Dendrochronology
Introduction
Tree rings can be used for reconstructing past climate because trees are good environmental indicators. They produce very small rings during years of drought and large rings during years of good growing conditions.
By counting the rings from the middle of the trunk, and studying the width of the rings, scientists can reconstruct an approximate calendar of wet and dry years. It is assumed that the weather affected ancient tree ring growth the same way it does today. It is also possible to date the occurrence and frequency of fires by finding scars that appear in the growth rings.
Characteristic Of Tree Components
Trees go through annual cycles of growth. Roots are busy in the early spring and late autumn. Leaves and twigs grow in spring and the tree adds wood all summer long.
A years growth on a tree ring.
Cross-section of trunk showing: bark; cork cambium; cambium; phloem; xylem and pith.
Schematic cross-section showing features
Why do ring widths vary?
Variability of tree ring width and climatic conditions relates to two sets of seasonal patterns:
Early wood grows as large, thick-walled cells
Late wood grows as small, densely-packed, thin-walled cells
Early wood + late wood = an annual growth ring
The average (mean) width of both parts of the tree ring is dependant on:
tree species
tree age
availability of stored food
climate (precipitation, temperature, humidity, sunshine, windspeed and humidity).
Two kind of tree sampling for dendrochronology measurement
TREE SLICE SAMPLING
Collection of the tree slice
Tree slice surface preparation by polishing
Choice of the suitable part of tree slice for dendrochronology measurements.
TREE CORE SAMPLING
Uses an Increment borer
Generally confined to standing trees or structural timbers
TREE SLICE SAMPLING
TREE CORE SAMPLING
TREE RINGS MEASUREMENT
Each tree should be measured at least in two radiuses.
The final results is mean from each radius of adequate tree ring measurement
TREE RINGS MEASUREMENT
TREE RINGS MEASUREMENT
Building a Chronology
For any investigations of climate condition changes in the past, or other applications, a master chronology must be prepared.
This allows us to match the measurement of tree rings width to fixed calendar years.
Building a Chronology
Applications of Dendrochronology
Dendrochronological data is used in various types of research:
Dating
Climate
Studying climatic highs and lows (so-called catastrophes)
Recently, dendrochronological data has been used to establish the provenance of oaks by comparing the growth patterns from different areas and establishing where the oak originally grew.
Calibration of Radiocarbon Curve
This was done by dating samples of known calendar age and plotting the results.
Dating
Corlea,Co. Longford
Dated to 148 BC
Dating
Navan Fort, Co. Armagh
Dated to 95 BC
NavanFort
Prior to excavation its date was uncertain, but now it is known that the main mound and enclosure date to 95 BC.
Navan Fort
The date came from the base of a large oak post in the centre of the main site.
DanishOak Coffin Graves
Burials below mounds include well preserved organic materials including coffins.
This has allowed for a detailed chronology to be built for the relevant period.
Danish Oak Graves (1450-1250 BC)
Map showing the location of dendro-datedgraves in Denmark (note wide distribution)
Provenancing
The Vjeby ship (shown here) was found off the coast of North Zealand, Denmark, in 1976 and has been dated by dendrochronology to 1372.
The source of the oaks timbers could be narrowed to the region around Danzig/Gdansk. Data from other boats has suggested a strong ship building industry in this area.
Provenancing
Viking boats from Roskilde fjord can be shown to have been built with Irish timber.
This was the basis for the Sea Stallion project last summer (still on display in Collins Barracks).
Climate Studies Using Dendrochronology
Accurate written records for temperature only go back for 150 years or so?
How do we understand long term climate change?
Climate Studies Using Dendrochronology
We can combine our other data to produce longer sequences, such as tree ring data, ice cores and some historical records
1628/9 BC
This is the growth pattern from a number of trees from a County Antrim Bog.
The areas in black is the narrowest growth rings – all in the 1620s BC.
Was this a period of intense cold??
1159 BC
Many Irish bog oaks have a sequence of around 18 narrow rings between 1159 BC and 1141 BC (red arrows).
Does this equate to a period of intense cold??
How would this affect contemporary society?
10th Century BC Narrow Ring Event (948 BC)
In some cases sites can be shown to be built to coincide with poor tree growth.
This shows bog oak growth relative to dated sites (1100-800 BC).
Catastrophes?
Some people maintain that these environmental events coincide with significant cultural and historical events.
Main work is by Prof. Mike Baillie:
Exodus to Arthur
A Slice in Time.
Radiocarbon and other dating methods
Radiocarbon Dating
Archaeology
DATING METHODS
Archaeologists use a variety of dating methods:
•RADIOCARBON DATING
•DENDROCHRONOLOGY (more next week)
•POTASSIUM ARGON DATING
•LUMINESCENCE DATING
•OBSIDIAN HYDRATIAN DATING
•ARCHEOMAGNETIC DATING
RADIOCARBON DATING
Carbon has two stable, nonradioactive isotopes: carbon-12 (12C), and carbon-13 (13C).
In addition, there are trace amounts of the unstable isotope carbon-14(14C) on Earth.
Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years and would have long ago vanished from Earth were it not for the unremitting cosmic ray impacts on nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere, which create more of the isotope.
DENDROCHRONOLOGY
POTASSIUM ARGON DATING
Thermoluminescence
OBSIDIAN HYDRATIAN DATING
The obsidian hydration dating method was introduced to the archaeological community in 1960 by Irving Friedman and Robert Smith of the U. S. Geological Survey (Friedman and Smith 1960). The potential of the method in archaeological chronologic studies was quickly recognized and research concerning the effect of different variables on the rate of hydration has continued to the present day by Friedman and others.
