get us started with review some of the best known finds from earliest prehistory and a small exercise on what it means to be a modern human. This lecture provides a general introduction to the study of human origins. We will build on our exercise from Lecture 1 and briefly examine some key themes in the definition of humanity before reviewing the key techniques used for understanding human evolution: material culture, physical anthropology, genetics etc. Finally, we provide a very brief chronological framework for human evolution, and compare bushes and ladders as models of evolution.
Key phrases and themes: hominids/hominins, palaeolithic: lower,/middle/upper, palaeontology, archaeology, physical anthropology, genetics, ladders and bushes

The earliest hominids in Africa and Europe
In this lecture we examine the origins of hominids in Africa in their environmental context, from divergence from apes at about 7 million years ago, through to the migration from Africa at about 1.8 million years ago. We will look in detail at Australopithecine afarensis and consider the importance of bipedalism. Homo habilis provides us with an opportunity to examine the significance of tool-use. Finally, we look at the increasing complexity evidence in hominids after the migration from Africa. Homo heidelbergensis allows us to consider the importance of hunting, as well as examine some wonderful evidence of stone working. Heidelbergensis also raise the issue of pre-modern symbolic behaviour.
Key phrases and themes: Australopithecine (A. afarensis), slender and robust, bipedalism, Homo n(H. habilis, H. Heidelbergensis), tool-making, Olduwan/Oldovan, Acheulean, symbolic behaviour, climate change, Ice Age Europe

The origins and spread of modern humans and the extinction of the Neanderthals
Here we focus on the two best known species of humans; Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. We begin by outlining evidence for the Neanderthals noting the changing interpretations of their humanity over time. We then examine the origins and migrations of modern humans (Homo sapiens), from ill-understood beginnings in Africa and following movement to all corners of the globe. Finally we turn our attention in detail to the modern human arrival in Europe, and the vexed question of the relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. And the still much debated evidence for the arrival of modern humans in Britain and other parts of northwest Europe.
Key phrases and themes: Homo sapiens, modern human mind, culture, upper palaeolithic, H neanderthalensis, Châtelperronian, extinction, Swanscombe, Boxgrove

Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, technology and lives
In this lecture we examine modern humans living in Europe at the end of the last Ice Age, the during the most recent part of the old stone age, known as the upper palaeolithic period. Here we focus especially on evidence of technology and settlement, highlighting the interplay of symbolism in all aspects of hunter-gatherer life. We will look at chronological and geographic variation within the upper palaeolithic, and review changes over time in their environmental context as well as regional variations.
Key phrases and themes: Upper Palaeolithic, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, Magdalenian, Ice Age, Late Glacial Maximum, hunter-gatherers, mobility, mega fauna, burial rites, Meizerich

Upper Palaeolithic art
This lecture looks at the world famous ?art? of Ice Age Europe including both cave (or parietal) art and portable art. We review how the art was discovered, and touch on debates about its antiquity, before focusing on the most frequently found motives and how they were expressed. We will examine the competing interpretations of what this art might mean. As this lecture concludes the palaeolithic section of the course we will finish with a brief review of what we have heard and seen so far.
Key phrases and themes: rock art/cave art/parietal art, interpretations, Lascaux, Chauvet, Alta Mira, Creswell, dating, mobiliary art, Venus figurines, Willendorf

Mesolithic Europe: key sites, key sources
This lecture provides a basic introduction to the mesolithic period, or middle stone age, in Europe, with an especial focus on northwest Europe. We will look for definitions for the term mesolithic, and review the important environmental contexts for the period. We will also explore the most characteristic types of evidence of the period, with a focus on the key role of waterlogged sites and underwater archaeology in understanding hunter-gatherer lives. For this lecture we will primarily focus on material from continental Europe, but some comparisons to the British and Irish evidence will also be made as appropriate and important sites such as Star Carr, Oronsay and Mount Sandel will be introduced.
Key words: mesolithic, Holocene, post-glacial, sea level, woodlands, preservation, Star Carr, Oronsay. Mount Sandel

The mesolithic in Ireland
This lecture provides an outline of the mesolithic period in Ireland, examining how settlement in the area might have varied, given the context of a particular and restricted island ecology. We will examine evidence from some of the most important Irish mesolithic sites and introduce some of the themes and debates currently central to the study of the period. In particular, we will focus on questions of technological and settlement change and will also discuss Important new discoveries that challenge our understandings of the period in Ireland.
Key Words: Mouont Sandel, Hermitage, Ferriter?s Cove, fish traps, early and later mesolithic technology, Larnian tradition / Bann flake, wild and domesticated animals

Archaeology Sources in Ireland

Example:
1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map
Hill of Tara
SMR No: ME 31/33
NGR:29201/259793
RMP No: ME 031-033-16

