Field School in Medieval Archaeology Summer 2016

1 Thom Kerr outlines the results of the Early Medieval Archaeology Project IAR Events for The Council for British Archaeology's 'Festival of British Archaeology' 11 Diana McCormack urges us to explore the work of the Antarctic Heritage Trust 13 Gavin Donaghy experiments with Kite Aerial Photography 16 Christina O'Regan describes Down's Delights 22 Welcome to the Spring issue of the Irish Archaeological Research e-zine.

The Blackfriary Community Heritage and Archaeology Project (BCHAP), conducted by the Irish Archaeology Field School (IAFS), is a program focused on community focused archaeological excavations at the location of a 13th century Dominican friary in Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland. IAFS has attracted students of various skills and backgrounds from around the world to participate in various heritage themed courses such as field archaeology and bio-archaeology. Students are provided in-depth insight into Irish archaeology and culture through experiential hands-on learning, specialized lectures, and tours of various leading heritage sites. The author attended the IAFS in the summer of 2014 and had the privilege of returning as a student assistant in 2015 as a member of the Community Team. The following essay outlines a contextual summary of the Black Friary and its excavation, as well as the importance of the Black Friary project to Trim’s community today.

"Field archaeology can only be properly learnt in the field, through using techniques and looking at and thinking about archaeological remains. What, then, is the point of a textbook on field archaeology? When I came into field archaeology some thirty-five years ago, it was still possible for a raw recruit to spend afternoons with the director of an excavation sitting in front of a section as the mysteries of stratigraphy were revealed. Increasingly such luxury is unavailable to newcomers. So how do those who want to become field archaeologists learn their skills? Although there aremany courses, field schools and training excavations, most still learn ‘on the job’."

This interim report details the seventh season of excavation at Black Friary, Blackfriary townland in Trim Co, Meath which took place in 2016-2017 (specifically summer 2016 and winter 2017). The excavations at Black Friary, a Dominican Friary founded in 1263, which is in the ownership of the County Council and is a monument protected by Preservation Order (No. 4 of 1972) under the National Monuments Acts, were carried out under ministerial consent C420 issued to Trim Town Council. An excavation recording number E4127 was issued by the National Museum for recording to Finola O’Carroll. Works prior to 2016 have been extensively reported previously in interim reports (most recently see O’Carroll, Shine et al. 2016 but also O’ Carroll 2011 and 2014). During the 2016 season, work focused on examining in detail the east range (Cutting 6) and exploring the area north of the north range to determine if another range of buildings had existed there (Cutting 7 extension). Excavations also continued on a sample of burials within the cemetery (Cutting 10), and the area within the nave in Cutting 3, which had been the focus of a number of years’ work, was partially brought to a conclusion. The area of the nave where the plinth of a possible half column (from a probable colonnaded arcade separating the nave from the south aisle) and abutting the west wall of the church was also further examined in Cutting 9, but the presence of burial activity meant that not all the questions asked could be answered. Cutting 9 was fully reinstated following excavation. The southern boundary of the site, which may bear relation to the northern medieval boundary of Trim, was also examined through the excavation of Cutting 13. In 2015 a programme of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and geophysical survey was undertaken at the site and is reported in Appendix 4.

This interim report details the fifth and sixth seasons of excavation at Black Friary, Blackfriary townland in Trim Co, Meath which took place in 2014-2016. The excavations at Black Friary, a Dominican Friary founded in 1263, which is in the ownership of the County Council and is a monument protected by Preservation Order (No. 4 of 1972) under the National Monuments Acts, were carried out under ministerial consent C420 issued to Trim Town Council. An excavation recording number E4127 was issued by the National Museum for recording to Finola O’Carroll. Works prior to 2014 have been extensively reported previously in an interim report (O’ Carroll 2014). Since 2014 a further two cuttings, 11 and 12 were opened, while Cutting 6 was extensively extended. A programme of archaeological testing was also undertaken over the eastern half of the Black Friary site. In 2015 a programme of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and geophysical survey, complemented the post-graduate research of Ms. Ashely Green, were also completed over much of the friary remains, as well as along the southern boundary of the Black Friary site. The objectives over the last two years were to locate and explore the east range and then explore the extent of the Chapter House contained within it; locate the southern limits of the cemetery and the line of the town wall or boundary; examine the western extent of the nave; examine the construction of the south aisle; and assess the structure of the cloister wall. Thus Cutting 6, previously reported on and which focused on the NE corner of the cloister, was extensively enlarged to the south and east. Locating the line of the town wall, which is believed to form the southern boundary to the site, was addressed by opening Cuttings 11 and 12, and these also aided understanding the spatial relationship between the cemetery, which lies to the south of the church and the church itself. The west end of the nave and the south aisle were the focus of work in Cuttings 9 and 10 and burials at the northern extent of the cemetery were excavated here. Cuttings 5 and 8 exposed the SW corner and part of the western line of the cloister wall. Limited work continued in Cutting 3, located within the nave of the church just west of the chancel arch, specifically to complete work on previously identified burials.

Kleos Issue 2, 2019

A review of the fourth annual Early Medieval Archaeology Student Symposium held in University College Dublin in May 2010.

Contents page. Focusing on the archaeology of medieval Europe (c. 1000–1550AD), this new four-volume collection from Routledge enables researchers and advanced students to make better sense of a vast—and rapidly growing—corpus of scholarship. The gathered materials have been carefully selected to highlight the key issues and debates in the development and contemporary practice of Medieval Archaeology, and each volume includes a comprehensive introduction newly written by the editor. Medieval Archaeology is an essential work of reference. It is destined to be valued by specialists—as well as those working in allied areas such as Medieval Studies, History, and Art History—as a vital one-stop research tool. https://www.routledge.com/Medieval-Archaeology/Gilchrist/p/book/9780415718165

2007

Author: Brigitte Cech. Brigitte Cech 2007: 'University Strategies in Teaching Fieldwork Techniques - A View from an Independent Practitioner,' in From Concepts of the Past to Practical Strategies: The Teaching of Archaeological Field Techniques. Peter Ucko, Editor-in-Chief Qin Ling and Jane Hubert Editors. Commissioning Editor and General Editor: Sajid Rizvi. ISBN 9781872843704. London: Saffron 2007. When I started to work as an independent researcher I faced the problem of how to obtain funds. I soon realised that at university we had learned nothing about fund-raising or how to organise the logistics of archaeological excavations. My first independent research project took place in the Austrian Alps, in the middle of nowhere at an altitude of 2100m above sea level. The site is about two hours walk from civilisation and it is part of a nature preserve and a mining area, which means that additional permits were necessary. Preparing the application for funding and organising everything was like jumping into ice-cold water and learning how to swim or just drowning ignominiously. Luckily the employees of the Austrian Science Foundation and colleagues from other academic disciplines turned out to be extremely helpful. Since then I have successfully organised many research projects. When I started to prepare this chapter I talked to my students about the university fieldwork classes that are compulsory for obtaining a degree in archaeology. These discussions, together with my experiences, resulted in a wish list of what should be taught in such compulsory fieldwork classes. The most important is perhaps that classes on ‘theory’ should precede fieldwork itself. Another aspect of my work concerns the involvement of amateurs in archaeological fieldwork. How to involve the general public in archaeological excavations is unfortunately not taught at Austrian universities, and equally unfortunately such involvement is very rarely allowed.... Follow links for further info on this book.