ARCH07047 2019 Landscape Archaeology

The objective of this module is to introduce students to the ways in which archaeologists study and interpret landscapes and to provide students with an understanding of the concepts, sources and techniques used in the discipline. A main element of the course is practical work using electronic survey equipment including GPS and total station, which includes data collection and output of maps and plans. The course looks at various methodologies of landscape archaeology using case studies and practicals, and encourages an integrated multidisciplinary approach to the research of archaeological sites and regions.

The Cuil Irra region on the west coast of Ireland is one of the richest areas of passage tombs in western Europe. The monuments range from small, simple, dolmens to complex monuments with gigantic cairns, and cover the timespan c. 4000-3000 BC. Landscape of the Monuments is the first modern, detailed account of this important group of monuments from a regional and spatial perspective, and includes a corpus of all monuments. The book focuses on a number of aspects relating to the location of the monuments in the landscape, and discusses the nature of Neolithic man's intentions to organise his physical and symbolic world. The great variation of monuments is discussed in terms of ritual and social complexity, and seen to reflect an ambition in Neolithic society to manipulate the way the social and physical landscape should be comprehended. The relation between the Cuil Irra monuments and the nearby passage tomb complex of Carrowkeel-Keshcorran is analysed, and the Cuil Irra region is furthermore seen in its wider context of the Irish passage tomb tradition. Contents: Preface, Irish Megalithic Tombs, Aims, The Landscape, The Passage Tomb Tradition, The Monuments, Chronology, The Monuments in the Landscape, The Role of the Monuments, Landscape of the Monuments, Bibliography, Appendix - The Passage Tombs in the Cuil Irra Region.

Landscapes of Neolithic Ireland Landscapes of Neolithic is the first volume to be devoted solely to the Irish Neolithic, using an innovative landscape and anthropological perspective to provide significant new insights on the period. Full description

Rare Book

x + 221pp, inc many illusts, 4 tables, laminated card, 8vo This book is an extended photographic essay about topographic features of the landscape.

This book takes a new approach to writing about the past. Instead of studying the prehistory of Britain from Mesolithic to Iron Age times in terms of periods or artifact classifications, Tilley examines it through the lens of their geology and landscapes, asserting the fundamental significance of the bones of the land in the process of human occupation over the long duree. Granite uplands, rolling chalk downlands, sandstone moorlands, and pebbled hilltops each create their own potentialities and symbolic resources for human settlement and require forms of social engagement. Taking his findings from years of phenomenological fieldwork experiencing different landscapes with all senses and from many angles, Tilley creates a saturated and historically imaginative account of the landscapes of southern England and the people who inhabited them. This work is also a key theoretical statement about the importance of landscapes for human settlement.

Essential Reading

Ashmore, W. & Knapp. A. B. 1999. Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary perspectives. Blackwell, Oxford (particularly chapter 1). Library Ref: 930.1 ASH

Howard, P . 2007 Archaeological Surveying and Mapping.  Routledge, London

Tilley, C. 1994, A Phenomenology of Landscape, Berg, Oxford (particularly chapter 1). Library Ref: 936.29 TIL

Wheatley, D. and Gilings, M. 2000 Spatial Technology and Archaeology. Taylor and Francis, London.

Bergh, S. 2000, 'Transforming Knocknarea - the archaeology of a mountain', Archaeology Ireland Vol 14 No 2, p.14-17

Bergh, S. 2002, ‘Knocknarea: the ultimate mountain’ in Chris Scarre (ed) Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe, Routledge, London, 139-51.

Bergh, S. 2003. ‘Two Stones Make a Line’. In Lost and Found: Discovering Ireland’s Past. J. Fenwick (ed), Wordwell, Bray

Cooney, G. Condit, T. & Byrnes, E. 1999 ‘Timescapes: understanding and managing archaeological landscapes in Ireland’, Policies and Priorities for Ireland’s Landscapes: Conference papers, Tullamore Co Offaly, Ireland, The Heritage Council, Kilkenny, 61-71

Cooney, G. Condit, T. & Byrnes, E. 2002, Archaeological Landscapes, The Heritage Council, Kilkenny

http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/search?t0=ORR%3AAHU00170

http://www.culturalheritageireland.ie/index.php/archaeology-databases

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A considerable part of this module is conducted in the field. It is advisable that practical warm and waterproof clothing and footwear be worn.