Data Resources
(Maintained by National Monuments, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government)
Record of Monuments and Places (RMP)
Sites and Monuments Record (SMR)
Register of Historic Monuments
Maritime Sites and Monuments Record
Urban Archaeological Surveys
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH)
Published County Archaeological Inventories and Surveys
Office of Public Works river drainage files
National MonumentsArchaeological conservation is dealt with by the National Monuments service operating under the National Monuments Acts, 1930 - 1994, with two sections, the Archaeological Survey of Ireland and the Archaeological Archive being the primary producers and managers of data:
The following areas of responsibility are involved :The Register of Sites and Places / Sites and Monuments Record: This comprising some one hundred and twenty thousand protected archaeological sites throughout Ireland. Many important or threatened archaeological site which are not in the ownership of the state, are specifically protected under legislation from being damaged or interfered with by the legal owners of the land.The National Monuments Service is the licencing authority for all archaeological excavation, which can only be carried out by qualified and registered archaeologists. The register of excavations maintains details of all excavations carried out in Ireland together with a large archive of excavation reports. Excavations at the moment, exceed 1000 per annum.A register of historic shipwrecks is also maintained.
Ordnance Survey Ireland
Ordnance Survey first and subsequent editions
Ordnance Survey Namebooks/Letters/ Memoirs
Aerial photographs
National Map Library
Early maps and estate maps

Other sources
Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland Topographical Files
County Development Plans
Excavations Bulletin (www.excavations.ie)
Relevant published archaeological corpora
Local archaeological societies




RMP No: ME031-033-16
Hill of TaraSMR No: ME 31/33NGR:29201/259793RMP No: ME 031-033-16
www.excavations.ie(published annually as Excavations 1997 etc by Wordwell)
Northern Ireland Monuments and Buildings Record
Can be inspected in person at Environment and Heritage Service, Waterman House, Hill Street, Belfast
Can be accessed on-line at: http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/
Sites and Monuments Records for Britain and other on-line resources can be accessed via the same website. More detailed information for found via the relevant websites for the Royal Commissions or Cadw, English Heritage or Historic Scotland.


www.archaeology.ie

Ecclesiastical Enclosures in Ireland

Early Ecclesiastical Centres
Skellig Michael: Early Church Sites
Skellig Michael
Skellig Michael: Hermitage
Moyne, near Shrule, County Mayo
Lusk, Co. Dublin
Early Ecclesiastical Centres
•Christianity was probably first introduced to Ireland sometime at the very end of the 4th century AD or early in the 5th century AD
•The earliest church sites are not easy to identify or date
•Sometimes only placename evidence survives

Early Ecclesiastical Centres
•Earliest church developed as members of the aristocracy were converted by the earliest missionary/converts (such as St. Patrick)
•Initial Christianisation appears to occur in the south half of Ireland and spreads to the northern half by around 450-460 AD
Early Ecclesiastical Centres
•As the earliest churches were associated with the aristocracy, the early parish and bishopric boundaries tend to be similar to the early kingdoms or chiefdoms in Ireland
•As a result – the power of bishops was confined to their own kingdom

Early Ecclesiastical Centres
•Monastic sites and hermitage emerge that are independent of the parish-bishopric system
•They appear to have been given separate endowments and are economically independent
•Successful monasteries are able to set up or acquire additional monasteries and increase their prestige
•This system survives in various forms until the arrival of the Normans in the 12th century AD

Early Ecclesiastical Centres
•These early Christian centres often survive today as large enclosures, sometimes with multiple concentric earthworks or ditches.
•Today these are often only visible as crop marks from the air.
•In some cases, only the placename evidence survives:
–Cell often anglicised as Kill
–Domhnaig often anglicised as Donagh or Downey
–Teampall often anglicised as Temple

Nendrum,Co. Down
Nendrum
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•St. Johns Point, Co. Down
•Some early styles of church may be associated with an enclosure.
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•Gallarus Oratory
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•Round towers date from the 10th century to around 1200.
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•These are the north cross (top) and south cross (bottom) at Ahenny at Kilclispin.
•They are among the earliest high crosses that were manufactured and represent a translation into stone of a style of wood and metal crosses.
•They are over 3 m in height.
•They date to the late 8th to the early 9th century AD.
Ahenny, Co. Tipperary
•These are the north cross (top) and south cross (bottom) at Ahenny at Kilclispin.
•They are among the earliest high crosses that were manufactured and represent a translation into stone of a style of wood and metal crosses.
•They are over 3 m in height.
•They date to the late 8th to the early 9th century AD.
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•Decorated grave slabs may be the only evidence.
•Rathdown slabs and Tau cross Killegar, County Wicklow
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•These two of Rathdown slabs are examples from Rathfarnham and Rathmichael both did appear to have marked actual graves.
•They date to the 9th and 10th century AD.
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•Cross slabsFahan, Co. Donegal
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•Cross slabsInishmurray (off Sligo coast)
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•Bullaun Stones
•Usually natural rocks or boulders with deliberate hollows.
•Often found on ecclesiastical sites.
•Their origin and date is obscure, but they are at least medieval in date.
Eccelesiastical Enclosures: Typical features
•Mount Offaly, Cabinteely (ESSO Station)

