College Green, Dublin

Albert Memorial, Belfast.

Kingstown harbour (Dun Laoghaire), County Dublin

Queenstown (Cobh), County Cork

The Quays, Waterford

Royal Avenue, Belfast

Killybegs. County Donegal

Co. Cork

Ross Castle, Killarney. County Kerry

Vale of Avoca. County Wicklow

.

Menawn Cliffs, Achill, County Mayo

Portrush, County Antrim

Phoenix park, Dublin

The Moylough Belt Shrine (photo National Museum of Ireland)

Dating from the 8th century AD, the Moylough belt shrine is one of the great treasures of early Ireland. Fashioned out of bronze and silver, it was found in 1945 by Mr John Twomey as he dug turf on his father’s farm at Moylough, Co. Sligo. Slicing through the soft peat, he unexpectedly hit something hard at depth of c. 4 feet below the surface. Presuming it was a large stone, John bent down and cleared away the soil with a small garden trowel. To his amazement, what was revealed was not a stone, but instead, a glistening, metallic object. The Moylough belt shrine had been discovered.

The belt consists of four bonze segments, each of which enclose a strip of plain leather. The bronze sections are richly decorated and are also hinged together, so that the components are flexible. This means that the belt could, if desired, be placed around the waist. Indeed, wear patterns visible on its surface suggest that it was often worn/used.

Detail from the belt

Each of the bronze segments contain a centrally placed medallion featuring a ‘Celtic cross’, while their ends  are further ornamented with panels of stamped silver foil or openwork bronze. The most elaborate decoration  is seen on the two front segments, which take the form of a false buckle and buckle plate. These are embellished with silver foil, glass and enamel, as well as animal and bird head motifs.

This beautiful artefact more than likely represents a shrine that was specifically made  to encase the leather segments. It is these simple leather strips then, and not the costly casing, that are the real treasure[i]. They were probably associated with a local saint and must have been important relics to have been so richly adorned.

Celtic cross on the Moylough belt (photo NMI)

Although this is the only belt shrine to survive, a number of scared belts are mentioned in Life’s of the Saints[ii] and these objects were often imbued with mystical powers. For example, the girdle/belt of St. Bridget was reputed to cure any illness or sickness. Similarly, the girdle/belt of St. Cronan was used to cure the King of Munster after he was afflicted by a terrible ailment. The belts could also have more formal uses. The sacred belt of St. Mobhi , for instance, never ‘closed around lies’, suggesting that it, like many other Irish relics, was used in oath swearing ceremonies[iii].

It is likely that the Moylough belt shrine was used in similar rituals to effect cures or establish truthfulness[iv].  Indeed, this probably explains why the belt contains extensive evidence for wear around its hinges and buckle. It appears that it was often taken on and off, probably during specific ceremonies.

The belt now resides in the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin, where it can viewed free of charge.

By Adrienne Corless

I suggested to Colm that it was about time he got a logo for his website – this website, irisharchaeology.ie.

OK then, he told me, (charitably), you can sort it.

OK then, I told him, I will.

But where to start? The entire discipline of archaeology in Ireland is rich with beautiful, iconic imagery and symbolic motifs.

Come back with something spiral, Colm had instructed me. I immediately said NO to that: too obvious!

I took out all of our archaeology art books and explored countless geometric, animal and human form motifs. I doodled. Colm didn’t like any of my designs.

Aoife’s logo

Our 5-year-old daughter joined in the design process.

Colm mused over her offerings. But politely declined.

I spoke to friends.

Something spiral, they told me.

I raised an eyebrow – had Colm been having words in their ears??

But he hadn’t. Maybe if the idea of a motif like that was ‘obvious’, it was so for a reason.

My friend Johnny Ryan (Pointillisim), who is both artist and archaeologist, told me to get some ideas sketched down and to send them on to him. I sat down to scribble “something spiral”. I drew a simple whirl with a dot at the end. Colm looked at it. Why the dot? he asked. I don’t know, I said, I must have seen a spiral with a dot like that somewhere.

