Reconstructing memeory and meaning: Mesolithic identities and landscapes in the northern Midlands (2010)
Aimée Little
Supervisor: Dr Graeme Warren
Funded by:
Humanities Institute of Ireland
Abstract
The principal aim of this research is to investigate spatial and temporal variation in hunter-gatherer activities from a social perspective. Numerous finds and sites have been identified around the shoreline of a series of inter-connected loughs in the Irish northern Midlands. Despite this, there has until now, never been a comprehensive study carried out that contextualises all of the bodies of evidence at a landscape scale. This research will focus on the social nature of lakeside activity through a number of key themes, including: the materialisation and meaning of brushwood platforms, spatial variation in the distribution and deposition of lithic material and by taking a critical look at the evidence for what appears to be a ‘fishy’ settlement pattern of river mouth site location for purely ‘economic’ purposes.
This study is concerned with interpreting the material evidence at a variety of scales and through a range of analytical techniques: from a broad approach - where finds and sites are mapped at a townland level – to small-scale ‘nested’ landscapes like Clonava Island, which will be the subject of a high-resolution geophysical survey. As well as focussing on structure and variation in chipped stone tool assemblages throughout the region, emphasis is placed on the practice of deposition and the identification of organic remains in order to relieve the historical reliance on lithic datasets to construct human narrative. The predominant pattern of river mouth site location in the area has been noted time and again and is often attributed to hunter-gatherers inhabiting the best ‘fishing spots’. However, this ‘fishy’ settlement pattern has never been tested for potential biases affected through natural and human initiated change to the landscape. GIS is being used in conjunction with intensive surveying programmes to illustrate the impact these biases have had on the visibility and identification of Mesolithic material.
This research represents a break away from traditional approaches to the study of Ireland’s hunter-gatherers in that it uses multi-disciplinary techniques and is concerned with the social and ideological aspects of Mesolithic life.