Archaeology - Doctoral Theses
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Item The bioarchaeology of Early Bronze Age Ireland: health, disease, trauma, and care(University College Cork, 2023) Robinson, Stephanie Ann; O Donnabhain, Barra; Irish Research CouncilHuman remains have been reported from Early Bronze Age contexts in Ireland since the 19th century. With a relative lack of settlement sites, the mortuary contexts of the Early Bronze Age in Ireland have been the focus for many studies, especially those interested in social structure and status. Despite this importance of funerary contexts, there has been very little detailed study of the human remains recovered from these graves and what analysis has been completed is found almost exclusively in site reports and demographic tables. This study addressed this underuse of a key recourse by undertaking the first integrated bioarchaeological analysis of the entire corpus of curated inhumations from the Early Bronze Age in Ireland. Additionally, two main methodological frameworks were used in this study: population health and the Bioarchaeology of Care. Reassessment of the demographics of the assemblage supported the identification of the Individualised Burial Tradition as a restricted formal burial tradition influenced by both gender and age ideology. However, the identification of changes in the impact of gender ideology across the life course in qualification for formal burial suggest that constructions of status were likely more complex than some previous models have proposed. The population health analysis was undertaken using the Biological Index of Frailty approach which identified comparatively low levels of frailty within the sample of the Early Bronze Age population. There were no statistical differences in average frailty scores based on sex or burial attributes, suggesting that variations in status were unlikely to have had a significant impact on health. During skeletal analysis, three individuals were identified with bony changes which would have impacted their ability to participate in Early Bronze Age lifeways. Bioarchaeology of Care analyses explored these examples of healthcare provisioning within the context of degenerative, congenital, traumatic, and terminal disease processes. The identification of evidence for healthcare provisioning suggests that the requirement for care did not disqualify individuals from formal burial during the period, and that this care included both physical and emotional elements. This is paralleled by the noticeably low trauma rate in the assemblage, with no convincing evidence of interpersonal violence. This suggests either a low frequency of such violence in Early Bronze Age society or that death in such circumstances may have resulted in an archaeologically invisible burial rite. The results of this bioarchaeological analysis is compatible with a reconstruction of a relatively stable society, with individuals who merited burial living relatively healthy lives with a low risk of violence. Social structure seems to have included elements of age and gender ideology, however the impact of these were not consistent across the life course. This study has allowed for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how social relations, organisation, practice, and identity in the Early Bronze Age, and how these factors impacted and shaped the lives of those who lived through this period of Irish prehistory.Item An isotopic examination of mobility and female identity in early medieval Ireland(University College Cork, 2023) Daly, Niamh; O Donnabhain, Barra; Irish Research Council; Fulbright Commission in IrelandThe purpose of this research is to enhance the visibility and understanding of female activities in Early Medieval Ireland, thus, bridging a gap in the historical narrative. It is hypothesised that residential mobility patterns at an individual level will enable us to differentiate between cultural ideologies (as expressed through historical sources) and the lived experience of individual agents in early medieval Ireland (c.400-1200AD). Stable carbon (δ13C), and oxygen (δ18O) and radiogenic strontium (Sr87/Sr86) isotopic analysis was undertaken on human enamel sampled from (n=33 individuals (26 adult females/7 adult males) from four early medieval cemeteries from Co. Galway in the west of Ireland and two early medieval cemeteries from Co. Kildare in the east of Ireland. This research identified individuals from both regions who may not have been ‘local’ to the regions under study, based on the creation of unique Sr87/Sr86 baseline datasets from archaeological faunal and modern vegetation on which to compare the data to. Thus, demonstrating that the isotopic analysis of human remains sampled from two different regions in Ireland can further our understanding of residential mobility patterns in early medieval Ireland. Ultimately, this study aimed to increase the visibility of the female narrative in this period of Irish history.Item Land use and society during the Middle Bronze Age in South-East Ireland: an integrated examination of the character, landscape setting and chronology of the archaeological and paleoenvironmental record from c.1600–1150 BC(University College Cork, 2023) Spillane, Ben; Becker, Katharina; Irish Research CouncilThe Middle Bronze Age was one of the least understood periods of Irish later prehistory being characterised through a series of poorly understood metalwork assemblages. The predominance of single metalwork finds and their isolation from a recognisable domestic or funerary record led some to view the period as an ill-defined interlude between the intricacy of Early Bronze Age mortuary practices, and the technological mastery and abundance of Late Bronze Age metalwork. This limited view of the Middle Bronze Age changed dramatically during the ‘Celtic Tiger’, a boom period of infrastructural development from 1995 to 2007. Extensive excavation of hitherto un-surveyed landscapes as part of large-scale linear development schemes led to the discovery of hundreds of archaeological features dating to the period. The application of wide-scale scientific dating has helped to change how the Irish Middle Bronze Age is viewed. Recent studies of Settlements, Fulacht Fiadh, Hillforts and Palaeoenvironments that incorporated this new information suggest that the period saw a significant rise in human activity across Ireland. This included expansions in lowland settlement, forest clearance and a rise in agricultural landscapes. The period also saw the beginning of a widespread Hillfort tradition that intensified into the Late Bronze Age suggestive of shifts in societal organisation and power structures. These studies have been instrumental in improving the knowledge of these individual aspects of Middle Bronze Age record. However, there has