•Enclosed cemetery site
–3 ditches
– 6 phases
–>1500 burials

•Finds: Local material
•Finds: Imported material
•Industrial remains

Cabinteely: Burial Types
Cabinteely: Burials

Cabinteely: Phase 1
Cabinteely: Phase 2
Cabinteely: Phase 3
Cabinteely: Phase 4
Cabinteely: Phase 5
Cabinteely: Phase 6
Cabinteely: Finds

Souterrains

Main publication: Mark Clinton, The souterrains of Ireland.
INTRODUCTION
Souterrains are underground passages
They are usually built of stone but can also be tunnelled into rock or compact clay or gravel.
Souterrains are sometimes found apparently independent of any enclosure and are also found in Early Christian ecclesiastical enclosures.
Places of refuge
Places for storage
Distribution
It had been suggested that two factors influenced the distribution of souterrains:
The prevailing soil type
The prevailing geology
The local distributions do not reflect ‘political’ units
Some features (e.g. trapdoors) are found in particular areas and suggest local building ‘schools’
Donaghmore, Co. Louth
Donaghmore, Co. Louth
Donaghmore, Co. Louth
Newrath BigKellsCo. Meath
Coolcran,Co. FermanaghWooden souterrainoaks found that were dated to 822+/-9 AD
Tateetra, County Louth
Tateetra, showing cross-inscribed slab (see www.aegisarchaeology.com)
Newtownbalregan, County LouthRingfort and Souterrain (from www.nra.ie)
Newtownbalregan, County Louth
Newtownbalregan, County Louth
Roof slab – re-used from elsewhere – is covered in megalithic art.
Carn More, County Louth(from www.nra.ie)
Dunisky, Co. CorkRock-cut souterrain
Entrance TypesRamp
Entrance TypesPit-drop
Entrance TypesShaft
Entrance TypesStepped
Entrance TypesHatch
Passage and constrictions
Passages either unrestricted or restricted.
Unrestricted passage have no additions to impede access or movement.
Restricted passages can contain various features to make movement difficult such as:
An extremely narrow section of passage
A reduced roof height (e.g. a crawl space)
Porthole Slabs

Porthole Slabs(Smerwick, Co. Kerry)
Armoy,Co. Antrim
Chambers
Chambers can be various shapes:
Elliptical
Circular
Rectangular
Oblong (where the passage merely widens)
Undifferentiated (where there is no distinction between the passage and the chamber)
Donaghmore, Co. Louth
Rectangular chamber
Drumadoon, Co. Antrim
Oblong chamber
Trapdoors
Deliberate obstruction placed in passage or chamber
May include covering devices
Other features
Steps and stepped features (such as sudden drops)
Air vents and drains
Cobblestone and paving
Internal (wooden) doors
Cupboards and cubbyholes such as the one below from Guilford in Westmeath
Dating
Earliest dates are from 7th or 8th century AD
Latest dates are from the 13th or 14th century AD (such as finds of medieval pottery from construction material).
Drumadoon, Co. Antrim
Drumadoon, Co. Antrim

Crannogs

Name derives from Irish word ‘crann’ meaning a tree (referring to the wooden elements of a ‘crannog’).
The terms ‘inis’ and ‘oilean’ are also found in texts (usually pre-9th century). Both mean island and often refer to crannogs.
Ballydoolough
Lough Boora
A lake settlement site at Lough Boora from the earlier Mesolithic (8000-6500 BC) also has been identified as similar in nature to a crannog.
Earliest
Some crannog or artifical islands or platforms are known from the Mesolithic.
These include sites like Lough Gara where platforms of stone as shown here produced Mesolithic finds.
Lough Gara
Rathjordan
Some crannogs or lake settlements also appear to have been built in the Neolithic such as at Rathjordan shown here.
Moynagh Lough
At other sites, activity near artificial islands is quite different.
At Moynagh Lough – a well known lake settlement – there was a major find of a hoard of flint objects.
Cullyhanna
Lake settlements like these are more widely known from the Bronze Age.
Such as Cullyhanna shown here.
Cullyhanna, Co. Armagh
Ballinderry
Clonfinlough
Moynagh Lough, Co. Meath
Lisnacrogher
Craigywarren, Co. Antrim