Archaeomagnetic dating
•The position of magnetic North wanders around the North Pole, and even reverses completely to the South Pole for extended periods on a geological time-scale.
•From any reference point its position is measurable in terms of two components: movement up or down (inclination or 'dip') and from side to side (declination).
•The earth's magnetic field is indeed dynamic and does shift. At present the declination for London changes by approximately 1 degree every decade.
How does it work?
•Magnetic information is recorded in iron elements in baked clay which have kept their position on cooling from the last firing of the clay.
•This means that baked clay, used for thousands of years in the construction of hearths, ovens and kilns, contains a weak but permanent magnetization which can be measured to determine the magnetic intensity and declination at the time of its last cooling.
•Before clay is baked these properties are orientated in random directions. If the temperature is raised to over several hundred degrees Celsius, the thermal agitation of the crystals allows some of the domains to be aligned by the earth's magnetic field.
•When the clay cools their directions remain fixed, and there is a weak permanent magnetization in the same direction as the earth's field.
Archaeomagnetic Example
Radiocarbon dating
•Radiocarbon dating is a method that uses the naturally occurring isotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous (contains carbon) materials up to about 60,000 years.
•Benefits are that it provides an independent method of dating any organic material.
•Pitfalls are that it needs to be used properly.
N-14 is bombarded by cosmic radiation and loses a proton and C-14 is formed in the atmosphere
C-14 combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form CO2
CO2 is absorbed by plants for photosynthesis, plants are eaten by herbivores
Herbivores are eaten by carnivores, etc. etc.
Herb/Carnivores store carbon for energy
One the carbon-absorbing organism has died, those parts that remain can be “radiocarbon-dated”.
What is measured?
•Radiocarbon dating measures the rate of decay in 14C after the organism stopped absorbing atmospheric carbon.
•The amount of 14C is measured relative to 12C.
Conception
•Radiocarbon dating was begun by Willard Libby
•In 1946, he suggested that 14C exists in living matter
•Confirmed a year later
•1949 found that several trees contained roughly the same amount of activity due to 14C
•1960 won Nobel prize
Assumptions
•14C production is constant
•The biosphere and atmosphere have roughly the same 14C concentration
•After death there is no 14C exchange and it is only affected by radioactive decay, except where particular factors are involved such as
–Glacial effects
–Human activity
–Variations in natural production rate
C-14 decreases over the years
Glacial effects
CO2 solubility is temperature dependant
Human activity
Fossil fuel (Suess) effect and bomb effect
Variations in production rate
Major cause of Suess wiggles
Pitfalls
•The cumulative effect of the pitfalls were to demonstrate that the radiocarbon decay was variable.
•Thus dates could be expressed as years before present, often written as ‘BP’, so measurement of the decay in the sample might produce a result of 2500 years BP.
•As there is a potential error margin, this is usually added to the date range.
•Thus dates would be written as 2500 BP +/- 50.
Pitfalls
•But how do years BP equate to dates like 500 BC or AD 785?
•The only way of checking this was to produce control samples from a tree-ring chronology from which samples of known date could be extracted, by counting back to tree rings that grew in 500 BC and AD 785.
•From this use of the tree-ring chronologies it was possible to relate radiocarbon decay to actual calendar dates.
•It is possible to use a graph or a computer programme to translate a ‘BP’ date to a real calendar date.
Sample Preparation
•Unearth sample
•Physical separation
•Treat with acid
•Convert carbon to CO2 via combustion
•Remove impurities (ie nitrogen oxides, sulfur, products of incomplete combustion, and radon)
•Isolate carbon: 2 Mg + CO2 à MgO + C
•Limit exposure to air
•Accelerator Mass Spectrometer
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
What C-14 and AMS date
Archaeology
DATING METHODS
Archaeologists use a variety of dating methods:
•RADIOCARBON DATING
•DENDROCHRONOLOGY (more next week)
•POTASSIUM ARGON DATING
•LUMINESCENCE DATING
•OBSIDIAN HYDRATIAN DATING
•ARCHEOMAGNETIC DATING
RADIOCARBON DATING
Carbon has two stable, nonradioactive isotopes: carbon-12 (12C), and carbon-13 (13C).
In addition, there are trace amounts of the unstable isotope carbon-14(14C) on Earth.
Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years and would have long ago vanished from Earth were it not for the unremitting cosmic ray impacts on nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere, which create more of the isotope.
DENDROCHRONOLOGY
POTASSIUM ARGON DATING
Thermoluminescence
OBSIDIAN HYDRATIAN DATING
The obsidian hydration dating method was introduced to the archaeological community in 1960 by Irving Friedman and Robert Smith of the U. S. Geological Survey (Friedman and Smith 1960). The potential of the method in archaeological chronologic studies was quickly recognized and research concerning the effect of different variables on the rate of hydration has continued to the present day by Friedman and others.
Archaeomagnetic dating
•The position of magnetic North wanders around the North Pole, and even reverses completely to the South Pole for extended periods on a geological time-scale.
•From any reference point its position is measurable in terms of two components: movement up or down (inclination or 'dip') and from side to side (declination).
•The earth's magnetic field is indeed dynamic and does shift. At present the declination for London changes by approximately 1 degree every decade.
How does it work?
•Magnetic information is recorded in iron elements in baked clay which have kept their position on cooling from the last firing of the clay.
•This means that baked clay, used for thousands of years in the construction of hearths, ovens and kilns, contains a weak but permanent magnetization which can be measured to determine the magnetic intensity and declination at the time of its last cooling.
