Today's fieldwork in focus comes from Kate Chapman and Harold Mytum of the Centre for Manx Studies, School of Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, on planned survey and excavations in Ireland and the Isle of Man.
Historical and Prehistoric Archaeology - Excavation and Survey
This field school is based in two beautiful Celtic countries: Ireland and the Isle of Man, which lies between Ireland and Britain. This gives you a great chance to experience a variety of landscapes and cultures in the one project.
We start in Ireland and stay in shared holiday accommodation whilst concentrating first on training in surface survey on historic church sites, and recording historic gravestones at burial grounds using forms, measurements, rubbings and photographs. We also carry out data entry and preliminary analysis, so the value of the recording is immediately made clear. Historic gravestones are items of material culture that link archaeology to many subjects including art, history, anthropology and geology to name but a few. Their study links to the personal on the one hand through to widespread cultural changes on the other.
After two weeks in Ireland, we travel to the Isle of Man where we begin four weeks of training in excavation and geophysical survey, with a nearby camp site as our base. This year we will be digging at Port y Candas, a multi-period settlement site belonging to the late prehistoric and early medieval periods. Part of the site was excavated many years ago, but not published.
Port y Candas
Excavations at Port y Candas. Photo courtesy University of Liverpool
Port y Candas has some finds that may well be Iron Age in date, and a large piece of timber certainly dated to the Iron Age has been recovered from the waterlogged ditch. It is possible that the site was in use for several centuries, and started in what is perhaps the least well understood period on the island's past. Only a few sites have been investigated from the Iron Age yet this was when the Celtic foundations of the island's identity were being created.
Later finds from these excavations include imported early medieval pottery and evidence of metalworking, suggesting that this was a high status site. We will complete the excavation of the interior and examine the surrounding bank and ditch. The site would seem to be archaeologically similar to power centres in Ireland and Scotland, so this is an important site to examine in this island in the middle of the Irish Sea.
Geophysics will take place at similar enclosure sites on the island that belong to the late prehistoric period and to the early middle ages. We will also be surveying old church and burial sites, known as keeils on the Isle of Man. One is very close to the Port y Candas site that we are excavating, and may be the chapel and burial ground used by its inhabitants.
- Dates: June 26-August 7 2010
- Tuition and fees: Ireland (2 weeks) and Isle of Man (4 weeks) £1,950 Sterling
- Credit: 30 credits at level 1 in the UK system; a transcript from the University of Liverpool will be supplied
- Contact: kchapman@liv.ac.uk
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