Main publication: The Archaeology of Lake Settlement by Aidan O'Sullivan

Hillforts

Hillforts and Coastal Promontory Forts
A number of hilltop enclosures are identified as a distinct type of monument
While ringforts and cashels are known from the top of hills, in general, a hillfort is an enclosure placed around the summit of a hill which is larger than a ringfort or a cashel
Rathcoran, County Wicklow
Rathcoran in County Wicklow
Here there is a hillfort
A later ringfort stands in the centre (on top of a passage tomb)
Rathcoran, Co. Wicklow Plan
Rathcoran, Co. Wicklow
Passage Tomb
Types of Hillfort
A small number of basic types of hillfort can be recognised in Ireland
Hillforts where there is a single line of earthworks enclosing the summit of a hill
Hillforts where there are multiple lines of earthworks
Inland Promontory Forts
Hillforts with a single line of defences
Hillforts where there is a single line of earthworks enclosing the summit of a hill
Univallate
Typically enclose an area of 2 – 9 hectares (20,000 to 90,000 m²)
Previously people would include various sites in this category that would not be considered as ‘hillforts’ (e.g. Navan Fort in County Armagh)
Hillforts with a single line of defences
The enclosed area can sometimes include an earlier burial mound
It is unclear how we should interpret this:
Is it necessary to enclose a mound to ‘sanctify’ the site
Or, was just impossible to find a hill without a pre-existing mound?
Hillforts with a single line of defencesDownshill, Co. Wicklow


Hillforts with a single line of defencesDownshill, Co. Wicklow
Hillforts with a single line of defencesBallybuckley, Co. Wexford
Knocknashee,Co. Sligo
Hut sites, passage tombs and other features in the interior
Garrangrena Lower, Co. Tipperary
Hillforts with a single line of defences
Few excavated examples with dating evidence
Freestone Hill, Co. Kilkenny. Excavated by Gerhard Bersu, finds included a 4th century AD Roman coin but no clear idea of date of construction. There is also one unreliable radiocarbon date of 810-550 BC.
Knocknacarrigeen in Co. Galway and Clenagh in Co. Clare have been investigated but neither produced a date for the construction of the ramparts

Hillforts with a single line of defencesBrusselstown Ring, Co. Wicklow
Hillforts with a single line of defencesBrusselstown Ring, Co. Wicklow
Hillforts with a single line of defences
Brusselstown Ring in County Wicklow is actually part of a series of hill top earthworks that includes the enclosed summit of Spinans Hill
Hillforts to the North-east of Baltinglass
Hillforts with multiple lines of defence
Hillforts where there are a more than one line of earthworks enclosing the summit of a hill
Multivallate
Generally have two or three lines of rampart that are often widely spaced
The enclosed area can be up to 20 hectares (200,000 m²)
Rathgall (also known as Rath East)Co. Wicklow
Rathgall, Co. WicklowCentral enclosure in the Late Bronze Age
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceMooghaun Fort, Co. Clare
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceMooghaun Fort, Co. Clare
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Excavated by Prof. Jim Mallory
Three concentric circles of trenches investigated
Also produced some evidence of internal structures
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
A number of sections were excavated across the lines of the ramparts
Only the ditches survived as no traces of banks were recorded
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Ditch was waterlogged allowing for the survival of wooden finds and other organic material
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Investigation of the interior produced evidence of various pits and postholes suggesting there were structures within the innermost ditch
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Features in the interior of Haughey’s Fort
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Finds from the interior include bronze rings, a gold stud and a fragment of the handle of a decorated bronze cup
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Stone with rock art from pit in the interior
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceGrianan Aileach, Co. Donegal
Stone Forts: Staigue, Co. Kerry
Dun Aonghusa, Inis Mór, Aran Islands
Excavation has shown that the earliest phases of Dun Aonghusa begin in the later stages of the Bronze Age.
Dún Dúchathair, Inis Mór
Promontory Forts
A number of promontories cut off either by stone walls or ditches are recognised as a distinct class of site – Promontory Forts
These can either be coastal or, occasionally, on inland promontories
Inland Promontory Forts
Few have been investigated
Knockdhu,Co. Antrim
McArts Fort, Cavehill, Co. Antrim

Ringforts

Ringforts
• Introduction
• Distribution and Socio-Economic Model
• Chronology
• Hughes’ Lot East Multivallate Ringfort: human factors
• Case Study: Deerpark Farms
• Summary

Ringforts: introduction
• Normally considered to be dwelling places
• Circular earth and stone structures that houses and huts were built within
• Some defensive features but, unlike castles, not built to withstand sieges.
– Probably to withstand small raiding parties until nearby help arrived

• Banks made from ditch material
– or cashel walls from stone
• Could have been used for controlling and protecting livestock
– Rustlers
– Predators
• Enclosure probably also a status symbol
– Early Irish law indicates that a base client had to build and maintain the ‘Dun’ of his flaith (lord)
• Enclosing the home: a territorial and privacy statement
• Some protection from the elements

• Normally built of readily available materials: earth and stone
• Ditch is outside the innermost bank
– Unlike burial barrow or ritual site
• Sometimes more than one bank and ditch: multivallate
• Like modern rural houses, often placed in locations that were probably the best compromise between
– Views
– Shelter
– Warmth
– Drainage
– Access via roads, lakes etc.
• Proximity to:
– Workplace
– Family
– Neighbours
– Social or religious centre
– Drinking Water
– Food
– Other resources like timber etc.

