Inscribed Landscapes
Principal Investigators
Dr. Blaze O'Connor
Funding
UCD Humanities Institute of Ireland
Previous work with support from
- Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social
Sciences - UCD Open Postgraduate Scholarship,
- Dublin City Council Higher Education Grants
Abstract
To date, this study has addressed the landscape context of Atlantic
rock art by comparing three study areas in Ireland; the Inishowen
Peninsula, Donegal, the Louth / Monaghan area, and the Dingle
Peninsula, Kerry. Recent dating evidence has been reassessed,
suggesting a Late Neolithic terminus ante quem
for the practice and a potentially earlier origin, with related
traditions continuing into the Bronze Age. A combination of field
observations and GIS analyses has revealed that a complex range of
landscape features, as well as taphonomic and survey biases, have
influenced the known rock art distribution. At the regional level
geological formations, topography, wetlands and soil types played a
role in structuring general distribution. Within these areas, rock art
appears to cluster on particular topographical features, outcrop
formations, distinctive soil zones, and specific viewpoints or ‘hidden’
parts of the landscape. This echoes recent landscape theory that such
distinctive places were actively used to enhance certain experiences
and activities. A pilot study into motif analysis has been conducted
using an innovative recording method combining photogrammetry and
epigraphic survey, and three new approaches to classification. By
linking these classifications to the GIS, subtle variations across the
landscape have also been investigated. The collation of survey and
excavation evidence indicates that in these areas rock art was located
in relative proximity to prehistoric settlement, yet frequently removed
from contemporary monument complexes. This suggests that many panels
may have formed foci for ‘everyday’ ritual activity by broad and
unrestricted social groups, contrasting with the proposed specialist
nature of megalithic art. Within each study area a distinction between
dispersed panels and regional clusters has been identified, the latter
situated in removed locales, demonstrating that different panels played
different roles. One of the regional clusters (Drumirril, Monaghan)
formed the focus for further field investigations. By employing a
high-resolution data collection method, a geophysical survey identified
a wide range of low visibility archaeological features across the site.
Following this, excavation (the first at an in situ rock art
site in Ireland) demonstrated that the features dated to the Early and
Middle Neolithic, as well as later periods (O’Connor 2003). The various
contextual studies conducted to date suggest that rock art research can
be approached as a way of accessing the complexities of different
social relationships and identities in the past, and that the practice
of carving may have played a key role in the maintenance of social
memory.