•Before clay is baked these properties are orientated in random directions. If the temperature is raised to over several hundred degrees Celsius, the thermal agitation of the crystals allows some of the domains to be aligned by the earth's magnetic field.
•When the clay cools their directions remain fixed, and there is a weak permanent magnetization in the same direction as the earth's field.
Archaeomagnetic Example
Radiocarbon dating
•Radiocarbon dating is a method that uses the naturally occurring isotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous (contains carbon) materials up to about 60,000 years.
•Benefits are that it provides an independent method of dating any organic material.
•Pitfalls are that it needs to be used properly.
N-14 is bombarded by cosmic radiation and loses a proton and C-14 is formed in the atmosphere
C-14 combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form CO2
CO2 is absorbed by plants for photosynthesis, plants are eaten by herbivores
Herbivores are eaten by carnivores, etc. etc.
Herb/Carnivores store carbon for energy
One the carbon-absorbing organism has died, those parts that remain can be “radiocarbon-dated”.
What is measured?
•Radiocarbon dating measures the rate of decay in 14C after the organism stopped absorbing atmospheric carbon.
•The amount of 14C is measured relative to 12C.
Conception
•Radiocarbon dating was begun by Willard Libby
•In 1946, he suggested that 14C exists in living matter
•Confirmed a year later
•1949 found that several trees contained roughly the same amount of activity due to 14C
•1960 won Nobel prize
Assumptions
•14C production is constant
•The biosphere and atmosphere have roughly the same 14C concentration
•After death there is no 14C exchange and it is only affected by radioactive decay, except where particular factors are involved such as
–Glacial effects
–Human activity
–Variations in natural production rate
C-14 decreases over the years
Glacial effects
CO2 solubility is temperature dependant
Human activity
Fossil fuel (Suess) effect and bomb effect
Variations in production rate
Major cause of Suess wiggles
Pitfalls
•The cumulative effect of the pitfalls were to demonstrate that the radiocarbon decay was variable.
•Thus dates could be expressed as years before present, often written as ‘BP’, so measurement of the decay in the sample might produce a result of 2500 years BP.
•As there is a potential error margin, this is usually added to the date range.
•Thus dates would be written as 2500 BP +/- 50.
Pitfalls
•But how do years BP equate to dates like 500 BC or AD 785?
•The only way of checking this was to produce control samples from a tree-ring chronology from which samples of known date could be extracted, by counting back to tree rings that grew in 500 BC and AD 785.
•From this use of the tree-ring chronologies it was possible to relate radiocarbon decay to actual calendar dates.
•It is possible to use a graph or a computer programme to translate a ‘BP’ date to a real calendar date.
Sample Preparation
•Unearth sample
•Physical separation
•Treat with acid
•Convert carbon to CO2 via combustion
•Remove impurities (ie nitrogen oxides, sulfur, products of incomplete combustion, and radon)
•Isolate carbon: 2 Mg + CO2 à MgO + C
•Limit exposure to air
•Accelerator Mass Spectrometer
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
What C-14 and AMS date
Archaeological Excavation in Ireland
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION
WHY? WHERE? WHO? HOW?
WHY? AND WHERE?
RESEARCH – To address a particular question about the past. Small number of research digs every year (less than 20).
RESCUE – As part of development control. The majority of the 2000 or so excavations in Ireland arise due to issues raised during the planning process.
RESEARCH EXCAVATION Rath na Riogh, Tara
Rath of the Synods
Mound of the Hostages
An Forradh
Teach Chormaic
Project funded by government.
Carried out by The Discovery Programme.
Focused on archaeological issues.
RESULTS PUBLISHED AS:
Roche, H. 2002, ‘Excavations at Ráith na Ríg, Tara, Co. Meath, 1997’, Discovery Programme Reports 6, 19–82. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy/Discovery Programme.
RESCUE EXCAVATION
-ARISES FROM PLANNING PROCESS
-National Monuments Section identify a threat to an archaeological site and suggest:
-suitable mitigation (if required)
-permission is refused
-further information is required
TYPICAL PLANNING CONDITION
The developer shall facilitate the planning authority in preserving, recording or otherwise protecting archaeological materials or features that may exist within the site. In this regard, the developer shall -
- notify the planning authority in writing at least four weeks prior to the commencement of any site operation (including hydrological and geotechnical investigations) relating to the proposed development,
- employ a suitably-qualified archaeologist who shall monitor all site investigations and other excavation works, and
- provide satisfactory arrangements for the recording and removal of any archaeological material which may be considered appropriate to remove.
Reason: In order to conserve the archaeological heritage of the site and to secure the preservation of any remains which may exist within the site.
The National Monuments Section (NMS) is responsible for:The identification and designation of sites through the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, which is an integral part of the NMS. Assisting OPW in the archaeological care of state properties; Implementation of protective and regulatory controls (incl.Licensing of excavations) under the National Monuments Acts; The provision of input and advice to planning and other authorities in respect of individual planning and other development applications, projects and plans.
Legislation
•National Monuments Acts 1930 - 2004:
•National Monuments Act 1930:
•National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1954:
•National Monuments Amendment Act 1987:
•National Monuments Amendment Act 1994:
•National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004: (No 22 of 2004)
Framework on which planning decisions are based are the mapped records held by the state.1st EditionOrdnanceSurveyMap
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
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.
Licence applications must also be sent to the National Museum of Ireland.
Hill of TaraNGR:29201/259793RMP No: ME 031-033-16 SMR No: ME 31/33
Hill of TaraSMR No: ME 31/33NGR:29201/259793RMP No: ME 031-033-16
WHO?