Ringfort distribution: insular
• Up to c. 50,000 ringforts known from maps and field survey
• Most numerous archaeological monument in Ireland
• Many still highly visible
• M Stout believes broadly representative of EMA settlement patterns
• Survival might have been greater in medieval Gaelic regions
• Tradition, beliefs and superstition: ‘fairy forts’
• Some studies of cropmarks in Leinster demonstrate destruction prior to OS c. 1840
• Some of the best soil areas have low density of ringforts
• Less common in mountainous areas

Ringforts: size matters
What is the due of a king who is always in residence at the head of his tüath? Seven score feet [43m] of perfect feet are the measure of his [internal] stockade on every side. Seven feet [2m] are the thickness of its earth—work, and twelve feet [4m] its depth. It is then that he is a king, when ramparts of vassalage surround him. What is the rampart of vassalage? Twelve feet [4m] are the breadth of its opening and its depth and it measure towards the stockade. Thirty feet [9m] are its measure outwardly.
From Irish law text Crith Gablach c. 700AD Stout 1997
• Irish law was schematic and probably aspirational rather than strictly adhered to
• But these measurements conform broadly with the archaeological evidence
– Average ringfort internal diameter is c. 30m
– But some of those at royal centres like Rathcroghan are much larger
– Cashels (stone ringforts) tend to be smaller

Ringforts, landscape and society: SW midlands model based on results of detailed study
• High status bivallate ringfort close to church centre
• Provides focus and possible defensive support for smaller upland ringforts
• Large but lesser status multi-functional ringforts are focus for other clusters of low status ringforts
– And might provide resources or specialist services (e.g. metalworking) for high status site
• Ringfort size, number of enclosures, distance from others, proximity to important facilities (e.g. church or road), artefacts produced etc. said to represent hierarchical society

• Study of Clogher ringforts and environs Note proximity of royal ringfort to church, major roads, and rivers
EMA Tuath: Social and Economic Model
Stout 1997

• Like Early Irish Law: very schematic
• But accords well with early texts and with ringfort and church distribution studies
• Prior to Vikings Irish economy and settlement was overwhelmingly rural:
• And dispersed farmsteads rather than villages
• Or ‘dispersed villages’
Ringforts: Farmsteads

• Fields radiating from ringfort near Newbliss, Co. Monaghan
Ringforts: intervisibility for defence in depth
• Study of overlapping ‘visual territories’ in Braid Valley, Co. Antrim Stout 1997
• All ringforts were in this study visual ‘contact’ with at least one other
– Some with as many as 17 others

Ringforts: chronology
• Radiocarbon and dendrochronology dates from settlement types
• Most ringforts constructed between 600-900AD
• Some, like Feerwore Co. Galway, said to be Iron Age but dating evidence inconclusive.
• Some occupied until end of Middle Ages

Bivallate Ringfort at Hughes’ Lot East, Cashel, Co. Tipperary
• Approximately 18% of ringforts are bivallate
• Female skeleton from inner ditch
(skull damaged on discovery)

The dog at Hughes’ Lot East (2003)
• Ditch had partly silted up before the pit was cut as a dog grave
• Worker and Pet?

Inside the Ringfort: Case Study of Deerpark Farms, Co. Fermanagh

• Ringfort 25m in diameter
• Stone-paved entrance at E directly to door of main 7m building from 8th century AD
• Visitors directed to public space
• Like parlour?
• Figure of 8 layout: also known from ritual sites and conjoined Iron Age burial sites
Deerpark Farms: unusual preservation of internal structures
• Site became waterlogged: anaerobic preservation of organic materials – especially wooden structures
• Evidence for c. 25 houses within central area (but only a handful standing at any one time)
• Collapsed old house roofs, frames, walls etc. were left in situ and new ones built above these
• Site became elevated as a result of this: like a ‘tell’ site
• Water table rose and preserved organic material

South side of the mound encased in stone in the penultimate phase of heightening (note water table is above lowest level of site)
• The nature of the evidence from the 8th century settlement would be broadly in line with the EIL status of a modest free farmer
• But the later stone revetments could suggest that their descendants were of, or aspired to, higher status – that of ‘Cashel’ or ‘Dun’ dwellers
Example of a ‘cashel’ or stone ringfort atLeacanabuaile, Co. Kerry: probably higher status than earthen one (unless land is stony)

Front of waterlogged remains of Deerpark 7m house
Pit in entrance is where doorjambs were removed

Doorjambs of 4m house
• Dated by dendrochronology to 648 AD
• Older than earliest Carbon 14 result from this phase
• Probably re-used from earlier house
• As the jambs from 7m house were later

Figure of 8 arrangement at rear of 7m house

Reconstruction of wicker house based on Deerpark Farms evidence
Wicker was woven like a very large basket

The walls of the 7m house had cavity insulation between inner and outer wickerwork walls(black layer above ranging rod)
This was created by packing moss, straw and heather into the void

• Deerpark Farms model of 7m house and annexe
• Note cavities
• And central hearth:
• Constantly lit for heat, cooking, light?