not yet been an investigation that includes all elements of the archaeological record with the purpose of incorporating them into an integrated model of human activity. Accordingly, this thesis involves an integrated landscape-scale investigation of all elements of the Middle Bronze Age archaeological and paleoenvironmental record in SouthEast Ireland. The collection of absolutely dated sites from the region has resulted in a database of 320 sites, 622 radiocarbon dated features representing 473 archaeological complexes. A regional chronology of this dataset will be established through Bayesian chronological modelling. Location analysis through GIS will establish the spatial patterning of the sites. The production of LiDAR imagery taken from existing datasets will help compensate for distribution bias created by linear development schemes. Finally, the integration of high-resolution, well-dated paleoenvironmental sequences will contextualise the archaeological developments through an understanding the evolution of the physical landscape during the mid-second millennium BC. This thesis allows for the creation of finegrained models of human land-use, forming the basis for an understanding of the fundamental economic, societal and environmental developments during this formative period.Item Animals and the economy of medieval Ireland: a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains from Caherconnell Cashel, Co. Clare(University College Cork, 2023) Nic Cnáimhín, Róisín; O'Brien, William; Royal Irish Academy; Queen's UniversityAnimals were central to the economy of early (400–1100 AD) and late (1100–1550 AD) medieval Ireland, and were particularly vital to the food economy, farming practices, and social status of a settlement and its occupants. With the Anglo-Normans dominating the archaeology of the later period, there is a significant gap of knowledge surrounding Gaelic sites of this period, which ultimately raises the question as to the influence of the former on the economy of those settlements. This research aims to gain a better understanding of the agricultural economy of Gaelic sites during these periods through the zooarchaeological analysis of the animal bone assemblage from Caherconnell Cashel, a drystone ringfort located in the Burren, County Clare. Recent excavations recovered a large assemblage, with an estimated 40,830 recordable bones, that displays a high level of preservation. Excavations at Caherconnell also yielded evidence of multiple phases of high-status activity, domestic structures, various artefacts, assemblages of other bio-environmental remains, and contextual and dating information. This project is part of a major inter-disciplinary study of Caherconnell, involving a collaboration with University of Galway with excavations directed by Dr Michelle Comber of the Caherconnell Archaeology Field School. The central research question of this zooarchaeological study is to gain a better understanding of the agricultural economy of rural medieval Gaelic Ireland with a focus on Caherconnell Cashel in north-west Clare. The aims of this analysis have a focus on the role of animal husbandry, hunting, and fishing at medieval Gaelic settlements in western Ireland; identifying changes in livestock farming between the early and late medieval periods to assess potential impacts associated with the arrival of the Anglo-Normans; and detecting any status implications of different animal species at Gaelic medieval settlements. The Caherconnell assemblage provides evidence of a self-sufficient producer-consumer mixed farming economy throughout the early and late medieval periods. The three main domesticates, cattle, sheep, and pig, appear to be bred and slaughtered on-site or nearby, with cattle dominating the assemblage, followed by sheep and then pig. The sites economy shows an emphasis on dairying with the particular dominance of cows, as well as the production of beef, lamb/mutton, and pork, and other products such as wool. The remaining domesticates, horse, dog, cat, and domestic fowl, would have played various roles including working animals, pets, and the production of food stuffs. Hunting, fowling, fishing, and bone working were among the activities undertaken at Caherconnell. The results of this analysis follow the previously established trends from other early medieval sites in Ireland and due to Caherconnell being situated in a landscape controlled by Gaelic lords in the west of Ireland, it is not surprising that this pattern continued into the later period with the site appearing to be unaffected by the arrival of the Anglo-Normans and the overall continuation of native tradition at Caherconnell.Item The archaeology of coastal shell middens in Ireland(University College Cork, 2023) Howle Outlaw, Carolyn E.; O'Brien, William; Royal Irish Academy; University College CorkCoastal shell middens are an important archaeological resource, with the potential to shed light on many different aspects of human interaction with coastal environments over time. These deposits of discarded shells, charcoal, and other cultural material can be found at various locations along the c.7500km or so of the Irish coastline. They have a long chronology from the Mesolithic through to early modern times, along with a considerable degree of variability in terms of site function, settlement context, and environmental setting. The study of these sites in Ireland has largely focused on the pre-farming (Mesolithic) period as part of a consideration of coastal foraging economies. Current evidence points to a long tradition of utilising coastal resources, which after c.4000 BC was integrated to varying degrees with agricultural activity through changing cultural practices evident elsewhere in the archaeological record. The principal aim of this study is to understand the changing role that coastal resources played through time in Ireland. Research methods include a review of published and archived sources on shell midden archaeology in Ireland and field survey. The data collected is statistically analysed with a view of understanding relevant changes in artefactual, ecofactual, and structural remains through time. Interpretations are based upon the archaeological data, relevant theories of interpretation, and ethnographical accounts of the use of molluscs and their deposition. The final analysis examines broad trends through time in relation to the use of coastal resources by humans in Ireland. Other questions addressed include the contribution to diet and nutrition made by coastal resources and their use as economic goods. The liminal character of the coastal zone, historical references to religious and folk beliefs concerning the coast, and inclusions of ritual deposits such as burials are examined as separate from but interwoven with the economic value of the shells.