I took out my copy of Megalithic Art in Ireland by Muiris O’Sullivan, and there it was, right on the frontispiece page: a simple spiral, with a dot at the end, found at Knowth, in the Boyne Valley Neolithic passage tomb complex at County Meath. The motif had been picked onto the side of the stone basin found in the right recess in the eastern passage and chamber inside the mound.

The Knowth basin by Deborah Gamble

This very stone basin had been the source of great excitement for the excavator who had been the first in millennia to lay eyes upon it; George Eogan describes that moment he found it in 1968 –

“I descended into the chamber. I have no recollection of how I did it, but, without thinking, I suspect that I actually jumped down from the top of the orthostats, a height of 2 metres so! The chamber provided further wonders. Two side recesses and single end recess opened off it, while the surrounding orthostats, as well as some of the overlying corbels, were decorated, some elaborately. One of the side recesses had a portal-like entrance consisting of two tall jambs, again bearing decoration. On entering the recess: more art but also something quite unexpected and truly astonishing. Before me was a large stone basin, over 1 metre in diameter, ornamented externally with parallel horizontal grooves and internally with a series of arcs and rays.” (Eogan 2003, 74)

The stone basin is one of more than 300 stones at Knowth which had been lavishly decorated with the distinctive motifs of megalithic art – mysterious concentric circles, dots, spirals, triangles, arcs, rays, wavy lines and grid marks, picked or pecked onto the rock surface using a chisel or a punch stone tool. It has been suggested that the spiral motifs could have celestial meanings, or in some incidences, could represent eyes – or that they are the result of states of altered consciousness, associated with the ritualistic function of the Knowth monument.

 I snapped a photograph of the Deborah Gamble sketch and emailed it to Johnny.

The Knowth basin (image after http://www.worldheritageireland.ie/)

Somewhat adding to the mystery in the topic of megalithic art, I noticed in photographs I looked at of the stone basin that the motif is more clearly a series of concentric circles, and not a spiral at all – but the drawing by Deborah Gamble seems to have picked up an unmistakable spiral in the relief carving. It was this curious arising spiral which was to the basis for Johnny’s design.

After a few more emails, phonecalls, and a visit to Johnny at work at his desk, he came back with the motif in the image at the top of this post.

Irish Archaeology had got its logo.

References

Eogan, G. 2003 ‘The great mound at Knowth and the discovery of its passage tomb’, in Joe Fenwick (ed.) Lost and Found; discovering Ireland’s past, Wordwell, Bray, pp. 65-75

O’Sullivan, M. 1993 Megalthic Art in Ireland, Town House and Country House, Dublin

A call for papers has been sent out for The Archaeology of Gatherings conference. This thematic international conference will bring together a range of speakers from different disciplines including both academics and professionals.  The aim is to explore the material culture and psychology behind gatherings of people.

With 2013 being the year of ‘The Gathering‘ this theme was chosen to examine why people over millennia have come together, often in large numbers, for religious assemblies, social interaction, to exchange commodities and ideas, along with other reasons such as farewells, wakes, political opposition, inaugurations etc.

Speakers are invited from a diverse range of backgrounds including archaeology, history, ethnography, sociology and event management.  Both archaeological and modern case studies are invited. Papers will be 20 minutes in length, with time for questions.  This important international conference will take place at the Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland from 25th to 27th October 2013, and will coincide with the SligoLive cultural festival.  Abstracts of no more than 200 words should be emailed to archaeologyofgatherings@yahoo.com by 3rd May 2013.

The Lisdrumturk Cauldron (© Monaghan County Museum)

Discovered in 1854, by turf-cutters digging in a Co. Monaghan bog, the Lisdrumturk Cauldron is an exceptional example of Late Bronze Age metal-working. It was undoubtedly a high status object and its burial in a bog may be indicative of ritual activity.

Finally crafted, the cauldron measures 29.5cm high by 50cm in diameter. It is made from a series of bronze sheets, which have been carefully riveted together to form a robust, water-tight vessel. The lower part consists of a saucer-shaped piece that forms the base, above which are two broad, overlapping sheets of bronze. These are attached to an upper section made from two narrow, bronze sheets that are fashioned into an inbent neck and an everted rim.

