Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the right. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the amazon search portal at the right - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue **] And we’re back with Session 4 of the Archaeology of Gatherings Conference, Sligo, October 2013, chaired by Dr. Robert Hensey < Part I | Part II | Part III | Part V | Part VI >  TJ Westropp's drawing of the Turlough Hill enclosure ( Source ) Suitably refreshed, we began with Dr Stefan Bergh ( Dept of Archaeology, NUI Galway ) who delivered the paper: Meeting at the edge – Turlough Hill as a place of prehistoric assembly . Bergh argued that many sites were the foci of gatherings, such as megalithic tombs and the like. However, many gatherings would have been held at sites that leave no obvious traces, su...

[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the right. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the amazon search portal at the right - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue **] Session 3 of the Archaeology of Gatherings Conference, Sligo, October 2013 < Part I | Part II | Part IV | Part V | Part VI > Suitably refreshed, entertained and educated by Simon O’Dwyer, [ Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | SoundCloud | YouTube ] we reassembled for the first afternoon session, again chaired by Sam Moore. This portion of the conference began with Prof. Clark McPhail ( University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign ). Prof. McPhail was also the Keynote Speaker (Sociology) for the conference. His chosen topic was The Life Course of Temporary Gatherings . His first observation was that archa...

The Enniskillen Museum is hosting a one-day conference on the excavation and archaeological background of the Drumclay Crannóg on Saturday 27th September 2014. The event will be held at the  The Enniskillen Hotel , on Forthill Street, Eniskillen Conference speakers: Jackie McDowell: On dry ground. An early medieval settlement at Deer Park Farms, Co. Antrim Claire Foley: Fermanagh's rich antiquarian and archaeological Crannóg record Dr. Nóra Bermingham : Weaving together the excavation results Caitríona Moore : Investigation of what the crannóg inhabitants made, used and discarded Dr. Eileen Reilly : Dirt, hygiene and health on early medieval settlements Dr. Emily Murray : Farming and animals Ian Riddler : Teasing apart the bone and antler objects Prof. Aidan O'Sullivan : Why people chose to live on lakes Attendance is free, but places are limited and booking is essential. Book here . I’m really looking forward to this & I hope to see y...

Following the publication of John O’Keeffe’s statement on the NIEA’s state of preparedness for dealing with archives from archaeological consultancies in Northern Ireland, I though it advisable to seek out a different perspective. To this end, I contacted Edward Bourke, Senior Archaeologist at the National Monuments Service, within the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. I posed him the same two questions I asked Dr O’Keefe: “I would be grateful if you could confirm what, if any, preparations have been made by the NMS: 1) To investigate the possibility of any of the archaeological consultancies no longer being able to continue in business? 2) To develop contingency plans for the safe retrieval, storage, and curation of the whole range of physical and digital cultural assets, from artefacts, soil samples, paper records, and computer files etc?” Excavation reports being loaded into the Tambour Units I received the following reply, published here in full: ...