IRON AGE IRELAND: Finding an Invisible People
Principal Investigators
Dr Katharina Becker
Associate Investigators: John Ó Néill, Barry Raftery
International Expert Panel
- Ian Armit, Department of Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Science, University of Bradford, UK.
- James Eogan, Senior Archaeologist, National Roads Authority, Ireland.
- Eamonn P. Kelly, Keeper of Irish Antiquities, National Museum of Ireland, Ireland.
- Chris Lynn
- Philip MacDonald, Fieldwork director, Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, Queen's University Belfast
- Richard Warner
- Tim Young, Geoarch, Cardiff, UK.
Funding
The Heritage Council (Archaeology Grant Scheme 2008)
Abstract
This research project, funded by the Irish Heritage Council, addresses one of the most critical gaps in our understanding of later Irish prehistory. Current knowledge of Iron Age Ireland is largely restricted to an artefact record which is biased towards the north of the country, a limited burial record and a small, but significant, group of specialised monuments – the so–called Royal sites. However, very little is known of the vernacular culture of the Irish Iron Age, particularly where and how people lived, the types of houses they built and their industrial activities. This problem, encapsulated in the phrase “The Invisible People”, (coined by Barry Raftery in his Pagan Celtic Ireland in 1994) has contributed to the enigmatic character of the period.
Recent large–scale development activity is bringing new Iron Age sites to light at an increasing rate and presents us with an opportunity to resolve some of the key issues of this enigmatic period. Much of the relevant information resides in the considerable body of unpublished literature such as excavation reports. The aim of the project is to synthesise this evidence and to examine it in the context of the major thematic framework identified in the recent Heritage Council report on Research Needs in Irish Archaeology. Hence, in the later stages of the project issues of regionality, social and regional identity, economic organisation, landscape use and cultural change from the Bronze Age through to the Early Medieval period will be addressed. The project will also create a research context for our understanding of previously recorded Iron Age site types and material culture.
This project has been specifically designed to address and resolve key issues of the Irish Iron Age and to develop a framework for future research. This will include a collaborative approach to the generation and dissemination of knowledge.