Two cast bronze ring handles are attached to the rim and these were probably used to suspend the cauldron over a fire. Ornamentation is found in the form of four concentric lines of repoussé dots around the rim, while a number of vertical lines of rivets are also purely decorative in function.

Very unusually, for an ostensibly Bronze Age object, the cauldron contains approximately a dozen iron rivets. It is not certain if these were original fittings or represent later repairs. They do, however, suggest that the cauldron was made in the transitional period between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (c. 700-500 BC). The vessel was certainly repaired on number of occasions, as evidenced by a series of bronze patches within its interior. Some of these seal ancient cracks, while others cover sprung rivets.

Castlederg Cauldron (© NMI)

A number of very similar cauldrons are known from Ireland, including a particularly  fine example from Castlederg in Co. Tyrone. Probably used for boiling meat, these cauldrons would have been prestigious and valuable items.

Indeed, it has been suggested that they may have been used to epitomise the power and wealth of chiefs. For example, during certain ceremonies the giving away of selected portions of food from the cauldron may have symbolised the power of the chief to distribute wealth to his subjects (after Waddell 2000, 233).

Similarly, burying the cauldron in a bog was likely to have been an act which was imbued with magical symbolism. Often paralleled in Irish prehistory, this placement of  precious items in watery locations may represent votive deposition.

No longer peat-bound the Lisdrumturk Cauldron can now be viewed at the Monaghan County Museum.

References

Lucas, A. T. 1968 ‘National Museum of Ireland: Archaeological Acquisitions in the Year 1965’ in JRSAI Vol. 98, No. 2, p. 118

Waddell, J. 2000 The Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland, Wordwell, Bray, pp. 231-233

Clonmacnoise cross

Adrienne Corless

Stopping off with my family on the car-journey between Dublin and Galway recently, I had an opportunity to visit the famous archaeological site of Clonmacnoise. Located right in the centre of the country, where a major east-west route-way met Ireland’s longest river, the north-south running River Shannon, the famous early medieval monastic settlement site was a once-important town.  The first church there was founded by St Ciarán in the 6th century AD and by the 7^th century had become an important ecclesiastic centre with a large lay population, where worship, learning, trade and craftwork took place. With excellent surviving remains of stone churches, high crosses, grave slabs, a medieval residence and a round tower, the site is one of Ireland’s major tourist attractions.

We got to watch some of the informative interpretative video at the visitor centre, until my two-year-old son began to interrupt the viewing experience for the other visitors and we had to leave. Before going outside, we visited the original high crosses, which are now stored inside the visitor centre (there are replicas in their former positions outside), but my two-year-old began to interfere with the underfoot spotlight fittings, so we had to leave.

Outside, we had an enormously pleasant time exploring the ruins.

And then I took out my technology.

The Clonmacnoise Smartphone App

I had arrived with both iPhone and iPad in hand, both already loaded with the Lost City of Clonmacnoise app  from the iTunes App Store.

Created by RealSim Games, the app combines 3D reconstruction with the GPS, compass and touch screen functionality of the iPhone and iPad, allowing users to navigate their way around the site through the sights and sounds of the distant past, all recreated digitally and in 3D on the app.

My 5-year-old, already well-acquainted with the app from using it at home, took the iPad to find her bearings, while my sister wandered on ahead in pursuit of my 2-year-old. I made sure the location settings on my iPhone were switched on and quickly figured out how to use the GPS feature – whilst on location at Clonmacnoise, the device’s GPS and compass follow the user to reconstruct the site as it would have been about one thousand years ago.

I began to make my way around the site, phone held aloft. 3D reconstructed versions of the ruins began to appear on the screen. As an iPhone and Instagram addict, I am already well-accustomed to viewing the world through the lens of a smartphone screen.  This time, however, it wasn’t my phone’s camera feature I was using to observe, it was the realistic graphics of the app that were recreating the scene before me, in real space, in the infrastructure of real physical landmarks. It didn’t even matter that the skies before me in real life were slightly greyer than the blue skies in the app. I began to feel that the world represented on my iPhone screen and the one I was walking in were one and the same.