•Most archaeological excavations are carried out by private companies.
–Companies first appeared in the late 1980s.
–Now there are around 20 medium to large consultancies in the Republic of Ireland.
–Some have multi-million Euro turnovers.
–Numbers are usually uncertain, but there are probably around 1200-1500 employed on archaeological excavations are related work.
•4. Location of site
•(a) Townland or City Ward
•(b) Parish (c) County
•(d) 6 map (e) 25 map (f ) 6 Co-ords E (g) 6 Co-ords N (h) 1:1000
•(i) National Grid Co-ordinates (j) SMR number
•Attach Method Statement?Research design including a photocopy of relelvant portion of 6Ó, 25Ó or 1:1000 Ordnance Survey map with
•location of site and area to be excavated clearly marked. If a maritime wreck site, give latitude and longitude, admiralty chart number and photocopy of same with site marked.
•N.B. Failure to include a Method Statement/Research Design including a properly marked map will delay processing of your applicant or result in refusal of licence.
•5. Excavation Details
•(a) Type of site (if known)
•(b) Has site been inspected by applicant with a view to excavation Yes/No
•6. Period of time
•(a) length for which licence is sought?
•(b) when excavation is expected to take place?
•7. Purpose of excavation?
•8. Number of expected further seasons on site
•9. Owner of site
•Address of owner
•10. Excavation funding
•(a) Are adequate funds available for this excavation?
•(b) Source of funding
•(c) Are adequate funds available for post excavation work?
•10. Excavation funding
•(a) Are adequate funds available for this excavation?
•(b) Source of funding
•(c) Are adequate funds available for post excavation work?
•11. Planning Details (to be filled out only if excavation is connected with a development)
•(a) Is this application connected with a Planning Application/EIS/Other (specify)
•(b) Planning Authority (c) Planning Register Number
•(d) Are you aware of the planning conditions relating to this site (enclose a copy of the relevant conditions)
•(e) Does your excavation strategy take these conditions into account
•12. Finds
•(a) Where will finds be housed during post-excavation work?
•(b) Where will finds be housed ultimately?
•(c) What facilities are available to you for finds conservation?
•13. Publication Record (Archaelogical excavations directed or co-directed by applicant within or outside the state)
•(a) Excavations with definitive reports published
•(b) All unpublished excavations for which detailed reports have been lodged with the National Monuments Service.
Notes attached to the licence:
•3 (a). Under the provisions of the National Monuments Acts all archaeological objects are the property of the State. The National Museum of Ireland is the States repository for archaeological objects. The licensee is not at liberty to enter into private arrangements regarding the disposition of material. The National Museum shall be consulted by the licensee regarding the temporary storage of excavated finds.
Notes attached to the licence:
•b). The licensee is reminded that it is illegal to export archaeological objects, even on a temporary basis, without a licence from the National Museum of Ireland. It is also illegal to alter, conserve or destructively sample artefacts without a licence from the National Museum. Apllication for these licences should be made to the Director of the National Museum.
Notes attached to the licence:
•6. The licensee shall lodge a preliminary report on the ecavation with the National Monuments Service and the National Museum within four weeks of the competion of each season of excavation. S/he shall lodge a detailed report on the excavation within twelve months of the completion of the excavation with the National Monuments Service and the National Museum. This report should be to publication standard and should include a full account, suitably illustrated, of the stratigraphy, features and finds along with a discussion and specialist reports. It is expected that the excavator will make every effort to have the report published thereafter and a copy of the published report should be lodged with the National Monuments Service.
Records are kept for all activities on an excavation
Everything is labeled and the locations recorded in drawn plans and written records
Basic plans are drawn and then annotated
Heights are taken
Finds and samples are meticulously bagged and recorded
Detailed records are prepared describing the relationship between different layers and features
PUBLICATION
•Excavations tend to be published in various ways:
–Archaeology Journals (National and Local)
–As a book in their own right
–As part of a collection of Archaeology Papers
–On the Internet
–NOT AT ALL (This is too common).
WHY? WHERE? WHO? HOW?
WHY? AND WHERE?
RESEARCH – To address a particular question about the past. Small number of research digs every year (less than 20).
RESCUE – As part of development control. The majority of the 2000 or so excavations in Ireland arise due to issues raised during the planning process.
RESEARCH EXCAVATION Rath na Riogh, Tara
Rath of the Synods
Mound of the Hostages
An Forradh
Teach Chormaic
Project funded by government.
Carried out by The Discovery Programme.
Focused on archaeological issues.
RESULTS PUBLISHED AS:
Roche, H. 2002, ‘Excavations at Ráith na Ríg, Tara, Co. Meath, 1997’, Discovery Programme Reports 6, 19–82. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy/Discovery Programme.
RESCUE EXCAVATION
-ARISES FROM PLANNING PROCESS
-National Monuments Section identify a threat to an archaeological site and suggest:
-suitable mitigation (if required)
-permission is refused
-further information is required
TYPICAL PLANNING CONDITION
The developer shall facilitate the planning authority in preserving, recording or otherwise protecting archaeological materials or features that may exist within the site. In this regard, the developer shall -
- notify the planning authority in writing at least four weeks prior to the commencement of any site operation (including hydrological and geotechnical investigations) relating to the proposed development,
- employ a suitably-qualified archaeologist who shall monitor all site investigations and other excavation works, and
- provide satisfactory arrangements for the recording and removal of any archaeological material which may be considered appropriate to remove.
