Environmental archaeology in Ireland

680 Pages·4.943 MB·English

by  Murphy, Eileen M., Whitehouse, Nicki J

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Environmental
Archaeology in Ireland
Eileen M. Murphy
Nicki J. Whitehouse
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Published by
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK
© Oxbow Books and the individual authors, 2007
9781782974789
This book is available direct from
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK
(Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone])
and
The David Brown Book Company
PO Box 511, Oakville, CT06779
(Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone])
or
from our website
www.oxbowbooks.com
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Cover: Devenish Island, Co. Fermanagh.
Photograph taken by Tony Corey of the Environment
and Heritage Service: Built Heritage, DoE Northern Ireland
Printed and bound in Great Britain
by Hobbs the Printers Ltd,
Totton, Hampshire
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This volume is dedicated to Colm and Phil
for all their help and support over the years
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
List of Contributors
Introduction
1 - Radiocarbon Dating: A Practical Overview
2 - Dendrochronology and Lessons Learned from Irish
Examples
3 - The Use of Tephra in Linking European Sequences of
Terrestrial, Lacustrine, Marine and Ice
Palaeoenvironmental Records
4 - Human Osteoarchaeology in Ireland
5 - Mammal Bone Studies from Prehistoric Irish Sites
6 - Exploitation of Birds and Fish in Historic Ireland: A
Brief Review of the Evidence
7 - Molluscs and Middens: The Archaeology of ‘Ireland’s
Early Savage Race’?
8 - The Study of Fossil Insect Remains in Environmental
and Archaeological Investigations: An Irish Perspective
9 - Environmental Archaeology in Ireland: A Personal and
Archaeobotanical Perspective
10 - Wood and Charcoal Research in Ireland
11 - The Study of Non-Wood Plant Macro-remains:
Investigating Past Societies and Landscapes
12 - Pollen Analysis and Archaeology in Ireland
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13 - Alluvial Geoarchaeology in Ireland
14 - Multi-proxy Approaches to Palaeohydrological
Investigations of Raised Bogs in Ireland: A Case Study
from Derryville, Co. Tipperary
15 - Exploring the Role of Environment in Wetland
Archaeological Contexts in Ireland
16 - Heritage Legislation and Environmental Archaeology
in Ireland
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Acknowledgements
As editors we would firstly like to thank our contributors who
willingly gave up their time to research and write chapters of
the highest standard. When the book idea was originally
conceived we were of the opinion that much of the valuable
environmental archaeological work being undertaken on Irish
material was going unnoticed outside the island. We hope the
production of this book will go some way towards addressing
this problem and that the book will form a valuable text book
for all those interested in the discipline from an Irish
perspective. Without the breadth of knowledge and
enthusiasm for their specialist areas clearly demonstrated by
the contributors, however, the book would not have been
possible.
We are extremely grateful to all the leading figures within the
field of environmental archaeology who graciously undertook
peer-review of each of the contributions–Prof. Don Brothwell
(University of York), Prof. Tony Brown (University of
Exeter), Mr. Richard Brunning (Somerset County Council),
Dr. Mike Charles (University of Sheffield), Prof. Dan
Charman (University of Plymouth), Dr. Colm Donnelly
(Queen’s University Belfast), Dr. Allan Hall (University of
York), Dr. Andy Howard (University of Birmingham), Dr.
Harry Kenward (University of York), Mr. Mark Maltby
(Bournemouth University), Dr. Finbar McCormick (Queen’s
University Belfast), Mr. Nigel Nayling (University of Wales,
Lampeter), Dr. Dave Passmore (University of Newcastle
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Upon Tyne), Prof. Jon Pilcher (Queen’s University Belfast),
Dr. Rick Schulting (Queen’s University Belfast), Dr. Chris
Turney (University of Wollongong, Australia) and Prof. Peter
Woodman (University College Cork). Each of these
recognised specialists provided many useful comments and
insights which can only have served to copper fasten the
quality of the contributions.
We are extremely grateful to Ms. Libby Mulqueeny of the
School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology,
Queen’s University Belfast, for her help with much of the
illustrative material contained within the volume. A special
thanks is due to Mr. Tony Corey, Environment and Heritage
Service: Built Heritage, for generously permitting us to use
his beautiful photograph of the landscape surrounding
Devenish Monastery in the lakelands of Co. Fermanagh for
the front cover of the volume. We feel this picture particularly
encapsulates the special qualities of the Irish landscape,
where the people of Ireland have interacted with their
environment over the millennia.
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