I looked towards the round tower. Through my phone, it rose majestically to its full height, roof intact. I lowered my phone, and looked again towards the tower. Shorter in stature; roofless; a ruin.

My mind took a wobble.

I jumped out of the way of a tree, only to realise it wasn’t physically there.

This was fun!

I walked to the cathedral. On my phone screen, it loomed to its full gable height. I entered the ruin, still watching through my phone, which showed me rows of virtual benches seating prayerful monks. I found myself physically stepping around them.

Outside the cathedral, I walked amongst graves. Here a quirky feature of the App gave me a start: a ghost floated before me! Suddenly I felt them all around.

My two-year-old appeared nearby, noisily interrupting a tour group. I intervened to re-orientate him along the path in front of me, before looking back to my phone screen view. Again I was alarmed. There was no sign of my toddler – had he bolted already? I lowered the phone, and there he was, strutting in front of me along the physical path.

I began to fully appreciate the impact of using this app, as the distinction of what was “real” and what was augmented began to blur in my very mind. By tapping on structures on the screen of my device, I could choose to read more about that structure. In such a deeply immersive archaeological space, where the physical world crosses over with the digital,  I found myself learning, and questioning, more about an archaeological site than ever I had visited or had read about before, and far more quickly too!

I decided that this is what learning archaeology should be all about.

The Clonmacnoise app is an excellent demonstration of how archaeologists can use digital technology and the still-emerging phenomenon of ‘augmented reality’ to interpret and share knowledge: by mashing up the evidence of what was lost, onsite, with the tangible remains of what still stands, an acutely experiential, and utterly enjoyable, lesson is made possible for the archaeology-interested user, regardless of age or expertise.

Making the App

When Robyn Mason, the archaeologist at RealSim Games, got in touch with Colm’s website Irish Archaeology about their work, I jumped at the chance to meet them in Galway. Robyn introduced me to the rest of the team, Eoghan Quigley, James Peyton and Colin Smith, who work together in a small office at the Business Innovation Centre at National University of Ireland, Galway

Robyn Mason and James Peyton at work

The game originated as the brainchild of Gavin Duffy, RealSim’s Managing Director; I didn’t get to meet him when I visited, but he can be seen using the app on the YouTube video below, which gives a good sense of how the app is used onsite.

Using aerial survey, mapping, photographic references and GPS (Global Positioning Systems) technology, the developers created the app using gaming software. They worked with archaeologists Heather King, and Robyn, to ensure archaeological accuracy and authenticity and to piece together gaps where evidence has not survived so well. The human figures in the game are real life re-enactors from Fingal Living History,  dressed in full authentic costume.

There is a clear sense of passion amongst the team for the app, which is the world’s first full 3D GPS guided ancient environment app for a mobile device.

The team are currently working on the Clonmacnoise app’s latest upgrade, which will feature even more detail, even higher resolution and will be even more animated. In more good news, another exciting project focusses on the heritage of Galway city. Using the beautiful pictorial map of the city as it was in 1651, another 3D digital immersive environment will bring back to life the sights and sounds of the 17th century city.

Visiting Clonmacnoise

The site is located at Clonmacnoise, Shannonbridge, Athlone, Co. Offaly

Telephone 353 90 9674195.

Opening hours:

November – Mid March: Daily 10:00 – 17:30.
Mid March – May: Daily 10:00 – 18:00.
June - August: Daily 09:00 – 18.30.
September – October: Daily 10:00 – 18:00.
Closed 25th & 26th December.
Last admission is 45mins before closing.

 Using the Clonmacnoise App

• The app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store  for €4.49
• Your device needs 3G for the GPS feature to work onsite (I used my iPhone, but my daughter was still also able to navigate my way around the site using the iPad, which doesn’t have 3G)
• Remember to enable location settings on your device so the game knows you’re at Clonmacnoise
• The app can also be used to explore the site virtually from the comfort of the user’s own home

 Further reading

Manning, Conleth 1994 Clonmacnoise. OPW. Stationery Office. Dublin

by Adrienne Corless

Quadrangular enclosure defining two burials (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

A number of spectacular La Tène era ‘Celtic’ burials have recently been uncovered by archaeologists working at Buchères in north central France. Dating from the third and fourth century BC, these richly furnished Gaulish graves were discovered during topsoil stripping at the Aube Logistick Park.