Reason: In order to conserve the archaeological heritage of the site and to secure the preservation of any remains which may exist within the site.
The National Monuments Section (NMS) is responsible for:The identification and designation of sites through the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, which is an integral part of the NMS. Assisting OPW in the archaeological care of state properties; Implementation of protective and regulatory controls (incl.Licensing of excavations) under the National Monuments Acts; The provision of input and advice to planning and other authorities in respect of individual planning and other development applications, projects and plans.
Legislation
•National Monuments Acts 1930 - 2004:
•National Monuments Act 1930:
•National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1954:
•National Monuments Amendment Act 1987:
•National Monuments Amendment Act 1994:
•National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004: (No 22 of 2004)
Framework on which planning decisions are based are the mapped records held by the state.1st EditionOrdnanceSurveyMap
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
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.
Licence applications must also be sent to the National Museum of Ireland.
Hill of TaraNGR:29201/259793RMP No: ME 031-033-16 SMR No: ME 31/33
Hill of TaraSMR No: ME 31/33NGR:29201/259793RMP No: ME 031-033-16
WHO?
•Most archaeological excavations are carried out by private companies.
–Companies first appeared in the late 1980s.
–Now there are around 20 medium to large consultancies in the Republic of Ireland.
–Some have multi-million Euro turnovers.
–Numbers are usually uncertain, but there are probably around 1200-1500 employed on archaeological excavations are related work.
•4. Location of site
•(a) Townland or City Ward
•(b) Parish (c) County
•(d) 6 map (e) 25 map (f ) 6 Co-ords E (g) 6 Co-ords N (h) 1:1000
•(i) National Grid Co-ordinates (j) SMR number
•Attach Method Statement?Research design including a photocopy of relelvant portion of 6Ó, 25Ó or 1:1000 Ordnance Survey map with
•location of site and area to be excavated clearly marked. If a maritime wreck site, give latitude and longitude, admiralty chart number and photocopy of same with site marked.
•N.B. Failure to include a Method Statement/Research Design including a properly marked map will delay processing of your applicant or result in refusal of licence.
•5. Excavation Details
•(a) Type of site (if known)
•(b) Has site been inspected by applicant with a view to excavation Yes/No
•6. Period of time
•(a) length for which licence is sought?
•(b) when excavation is expected to take place?
•7. Purpose of excavation?
•8. Number of expected further seasons on site
•9. Owner of site
•Address of owner
•10. Excavation funding
•(a) Are adequate funds available for this excavation?
•(b) Source of funding
•(c) Are adequate funds available for post excavation work?
•10. Excavation funding
•(a) Are adequate funds available for this excavation?
•(b) Source of funding
•(c) Are adequate funds available for post excavation work?
•11. Planning Details (to be filled out only if excavation is connected with a development)
•(a) Is this application connected with a Planning Application/EIS/Other (specify)
•(b) Planning Authority (c) Planning Register Number
•(d) Are you aware of the planning conditions relating to this site (enclose a copy of the relevant conditions)
•(e) Does your excavation strategy take these conditions into account
•12. Finds
•(a) Where will finds be housed during post-excavation work?
•(b) Where will finds be housed ultimately?
•(c) What facilities are available to you for finds conservation?
•13. Publication Record (Archaelogical excavations directed or co-directed by applicant within or outside the state)
•(a) Excavations with definitive reports published
•(b) All unpublished excavations for which detailed reports have been lodged with the National Monuments Service.
Notes attached to the licence:
•3 (a). Under the provisions of the National Monuments Acts all archaeological objects are the property of the State. The National Museum of Ireland is the States repository for archaeological objects. The licensee is not at liberty to enter into private arrangements regarding the disposition of material. The National Museum shall be consulted by the licensee regarding the temporary storage of excavated finds.
Notes attached to the licence:
•b). The licensee is reminded that it is illegal to export archaeological objects, even on a temporary basis, without a licence from the National Museum of Ireland. It is also illegal to alter, conserve or destructively sample artefacts without a licence from the National Museum. Apllication for these licences should be made to the Director of the National Museum.
Notes attached to the licence:
•6. The licensee shall lodge a preliminary report on the ecavation with the National Monuments Service and the National Museum within four weeks of the competion of each season of excavation. S/he shall lodge a detailed report on the excavation within twelve months of the completion of the excavation with the National Monuments Service and the National Museum. This report should be to publication standard and should include a full account, suitably illustrated, of the stratigraphy, features and finds along with a discussion and specialist reports. It is expected that the excavator will make every effort to have the report published thereafter and a copy of the published report should be lodged with the National Monuments Service.
Records are kept for all activities on an excavation
Everything is labeled and the locations recorded in drawn plans and written records
Basic plans are drawn and then annotated
Heights are taken
Finds and samples are meticulously bagged and recorded
Detailed records are prepared describing the relationship between different layers and features
PUBLICATION
•Excavations tend to be published in various ways:
–Archaeology Journals (National and Local)
–As a book in their own right
–As part of a collection of Archaeology Papers
–On the Internet
–NOT AT ALL (This is too common).
History of Archaeology
History of Archaeology?