Last from Deerpark Farms
• Left foot but for making right shoe:
• Stitched when over the last and then turned inside-out to wear
• Worn-out shoes found during excavation

Iron candle holder that was set at end of (mobile) stick

Small Shears: variety of purposes
• Human hair cut at both ends was found in midden (rubbish) pits

Souterrains: beneath some ringforts
Next Week

Ringforts: summary
• Circular ditch and bank enclosures within which houses and other structures were built
– Normally made of earth and stone
– Sometimes mainly stone – cashels
• Vast majority are between 15 and 45 metres in internal diameter
• Normally only produce modest finds
• Large multivallate ringforts produce higher status finds
• Vast majority were probably dispersed family farmsteads
• Main period of construction c. 600-900AD
• Houses and huts were almost always made of timber
– Little survives other than postholes and hearths
• But unusual preservation conditions at Deerpark Farms has provided much evidence for construction and use
– And has demonstrated considerable correlation with descriptions from 7th century Irish texts
• Like all settlements, their location in the landscape was influenced by a number of factors
• There is some evidence for a ringfort hierarchy that might reflect the prevailing social system
• Even though they must be used carefully, Early Irish texts are a very useful and interesting aid to archaeology


Recommended Reading: Early Medieval Settlements

Edwards, N. (1990) The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland. Routledge, London
Stout, M. (1997) The Irish ringfort. Four Courts Press. Dublin.
Deerpark Farms (EHSDOENI): http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/built/monuments/deerPark001.shtml

Very good value and indispensable companions for Early Medieval Ireland archaeology scholars or enthusiasts:
• Kelly, F. (1988) A Guide to Early Irish Law. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Dublin.
• Kelly, F. (1998) Early Irish Farming. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Dublin.

Geodetic and Geophysical Survey

Geodetic…
…is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the earth.
Geodetic Survey
•Geodetic survey is the basic form of mapping used by archaeologists to accurately record three dimensional information about landscapes, buildings and monuments.
•Basic equipment that is used includes dumpy levels for recording relative heights and measured surveys (analogue and digital) for spatial information.
•Some laser survey equipment is now available which records in 3-D.
Dumpy Levels and Tapes
•Most basic techniques are ancient – they were known to classical societies.

The height of a known point is taken with a dumpy level.This forms the basis for a contour plan.
ContourMap
•Manual survey of Navan Fort.
•Hand-drawn contour plans based on measured surveys
Various conventions used on plans/maps
•‘Hachures’ used to indicate slopes
Electronic Distance Meter (EDM)
•Records the position digitally

Round Island
Co. Down
•Top is a contour plan created in a programme called Surfer. It is shaded to enhance features on the island.
•The bottom map is an interpretation.
Tara
•Detailed topographic survey
Tara
•Geophysical surveys
What is Geophysics?
•The subsurface site characterization of the geology, geological structure, groundwater, contamination, and human artifacts beneath the Earth's surface, based on the lateral and vertical mapping of physical property variations that are remotely sensed using non-invasive technologies. Many of these technologies are traditionally used for exploration of economic materials such as groundwater, metals, and hydrocarbons.
Eh, so, what is Geophysics??
•The investigation of subsurface conditions through measuring, analyzing and interpreting physical fields at ground surface.
•Some studies determine what is directly below the surface (the upper meter or so); others extend to depths of 10's of meters.
Geophysical Techniques
•Two basic types of Geophysical Techniques are employed:
•Passive surveys of the earths magnetic field
•Measurements of an electrical current sent through the soil
•All of these techniques are often referred to as Remote Sensing.
•They include: Metal Detecting, Resistivity, Ground Penetrating Radar and Magnetometry
Metal Detectors
•Metal detectors are not only popular with members the public who regard their use as an innocent hobby, but also with professional treasure-hunters who plunder sites for profit.
•Most types penetrate the soil only to a very limited extent, but they have been used by archaeologists to locate dispersed metal artefacts.
•In Ireland – all detection devices required a license for their use (from Dept of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and National Museum). The use of metal detectors to search for antiquities is illegal.
Metal Detectors
•Extracts from National Monuments
(Amendment) Act, 1994, Section 7
•7.—(1) A member of the Garda Síochána may without warrant seize and detain— a detection device found in, at the site of, or in the vicinity of, a monument (an archaeological area which stands registered in the register by virtue of section 5 of the Act of 1987; a restricted area; a monument of which the Commissioners or a local authority are the owners or the guardians or in respect of which a preservation order is in force).
Resistivity surveying
•When an electric current is passed through the ground between electrodes, the resistance to its flow may be measured. A current will pass relatively easily through damp soil, but drier compact material such as a buried wall or a cobbled road surface creates higher resistance.


