Posts

Showing posts from February, 2013

Empire of Dirt: time to call time on commercial archaeology in Northern Ireland?

Image
[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the button at the end. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. **] As a consequence of the Drumclay crannog fiasco, Minister Alex Attwood has proposed a wide-ranging review of archaeological practice in Northern Ireland. The scope of this review has yet to be made public, but I would hope that it will be broad enough to consider such matters as the planning process, along with the operation of both the private and state sectors – not just in this case, but in how the practice of archaeology is conducted generally. I have a sneaking suspicion that a path may not be beaten to my door to solicit my opinion – it certainly hasn’t been sought so far. As we all know, this has never stopped me! For this reason this blog post may be regarded as my – deliberately provocative, but no less serious – position paper on what should happen in commercial archaeo

Drumclay Crannog Open Day Feb 16 2013

Image
[** If you like this post, please make a donation to the IR&DD project using the button at the end. If you think it is interesting or useful, please re-share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. **] My family and I are just back in from the Drumclay Crannog open day in Fermanagh, and I wanted to share some of my photos of the site. The first portion of the day consisted of a presentation on the background of crannogs generally and the current state of knowledge of the site type in Fermanagh, in particular. Other sections of the presentation concentrated on the finds and structures from the site. Overall, the crannog was described in terms of not just regional or national importance, but as an internationally significant site. I must admit that it was more than a little galling to hear the planning history of the site presented in such an ‘opaque’ manner with no mention of the fact that it required vast personal courage on behalf of a number of the original site crew to ensure