Of the 14 tombs excavated so far, archaeologists have unearthed five warrior burials. These men were armed with swords and spears, with two of the graves also containing evidence for shields. Originally made from leather and wood, the shields had decayed with only the orles (the metal lining perimeter) and the spina cover (the backbone) surviving.

Female burials were also identified and these had been interred with beautiful jewellery, including necklaces, fibulae and bracelets of bronze. In addition, both men and woman wore large brooches on their chests, which were made from either iron or bronze, with some also decorated in coral.

These exceptional Gaulish graves are rare discovery in this part of France and as the images below show, they represent a truly remarkable find.

Male burial with sword (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

Burial with Bronze torc and fibulae (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

(© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

Detailed view of sword and suspension system (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

Detail view of a fibula, with a torc just visible in the foreground (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

© Denis Gliksman, Inrap

Woman buried with three clasps (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

‘Snake’ bracelet (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

Male buried with a sword and shield, where only the iron outside (orle) and backbone of the shield survive (© Denis Gliksman, Inrap)

© Denis Gliksman, Inrap

Sources

Image source  (All the images are copyright of Denis Gliksman, of Inrap)

Inrap: Gallic warriors in the plain of Troyes

Roman coins from Newgrange (© NMI)

Constructed in the Neolithic, the great  passage tomb at Newgrange appears to have remained a place of spiritual importance long after it’s Stone Age builders had passed away. This is suggested  by pair of gold Roman coins which were discovered at the the site. Probably representing votive offerings, they were deposited at the tomb sometime during the 4^th century AD. They depict the Emperors Constantine I and Constantine II and were struck at the Roman mint in Trier, a city now located in modern Germany.

The first coin bears the inscription CONSTANTINVS P F AVG and dates from AD 330-337, while the second coin is inscribed CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C and dates from AD 320-330. They both contain small loops for suspension, which suggests that they had been reused as pendants. Valuable items, their deposition at Newgrange, beyond the western borders of the Roman Empire, is unlikely to represent a casual loss.

The coins form part of a very important corpus of Roman material from the site. This collection of Roman artefacts includes at least 25 coins (Carson & Kelly, 1977) along with a number of rings, brooches and torc fragments. The majority of these object came from two specific locations; the area in front of the tomb entrance and the ground surrounding the three largest stones of the Great Stone Circle, which surrounds the monument.

This apparent deliberate placement of precious objects at significant locations is suggestive of  votive deposition.  Whether they were buried here by native Irish worshipers or pilgrims from the Roman world, remains a mystery. Similarly, the gods or goddesses venerated are unknown, although it may be significant that in later, medieval Irish texts, Newgrange is associated with the pre-Christian god, Dagda. Either way, the coins suggest that this great prehistoric monument was still viewed as a sacred place nearly 3,500 years after its construction.

Newgrange

References

Carson R. A. G. & O’Kelly C. 1977 ‘A Catalogue of the Roman Coins from Newgrange, Co. Meath and Notes on the Coins and Related Finds’ in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Vol. 77, pp. 35-55

Stout, G. & Stout, M. 2008, Newgrange, Cork University Press, Cork

Roman contacts with Ireland

(image via monasticireland.com)

The earliest remains of a road thus far discovered in Dublin city was found during an archaeological excavation carried out by Claire Walsh in the vicinity of Golden Lane and Chancery Lane[i]. Although truncated in parts, the road was extensive, measuring at least 50 m in length and extending across two separate sites. Approximately 2.35 m in width, it was located within a shallow cut and its surface was defined by a tightly packed metalled surface. This was composed of both sub-rectangular and rounded stones set directly into natural boulder clay.  These had been deliberately thrown down to make a dry, compact road surface.