From Greek“a dialogue about the past”Archaeologists study the human pastDo not dig dinosaurs, that is PaleontologyThrough the identification and analysis of past human activityArchitectural remainsRefuse/rubbish, depositsBurials and cemeteriesOthers?History of ArchaeologyExploratory Periodca. 500 BC – 1900Includes Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial AgeWhat is out there?Gradual accumulation of knowledge about the diversity of the pastDevelopment of methods of inquiryClassificatory Period1900 – 1950Arranging data in time and spaceCulture HistoryExplanatory Period1950 – presentHow and why do cultural systems changeProcessual and Post-processual archaeologyThe Beginnings of the Exploration of the PastThe earliest human civilizations recognized the traces of their ancestorsSources of mythic pasts and folk beliefsTuath de DanaanThunderstones and Elven-BoltsGiants and TrollsDanes Graves, Danes FortsThe past was often used to reaffirm and reinforce the political power of the rulers NabonidusKing of Babylon from 556 to 539 BCExcavated in temples of Ur to demonstrate his descent from earlier KingsFirst written (in cuneiform) records of investigative excavationNabonidusHis excavations discovered the Shrine to Ishtar, which was expanded upon for his useThe work “made the King’s heart glad and caused his countenance to brighten”However, the Persians conquered Babylon soon afterwardsPope St. Damasus IAD 304-384Known for his preservation and restoration of early Christian sites in RomePatron saint of archaeologistsMedieval BeliefsTapestry detail showing the believed construction of StonehengeSometimes attributed to be MerlinNote large size of the builder, could it be a giant? Medieval BeliefsDetails from an illuminated manuscript of a moral story about buried treasures and the evils of ill-gained wealthPlaced by the devil to temptMedieval Beliefs“Magic Crocks”Spontaneously created in the earthExposed by the activities of burrowing animalsMedieval Beliefs Meet Early SciencePolish King Wladyslaw II ordered excavations to understand this phenomena in 1416Determined to be cremation urns of “pagans” that were exposed by erosionLate Bronze Age (1200-700 BC) cemetery Renaissance and Enlightenment
Rediscovery of Classical Greece and RomeInspiration to art, literature, science
Rise of Antiquarianism
Collecting and displaying objects of antiquity
Leisure pursuit of the upper class
Artifacts were trappings of wealth and an educated mind
Foundations of museums, but items often lacking provenience, loss of contextual information
Beginnings of scientific inquiry
Empirical data collected to answer problemsCiriaco de Pizzicolli
Italian antiquarian (1391-1455)Believed that data from ancient monuments could supplement historic textsRecorded ancient monuments in Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt
Said that his work was “restoring the dead to life”
Much of his work was lost in a library fire, but it was widely referenced by other researchers prior to its destructionSketch of the Parthenon in Athens Michel Mercati (1541-1593) was the superintendent of the Vatican Botanical Gardens
Collection of “ceraunia”Thunderstones and Elven-bolts of folk belief
Determined that they were stone tools made by humans before metals were inventedOne of the earliest illustrations of archaeological artifacts
Antiquarianism
Ole Worm’s Cabinet of Curiosities, Denmark 1655
A typical amalgamation of unusual objects of natural and cultural history assembled in a decontextualized manner that does not seek to explain the meaning of the items
Antiquarianism
Archaeology and Western Imperialism during the Exploratory Period
Find art and artifacts to bring back to the mother countryLooting the cultural heritage of others to glorify imperial conquests
Implicit superiority of the conquerors over the conquered, those who have fallen from earlier glory that now must be rescued and preserved
For Europeans it was often the case that: Living white archaeologists studied dead people of colour
In American archaeology:American archaeology is largely the study of the American Indian
The study of the “other”
Enlightenment
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)Mounds in the US Southeast and Midwest were often attributed to a mythical race of Moundbuilders
Excavated a prehistoric burial mound on his estate in Virginia
Determined that the evidence suggested that it was constructed by ancestors of the region’s Native American cultures, debunking racist myths
1850 painting of the excavation of a mound in Louisiana showing stratified depositsAdvances in Methods
Understanding of the value of information beyond just the aesthetic quality of the artifacts
Provenance – where an artifact was recovered
Context – what type of deposits were the artifact recovered from
Association – what other materials were found with the artifact
Greater attention to notes and other records (watercolors of Halstatt burials in Austria, ca. 1850s)
19th Century Scientific Advances
depth of time
Geological principles of stratigraphy and uniformitarianism
The earth was old, not created in 4004 BC as calculated by Dr. John Lightfoot or Archbishop Ussher of Armagh
Greater depth of time for the development of the human species and human societies
19th Century Scientific Advances
antiquity of humankind
Jacques Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868) and the Somme River gravels
Perhaps one of the earliest archaeological site photos, an 1859 dagguerotype Acheulian handaxe in situ 3.4 meters below the modern surface in association with bones of extinct ice age fauna
Demonstrated great changes in the environment since the earliest human occupation of Europe
19th Century Scientific Advances
Evolution
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) developed the idea of evolution through natural selection in his book On the Origin of Species (1859)
Idea of progressive change through time from simple to complex formsChange shaped by adaptation to the environment
19th Century Scientific Advances Anthropology
Anthropology, the scientific study of human cultures, emerged as a discipline
Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was a Lawyer who worked with the Iroquois in New York
Developed the idea of unilineal evolution in his work Ancient Society (1877)
Believed human cultures had progressed through successive stages of development
savagery barbarism civilization
Changes based on differences in technology, economy, and social organization
Sponsored archaeological research for his book Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines (1893)Pioneered studies of kinship and social organization
The Development of Scientific Archaeology
Schliemann and Troy
Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) was a wealthy German businessman who was fascinated with the Iliad of Homer
Sought to identify the actual location of Troy through archaeological excavation
Schliemann and Troy
Schliemann applied scientific methods to his search for TroyMultiple working hypothesesHypotheses testable with empirical data
Data gathered in the fieldClassical historians had identified two ruins in Turkey that were possibly Troy
BurnarbashiHissarlik
Schliemann excavated at Hissarlik in the 1870s and found data to support the hypothesis that Hissarlik was Troy
Schliemann and Troy
Schliemann dug a broad trench through the ruins of Hissarlik, revealing occupation from the Bronze Age through the Roman Empire
While the scale of his excavations have been criticized in retrospect as destructive, the stratigraphic observations made by Schliemann were at the forefront of archaeological practice of the dayThe other Schliemann
Sophie was Greek and 20 years younger
Courted by Heinrich to be his ideal helpmate on the search for Troy
Responsible for most of the notes and records of the excavations
Shown wearing the “Treasure of Priam” recovered during their excavations Harvard Mission to Ireland: 1930s First Scientific Excavations
Explanatory Period
scientific method and ethnoarchaeology
Lewis Binford (1930- ) is generally acknowledged as the father of the “New Archaeology”
Seminal article in 1960 American Antiquity, “Archaeology as Anthropology”
Explicit use of the scientific method of hypothesis formulation and testing
Understand the inter-relationships between variables of cultural systems
Pioneer of ethnoarchaeology, especially with his studies of Nunumiut hunters in the arctic
Binford’s Nunumiut Ethnoarchaeology
Explanatory Period
systems theory
Systems theory borrowed from computer sciencePrehistoric cultures were systems that can be understood as composed of inter-related variables
Systems are adaptive, changes in one part of the system affects other partsHow do changes in technology, subsistence, or environment affect each other?
