Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

I was recently part of an online conversation about how archaeology is portrayed in the media. A number of us had somewhat bridled at seeing yet another newspaper headline where ‘archaeologists stumbled upon’ some great find or other. It’s another iteration of the tired ‘baffled boffins’ headline that appears to be almost ubiquitous when the mass media discuss archaeology. You don’t get similar treatment for other professions – no ‘mystified medics promoting a possible cure’ or ‘elated estate agents accidentally sell a house’ … maybe there are instances of these, but it’s the archaeology-related ones that we seem to notice most. In part, this can be traced back to the difficulties of an individual archaeologist (often with precious little experience in dealing with the media) describing the complexities of the planning and mitigation process to a journalist just looking to write a straightforward account for a general readership. True, there may have been no surface indications of a...

< 3D Images <Table of Contents The first stop on my journey was to Knockmany Passage Grave. It’s one of those places I’ve heard about so much. It seems that if you studied archaeology in QUB at a certain time you were forced out there at knife-point every second weekend … or, at least, that’s how the story seems to be told. So, it was definitely one of those sites that I wanted to go see for myself. I followed the signs from Clogher, left my vehicle in the car park, shouldered my equipment, and headed on up the hill. I may not be the world’s fittest person, but I was doing pretty well … for a while, at least. As the gradient increased and the tripod strap dug further into my shoulder I started to reconsider my enthusiasm for this excursion. It occurred to me that I hadn’t actually told anyone where I was going. If I didn’t turn up in Sligo, how long would it be before anyone realised I was missing? As I plodded along the forestry path the trees seemed to close in and t...

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In March 2015 I had decided to go to wonderful Sligo to be part of the Weather Beaten Archaeology conference, to be held at IT Sligo. Although the festivities did not kick off in earnest until 8pm on the Friday, I set off from Belfast quite early. My plan – and I did have one! – was to stop off along the way and see some archaeological sites that I’ve either never visited, or hadn’t been to see in far too long. As I’ve described in my series of posts on Glendalough (also visited in 2015), my modus operandi was to travel with my Nikon D3200, my Manfrotto tripod, and a curious bit of kit that allows me to slide the camera along the line of its focal plane. These items, when used together in the right way, allow me to take near identical photographs that I can then combine (with a cool little piece of software) to produce 3D anaglyph images. The purpose of this post is to act as a Table of Contents to the various posts. As each post is published, the corresponding links wil...

It has been a while, but here’s my take on what’s the best and most interesting in (mostly) Irish archaeological and historical material on Academia.edu … have a read, find and follow the authors most relevant to your research interests … when you’re done, come have a look at some of my stuff [ here ]. Merryn Dineley: Who were the first maltsters? The archaeological evidence for floor malting Merryn Dineley: Neolithic Ale: Barley as a source of sugars for fermentation Richard Warner: Beehive querns and Irish 'La Tene' artefacts: a statistical test of their cultural relatedness Eamonn Kelly: The longphort in Viking-Age Ireland: the archaeological evidence Elizabeth Twohig: Containing the dead in Irish Passage tombs Mary Cahill: 'Here comes the sun....' solar symbolism in Early Bronze Age Ireland Mary Cahill: A stone to die for [Hacketstown, Co. Waterford] Mary Cahill et al.: James Carruthers, a Belfast Antiquarian Collector Alan Hayd...

[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the secure button at the right. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. To help keep the site in operation, please use the amazon search portal at the right - each purchase earns a small amount of advertising revenue **] Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI > The weekend of the 25th to 27th October 2013 saw an influx of visitors to Sligo town. Some were there for the Sligo Live Music Festival ; some had travelled long distances to be part of the Bram Stoker Weekend . However, a select band had come for the Archaeology of Gatherings Conference . The year 2013 had been designated the year of ‘ The Gathering ’ – an initiative to draw tourists to the country. Thus, the organisers had conceived of this conference to draw archaeologists, historians, sociologists, and allied disciplines together. This diverse group, representing an...