RESULTS FROM DATA LOGGER PLOTTED BY COMPUTER
Ground penetrating radar (GPR)

•Electronic signals are transmitted into the soil, and bounce back to a receiver. The signals are altered by the density and position of whatever they encounter underground, and the patterns received from the ground are plotted diagrammatically.

GPR – Two Basic Methods
•Common Offset Antennae (CO)
–easily interpreted
–quick
–can’t be extensively processed
•Common Mid-Point data (CMP)
–provides info for depth conversion
–slower to acquire
Ground Penetrating Radar
•Using CMPs allows for the recording of the variation in the signal pattern across a profile.
Ground Penetrating Radar
•At each point the length of time it takes the signal to return is logged and digitally corrected. Taking measurements along a particular course gives a profile of the signal at each point:

Ground penetrating radar results

Magnetic surveying
•Deviations can be detected in the general background of the subsoil, indicated by variations in its magnetic field. Several aspects of past human occupation cause suitable anomalies.

Magnetometer
•Various types:
•Proton Magnetometer
•Caesium Vapour Magnetometer
•SQUID (opposite) is ultrasensitive and are used as medical devices to measure brain and cardial activity
Proton Magnetometer
•Inductor creates a strong magnetic field around a hydrogen-rich fluid, causing the protons to align themselves with the newly created field. The field is then interrupted, and as protons are realigned with Earth's magnetic field, spinning protons precess at a specific frequency. This is picked up by the same inductor and the ratio of the two fields is measured.
•Accuracy is okay. Measures in nano-Tesla
•Magnetic impurities in the sensor and errors in the measurement of the frequency are the two causes of errors in these magnetometers.
•Now largely superseded.
Proton Magnetometer
•Both portable and fixed instruments are used.
•This fixed probe is measuring the magnetic activity at the active volcano at Karymsky in Russia
Fluxgate Gradiometer
•Measures the ‘gradient’ of the magnetic susceptibility
•Requires machine to be calibrated each time it used
•Measures susceptibility relative to an arbitrary zero
•Much more accurate than a proton magnetometer
•Data can be downloaded straight to a laptop and viewed almost straightaway
Caesium Vapour Magnetometer

•This is a highly sensitive and accurate device used in archaeological applications.
•The device broadly consists of a photon emitter containing a caesium light emitter or lamp, an absorption chamber containing caesium vapour and a "buffer gas" through which the emitted photons pass, and a photon detector, arranged in that order.
Magnetometers
•Raw data is plotted, then it is filtered and processed using software to try and iron out any irregularities (e.g. different grids)
An interpretation of the results is then drawn up.Ultimately this needs to be tested by excavation. Some people call this ground-truthing or calibration.

For images of geophysical plots see the www.m3motorway.ie website.

