Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

If you’re in any way involved in archaeology you’ve probably already been bombarded by advertising and publicity surrounding The British Museum’s latest blockbuster exhibition Celts: art and identity . I studied Celtic Art (Capital C, Capital A) many years ago as part of my undergraduate degree at UCG (now NUIG ). While I loved the art and the artistry, I never really developed my interests in the field and my attention instead settled on ringforts, excavation, and radiocarbon dates. One way or another, when I heard that this show was coming to the British Museum, I decided that it was something that I really did not want to miss. It has been described as “ the first major British exhibition in 40 years to tell the story of the Celts ” … basically, if you have any interest in the Celts and Celtic art this show is for you. What’s not to like? Cauldron, Gundestrup, Jutland, Denmark (c. 150-50 BC) Well … I suppose the first thing to state clearly is that I really loved the...

Posting on behalf of Gary Dempsey. Please take a moment to respond to this survey on the reporting of archaeological objects in Ireland: I am undertaking research into how archaeological objects are reported in Ireland.  Occasionally as heritage practitioners we encounter people who have in the past discovered an archaeological object, or know of one discovered by a family member which has not been reported to the National Museum.  I am interested in finding out how prevalent this may be in Ireland and if people are aware of the laws and regulations surrounding the reporting of archaeological objects in Ireland. Through my work with community groups I have encounter a number of people who were not aware of the acts relating to archaeological finds, and in their best intentions stored an object for safety or out of personal interest.  I am interested in developing some education about this subject, separate to cases where objects are removed in malice,...

I've been having a read through what I feel is some of the most interesting archaeology-related stuff available on the Academia.edu site ... as always, it's mostly Irish material, with a sprinkling of other things that caught my eye ... I suggest that you have a look, have a read, consider signing up to Academia.edu for a free account and even come follow me & read some of my writing [ here ] Karina Grömer: Efficiency and technique – Experiments with original spindle whorls Eamonn Kelly & Nessa O'Connor: Early Bronze Age Graves: 3:44 Rathcahill West, Co. Limerick, E1113 Catriona McKenzie: Health in medieval Ireland: the evidence from Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal Colm J Donnelly & Eileen Murphy: The origins of cilliní in Ireland Hilary Cool, Howard Mason, & Philip Macdonald: Excavations on the Defences of Caerleon Legionary Fortress in 1982 Philip Macdonald: A New Survey of Templecormick, Audleystown, County Down Philip Macdonald: Dundr...

In the aftermath of the hurried release of Prof Cooney’s Review of the context of the excavation of a crannog in Drumclay townland Co. Fermanagh on the route of the Cherrymount Link Road , I published a considered reply on this blog: Mud, lies and hazard tape: Reviewing The Report on the Drumclay Crannog . One of the outcomes of my piece was the formulation of a series of questions for a number of the key stakeholder organisations: Amey Plc, The Department of Regional Development, and the Northern Ireland Environment Service. It was in relation to the last one that I sent an email to Mark H Durkan, Minister at the Department of the Environment. The response I received was … less than satisfactory … I would go so far as to call it a non-reply … and I did: Drumclay Crannog & Top Men: A non-reply from Minister Mark H Durkan . My reply was to reiterate the original set of questions (and one new one) in the hope that, this time, the request would find its way to a different desk, wher...

< Back to main article Edited transcript of meeting between Robert M Chapple (RMC) and Rodney Moffett, Associate Director Amey NI (RM), accompanied by PA. Meeting: Friday July 31 2015, East Belfast (Chapple Residence) What this document consists of: a transcript of the meeting between the two participants regarding the Drunclay crannog events. Agenda based on questions emailed to Amey plc, resulting from blog post ( http://rmchapple.blogspot.com/2015/07/mud-lies-and-hazard-tape-reviewing.html ) Material omitted from this document: personal names and details of given individuals; confidential material not in the public domain; comments not germane to the matters at hand. Wording has been changed for readability and to preserve sense. All edits and omissions are mutually agreed between the parties. [Introductions & preliminaries] Question: How do you feel that the actions of Declan Hurl reflect on your company and how they may reflect on Amey’s corporat...