Flow chart of Great Basin subsistence scheduling developed by David Hurst Thomas
Explanatory Period
Processual
the “New Archaeology”Archaeology adopted more explicitly scientific methods
Hypothesis formulation and testing
Positivist, objective approach
Sought to answer anthropological questions
How and why did prehistoric cultures change?
Adopted a multi-disciplinary, team-oriented approach to archaeological investigations
Materialist orientation
Post-Processual Archaeology
Ian Hodder at Catal Hoyuk
Noted post-processual archaeologist Ian Hodder has returned with a multi-national team to further excavate Catal Hoyuk in Turkey
Site was excavated in 1960s and has been considered an example of an early farming village in the fertile crescent
Explanatory Period
Post-processual Post-modern archaeology
Relativist, subjective approachQuestions the authority of knowledge
What gives the archaeologist the authority to speak for the past?
Seeks to answer questions once thought beyond the ability of archaeologyIdeology, class, iconography, symbolism, genderExplanatory Period
Cultural Resource Management
Legislation to protect archaeological sites passed beginning in the 1930sProfessionalisation of archaeological managers and contractors
From Greek“a dialogue about the past”Archaeologists study the human pastDo not dig dinosaurs, that is PaleontologyThrough the identification and analysis of past human activityArchitectural remainsRefuse/rubbish, depositsBurials and cemeteriesOthers?History of ArchaeologyExploratory Periodca. 500 BC – 1900Includes Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial AgeWhat is out there?Gradual accumulation of knowledge about the diversity of the pastDevelopment of methods of inquiryClassificatory Period1900 – 1950Arranging data in time and spaceCulture HistoryExplanatory Period1950 – presentHow and why do cultural systems changeProcessual and Post-processual archaeologyThe Beginnings of the Exploration of the PastThe earliest human civilizations recognized the traces of their ancestorsSources of mythic pasts and folk beliefsTuath de DanaanThunderstones and Elven-BoltsGiants and TrollsDanes Graves, Danes FortsThe past was often used to reaffirm and reinforce the political power of the rulers NabonidusKing of Babylon from 556 to 539 BCExcavated in temples of Ur to demonstrate his descent from earlier KingsFirst written (in cuneiform) records of investigative excavationNabonidusHis excavations discovered the Shrine to Ishtar, which was expanded upon for his useThe work “made the King’s heart glad and caused his countenance to brighten”However, the Persians conquered Babylon soon afterwardsPope St. Damasus IAD 304-384Known for his preservation and restoration of early Christian sites in RomePatron saint of archaeologistsMedieval BeliefsTapestry detail showing the believed construction of StonehengeSometimes attributed to be MerlinNote large size of the builder, could it be a giant? Medieval BeliefsDetails from an illuminated manuscript of a moral story about buried treasures and the evils of ill-gained wealthPlaced by the devil to temptMedieval Beliefs“Magic Crocks”Spontaneously created in the earthExposed by the activities of burrowing animalsMedieval Beliefs Meet Early SciencePolish King Wladyslaw II ordered excavations to understand this phenomena in 1416Determined to be cremation urns of “pagans” that were exposed by erosionLate Bronze Age (1200-700 BC) cemetery Renaissance and Enlightenment
Rediscovery of Classical Greece and RomeInspiration to art, literature, science
Rise of Antiquarianism
Collecting and displaying objects of antiquity
Leisure pursuit of the upper class
Artifacts were trappings of wealth and an educated mind
Foundations of museums, but items often lacking provenience, loss of contextual information
Beginnings of scientific inquiry
Empirical data collected to answer problemsCiriaco de Pizzicolli
Italian antiquarian (1391-1455)Believed that data from ancient monuments could supplement historic textsRecorded ancient monuments in Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt
Said that his work was “restoring the dead to life”
Much of his work was lost in a library fire, but it was widely referenced by other researchers prior to its destructionSketch of the Parthenon in Athens Michel Mercati (1541-1593) was the superintendent of the Vatican Botanical Gardens
Collection of “ceraunia”Thunderstones and Elven-bolts of folk belief
Determined that they were stone tools made by humans before metals were inventedOne of the earliest illustrations of archaeological artifacts
Antiquarianism
Ole Worm’s Cabinet of Curiosities, Denmark 1655
A typical amalgamation of unusual objects of natural and cultural history assembled in a decontextualized manner that does not seek to explain the meaning of the items
Antiquarianism
Archaeology and Western Imperialism during the Exploratory Period
Find art and artifacts to bring back to the mother countryLooting the cultural heritage of others to glorify imperial conquests
Implicit superiority of the conquerors over the conquered, those who have fallen from earlier glory that now must be rescued and preserved
For Europeans it was often the case that: Living white archaeologists studied dead people of colour
In American archaeology:American archaeology is largely the study of the American Indian
The study of the “other”
Enlightenment
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)Mounds in the US Southeast and Midwest were often attributed to a mythical race of Moundbuilders
Excavated a prehistoric burial mound on his estate in Virginia
Determined that the evidence suggested that it was constructed by ancestors of the region’s Native American cultures, debunking racist myths