Route of the early road in red (after Walsh 2009)

The western side of the road was partially defined by a drainage gully while the eastern edge was demarked by an intermittent sequence of drainage gullies and fence postholes. The road surface was overlain by a thick deposit of grey soil, which contained frequent inclusions of butchered animal bone, a fragment of which was broadly radiocarbon dated to the 9th century AD. This deposit appears to represent plough soil mixed with dumped domestic waste and it suggests that road had gone out of use by the mid-9th century[ii] .

At least three burials were identified immediately to the west of the road, two of which represented the remains of children.  They appeared to have been interred in a Christian manner, with the graves orientated east-west and the bodies wrapped in burial shrouds. Why then they were buried in unsanctified ground, on the edge of a road, remains uncertain, especially considering that a number of early ecclesiastical sites were located close by.

Additional features found to the west and east of the roadway included a number of truncated metalled surfaces, some associated with metalworking, as well as fence lines, pits and possible structural outlines. These suggest that people were living and working in this part of Dublin prior to the arrival of the Vikings in 841 AD.

Reconstruction drawing of an early monastery (Image Philip Armstrong ©Northern Ireland Environment Agency)

It is possible that this activity was related to the nearby monastery of Dubhlinn (black pool). This early ecclesiastical site, which was named after a tidal pool on the River Poddle, is the source of the modern city’s name (Dublin). It is first mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters in 650 AD, when St. Bearaidh is recorded as its abbot[iv]. It disappears from the written record during the 9th century, probably as a direct consequence of plundering raids, emanating from Dublin’s newly established Viking longphort (a type of Viking fortress).

Location of the early medieval road and Dubhlinn monastery (after Clarke 2002 & Walsh 2009)

The former location of the monastery is suggested by a distinctive curvature seen in a number of city centre streets including, St Peter’s Row, Whitefriar Street, Stephen Street Upper & Lower, and Johnson’s Place[v]. The outline of these streets suggests the former presence of a large sub-circular enclosure, something which is characteristic of early monastic sites[vi].

It is likely that the Early Medieval roadway led away from the northeastern edge of this monastery towards a fording point on the River Poddle[vii].  It is not difficult to imagine it being used by monks and pilgrims as they travelled to and from Dublin’s early ecclesiastical centre. Little did they know, as they walked along its stony surface, that soon everything would change utterly. Their monastery would disappear beneath the slashing swords of ship borne warriors from the north, and a great Hiberno-Norse city would take its place. One Dublin died and another was born.

Site location blue dot (Google Maps)

St. George’s church (by George Steinmetz)

Hewn out of solid rock, the extraordinary church of St. George (Bet Giorgis), Ethiopia, represents one of the wonders of the ancient world. Dating from the late 12^th or early 13^th century AD, the construction of the church is ascribed to King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, one of the last kings of the Zagwe dynasty. It is located near town of Lalibela, which is situated roughly 640 km north of the country’s capital, Addis Ababa. This town contains a remarkable collection of monolithic, rock-cut churches. Eleven in total, these buildings were erected in and around the year 1200 and are a testament to the skills of Ethiopia’s medieval stone masons.

The church of St. George stands proud in a 25m by 25m wide pit that is carved out of solid volcanic rock. The construction of the church involved excavating a free-standing block of stone out of the bed-rock and then removing all the waste material from around it. The stone masons then carefully chiseled away the church outline, shaping both the exterior and interior of the building as they went. They fashioned a simple yet exceptionally beautiful cruciform structure approximately 12 m high.

The church contains three west-facing doorways, nine ‘blind’ lower level windows and twelve upper-row windows. A number of the windows are embellished with carved semi-­palette cross motifs, while the roof of the structure contains a sequence of Greek crosses in relief, one inside the other. The church grounds are accessed via a descending trench and tunnel, which allow access to a sunken courtyard surrounding the building. This contains a small baptismal pool, while its vertical walls have a number of caves that are used as basic housing for priests and as burial tombs.

Still a place of pilgrimage for members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church,  Bet Giorgis (St. George’s) now forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela“.

Pilgrims leave the church (via http://bigtubofgoo.blogspot.ie/2008/04/lalibela-ethiopia-running-out-of-pseudo.html)