Palaeoecology

WHAT IS PALAEOECOLOGY?
Palaeoecology, strictly speaking, is the study of the nature and timing of environmental changes in the past, including climate change, assessing the impact of human activities on the natural environment and attempting to disentangle human impact from natural variability.
WHAT IS PALAEOECOLOGY?
Archaeological Science is a generic term used to describe various applications of scientific techniques to the study of the past.
This is an extremely broad field and incorporates:
Studies of ancient metals, e.g. how they were manufactured, sources of metal
The sources of various materials, such as stone, by analysing their petrologies
The identification of the organic fraction of any archaeological material (e.g. as tissue or fibres) and it’s subsequent analysis
The study of the chemical composition of materials for various purposes
ASPECTS OF PALAEOECOLOGY
Wood Studies, e.g. Dendrochronology, but also charcoal and fossil wood.
Palynology: Pollen, also Melissapalynology (study of pollen in honey)
Plant macrofossils: charred seeds and grains
Microfaunal studies
Coleoptera (Beetles), also other insects
Molluscs
EXAMPLE OF AN INTEGRATED PALAEOECOLOGICAL STUDY
Lisheen Mine Archaeological Project
Edited by M. Gowen, J. Ó Néill and M. Phillips
Published by Wordwell in 2005
Palynology
This is the study of fossil tree pollen preserved in buried soils and recovered from a context that can be dated or understood to have some significance.
Samples are collected by taking a continuous sample of material from a suitable environment such as deposits of peat or silts.
The sample is then divided up into small sections of even width (e.g. 1 cm) and this subsample is then processed to recover any surviving organic material.
The individual pollen grains are then counted and identified.
Palynology
Pollen grain (Lily)
Palynology
Pollen grain (Willow)
Palynology
Pollen grain (Pine)
Palynology
Dating Pollen Sequences
After counting and placing the pollen data into a chronological sequence, the main characteristics are studied so that general phases can be identified.
Some key events, such as the Elm Decline around 4300 BC are used as broad markers for events.
Once a phased sequence has been created, dates are obtained from suitable material.
On-line European Pollen Database
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/epd/epd_main.html
Drawback is that it is not completely up-to-date.
A Sequenced Pollen Diagram
A Sequenced Pollen Diagram
Dating Tree Pollen Summary Phases
Depth
A Sequenced Pollen Diagram: Phasing
Phasing is very straightforward
It is usually labelled separately for each sequence that has been studied
A Sequenced Pollen Diagram: Summary
Usually a summary is presented indicating the relative percentage of tree, shrub and herb pollen that is present.
This is important for understanding variations over time.
A Sequenced Pollen Diagram: Trees and Shrubs
Trees listed include:
Betula/Birch
Pinus/Pine
Ulmus/Elm
Quercus/Oak
Tilia/Lime
Alnus/Alder
Fagus/Beech
Fraxinus/Ash
Corylus/Hazel
Salix/Willow
Ilex/Holly
A Sequenced Pollen Diagram: Dates and Depth
The main unit of measurement for all pollen sequences is actually depth or location within the sample.
Subsequent study can identify tephra (glass particles) from dated volcanic eruptions that allow portions to be dated.
Organic material can be used to supply a sample for radiocarbon dating.
Elm Decline
This diagram shows species declining such as Elm (Ulmus) and Pine (Pine) and other such as grasses (Graminae) and heather (Calluna) exanding, c.4300 BC.
Pollen Diagram: Herbs and Mosses




In many cases the same broader patterns are visible across Ireland (here, Longford and Tipperary) suggesting the same basic vegetation history.
Often these relate to patterns of clearance (by humans) or regeneration (suggesting abandonment).
There is always some minor variation in this (compare the patterns above).
For long periods, though, the vegetation history is very similar – such as the regeneration in 600-200 BC, and, between AD 50 and 400 above.
Testate Amoebae
Help identify moisture levels.
Difference species indicate depth of water and hydrology.
This can tell us about relative amounts of rainfall and sunshine.
Note the scale:
1000 microns=1 mm
Testate Amoebae and Water-tables
These are the results of studies from Derryville Bog in County Tipperary. The line beside each column indicates the depth of the water-table below the surface of the bog (as indicated by the types of Testates present).
Water-table depth
Where the line is close to the column, the ground is wet.
Where it is not, the ground is dry.
At Derryville a period of low water table (i.e. dry bog surface) from AD 200 to 500 coincides with a gap in the dates for trackways suggesting the bog was dry enough to walk without needing to build trackways
Plant macrofossils
Plant remains often survive in waterlogged deposits.
This can include leaf and stem fragments as well as grains and seeds.
Charred seeds and grains also survive as they are robust after being carbonised.
Sometimes, though, only the impression survives, such as on a potsherd.
Burnt and unburnt wood can be studied
Studies of wood can show how wood was exploited in the past.
Comparison of different areas at Derryville showed human impact on woodlands.
Burnt and unburnt wood can be studied
This material (and the last slide) showed the composition of the woodlands to the east of Derryville and that they were being felled and used.
Burnt and unburnt wood can be studied
Wood from the west of Derryville bog was being used selectively.
Certain species were being managed to produce more wood.
Others may have been felled and cleared from the woodland and then disappear.
Woodland Management
Techniques like coppicing and pollarding are used to produce hazel and willow rods for wickerwork.
In this case, comparison of the age of the wood shows a preference for wood allowed to grow for around 6 years.
Managedwood
As shown here, regular sized wood can be used much better than unmanaged wood.
Hazel can be deliberately manipulated to produce rods of a certain size for making hurdles.
Sometimes snail and insect puppae can be used to show what the environment was like such as these examples that would indicate wet ground (stagnant water):Lymnaea truncatula(dwarf pond snail), on the right; andTrichoptera (caddis fly), on the left.
Coleoptera (Beetles)
Coleoptera (Beetles)
More regularly used are beetles (Coleoptera) as they are sensitive to the type of environment in which they live.
Basic technique is to recover samples either in sequence (as with pollen) or from specific contexts.
Sample is processed in a lab and the individual fragments are recovered and analysed.
Examples of what is found are shown on the next 4 slides.



Prostomis Mandibularis (shown here) is only known from archaeological sites. It inhabited natural, unmanaged woodlands, such as covered Ireland after the Ice Age.
Prostomis
As this map shows – not only was it extinct in Ireland, but also Britain.
These finds can be significant in showing how much the landscape has changed.