1850 painting of the excavation of a mound in Louisiana showing stratified depositsAdvances in Methods
Understanding of the value of information beyond just the aesthetic quality of the artifacts
Provenance – where an artifact was recovered
Context – what type of deposits were the artifact recovered from
Association – what other materials were found with the artifact
Greater attention to notes and other records (watercolors of Halstatt burials in Austria, ca. 1850s)
19th Century Scientific Advances
depth of time
Geological principles of stratigraphy and uniformitarianism
The earth was old, not created in 4004 BC as calculated by Dr. John Lightfoot or Archbishop Ussher of Armagh
Greater depth of time for the development of the human species and human societies
19th Century Scientific Advances
antiquity of humankind
Jacques Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868) and the Somme River gravels
Perhaps one of the earliest archaeological site photos, an 1859 dagguerotype Acheulian handaxe in situ 3.4 meters below the modern surface in association with bones of extinct ice age fauna
Demonstrated great changes in the environment since the earliest human occupation of Europe
19th Century Scientific Advances
Evolution
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) developed the idea of evolution through natural selection in his book On the Origin of Species (1859)
Idea of progressive change through time from simple to complex formsChange shaped by adaptation to the environment
19th Century Scientific Advances Anthropology
Anthropology, the scientific study of human cultures, emerged as a discipline
Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was a Lawyer who worked with the Iroquois in New York
Developed the idea of unilineal evolution in his work Ancient Society (1877)
Believed human cultures had progressed through successive stages of development
savagery barbarism civilization
Changes based on differences in technology, economy, and social organization
Sponsored archaeological research for his book Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines (1893)Pioneered studies of kinship and social organization
The Development of Scientific Archaeology
Schliemann and Troy
Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) was a wealthy German businessman who was fascinated with the Iliad of Homer
Sought to identify the actual location of Troy through archaeological excavation
Schliemann and Troy
Schliemann applied scientific methods to his search for TroyMultiple working hypothesesHypotheses testable with empirical data
Data gathered in the fieldClassical historians had identified two ruins in Turkey that were possibly Troy
BurnarbashiHissarlik
Schliemann excavated at Hissarlik in the 1870s and found data to support the hypothesis that Hissarlik was Troy
Schliemann and Troy
Schliemann dug a broad trench through the ruins of Hissarlik, revealing occupation from the Bronze Age through the Roman Empire
While the scale of his excavations have been criticized in retrospect as destructive, the stratigraphic observations made by Schliemann were at the forefront of archaeological practice of the dayThe other Schliemann
Sophie was Greek and 20 years younger
Courted by Heinrich to be his ideal helpmate on the search for Troy
Responsible for most of the notes and records of the excavations
Shown wearing the “Treasure of Priam” recovered during their excavations Harvard Mission to Ireland: 1930s First Scientific Excavations
Explanatory Period
scientific method and ethnoarchaeology
Lewis Binford (1930- ) is generally acknowledged as the father of the “New Archaeology”
Seminal article in 1960 American Antiquity, “Archaeology as Anthropology”
Explicit use of the scientific method of hypothesis formulation and testing
Understand the inter-relationships between variables of cultural systems
Pioneer of ethnoarchaeology, especially with his studies of Nunumiut hunters in the arctic
Binford’s Nunumiut Ethnoarchaeology
Explanatory Period
systems theory
Systems theory borrowed from computer sciencePrehistoric cultures were systems that can be understood as composed of inter-related variables
Systems are adaptive, changes in one part of the system affects other partsHow do changes in technology, subsistence, or environment affect each other?
Flow chart of Great Basin subsistence scheduling developed by David Hurst Thomas
Explanatory Period
Processual
the “New Archaeology”Archaeology adopted more explicitly scientific methods
Hypothesis formulation and testing
Positivist, objective approach
Sought to answer anthropological questions
How and why did prehistoric cultures change?
Adopted a multi-disciplinary, team-oriented approach to archaeological investigations
Materialist orientation
Post-Processual Archaeology
Ian Hodder at Catal Hoyuk
Noted post-processual archaeologist Ian Hodder has returned with a multi-national team to further excavate Catal Hoyuk in Turkey
Site was excavated in 1960s and has been considered an example of an early farming village in the fertile crescent
Explanatory Period
Post-processual Post-modern archaeology
Relativist, subjective approachQuestions the authority of knowledge
What gives the archaeologist the authority to speak for the past?
Seeks to answer questions once thought beyond the ability of archaeologyIdeology, class, iconography, symbolism, genderExplanatory Period
Cultural Resource Management
Legislation to protect archaeological sites passed beginning in the 1930sProfessionalisation of archaeological managers and contractors
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