The lack of publication and communication discussed above makes it difficult to get an overview of exactly what projects have been carried out where and by whom. As such, this account of more recent experimental archaeological research does not claim to be an exhaustive account of all the work that has been carried out in Ireland. Rather, it is intended to give an indication of the range and type of experimental studies that have been undertaken to date.
Tools and technologies
Technologies and the tools that go with them have always been at the core of experimental archaeological research. The case in Ireland is no different. The majority of the work that has been carried out tends to focus on either a specific artefact or technology type, with an apparent, though unintentional, emphasis on prehistory.
One of the leading experimental archaeological research groups in Ireland is Umha Aois (the Gaelic term for Bronze Age). An interdisciplinary collective of artists, sculptors and archaeologists, they have been collaborating since 1995 when Umha Aois was established as part of the European Year of the Bronze Age. Founding members Niall O’Neill and Clíodhna Cussen’s main focus was on the reproduction of Bronze Age casting techniques as a way to re-connect with past societies and cultural identity (Hansen 2007, 15). Since then the group has expanded to include artists such as Holger Lönze, Fiona Coffey, Helle Helsner,
James Hayes and Padraig Mac Goran as well as archaeologists Billy Mag Fhloinn and Anders Söderberg. Together, they have worked on exploring the processes involved in bronze casting using pit furnaces and authentic moulds, based on shards and mould fragments found during archaeological excavations of Bronze Age sites. As the evidence for furnace morphology, bellows and other tools is virtually non- existent, they have drawn heavily on their own experience as artists and sculptors as well as on insights afforded by studying the methods of indigenous craftspeople, such as Peyju Leywola who comes from a caste of bronze workers in Benin, in order to develop an effective methodology (Hansen 2007). They have reached an incredibly high level of skill in casting and have successfully reproduced artefacts such as axes, knives, swords and horns.
Umha Aois have also engaged in collaboration with field archaeologists such as the late Professor Barry Raftery. The casting debris from Raftery’s work at Rathgall in the late 1960s was compared with the debris from an Umha Aois casting symposium and found to be identical. This meant that the bronze workers from Umha Aois were then able to explain to Raftery the exact sequence of the steps taken and the materials involved in the manufacture of the Rathgall moulds, adding a new layer to the interpretation of the site and the practice of the people who lived and worked there. Umha Aois continue to hold an annual symposium, where artists, archaeologists and other interested parties come together for an immersive week of casting and experimentation, a rich and productive breeding ground for interdisciplinary research and collaboration.
The Bronze Age theme also runs through the early work of traditional musician Simon O’Dwyer in his initial experimentation with the construction, use and function of prehistoric horns (O’Dwyer 2004). Influenced by the work of Dr Peter Holmes, which combined metallurgy with an interest in musical instruments, O’Dwyer set about reconstructing a Bronze Age horn. He began with a strong focus on the technical process involved – lost-wax casting – and in 1987 John Somerville cast the first horn under the supervision of O’Dwyer and Holmes. O’Dwyer continued to explore the musical capabilities of the horns through the 1990s, developing a proficiency in playing them and producing various sound recordings. In 1996, he began to investigate the possibility of reconstructing the Iron Age Loughnashade trumpet, found in a lake beside the stronghold of Emain Macha, Co. Armagh in 1794, successfully casting a replica in 1998. O’Dwyer has also reconstructed woodwind instruments such as the Bronze Age Wicklow pipes, the early medieval Lough Erne horn and the Mayophone. O’Dwyer published a major monograph on the prehistoric music of Ireland in 2004 and his research is still ongoing.
In contrast to the two cases cited above, where artists and musicians have been the ones seeking to collaborate with archaeologists, Dr Sharon Greene’s original MA thesis on early medieval latchets was one of the first projects that saw an academic actively engaging with a jeweller in order to investigate the construction and use of an artefact (Greene 2005). Greene commissioned the reconstruction of a number of latchets in order to explore not only how they were used as a dress fastener, but also the techniques and processes involved in their design and
production. Her research demonstrated the relatively complex nature of the latchet in terms of its production and the insights she gained through experimenting with their use helped to explain the purpose and intent behind some of their common features.
In 2010, as part of his doctoral research, Brian Dolan attempted to smelt iron from bog ore using a bloomery furnace. Dolan’s attempt was a success and he managed to extract iron from almost 40kg of bog ore (Seandálaíocht 2011). Dolan also capitalised on the use of social media while carrying out the project. He made good use of video and sound recordings as well as time-lapse photography while documenting the process, all of which was shared via a website designed specifically for the project (Seandálaíocht 2011). In this respect, his smelting trial set the bar within Ireland for how archaeology can be quickly, clearly and efficiently communicated to a wide audience in an engaging and popular manner.
Claidhbh O’Gibne is an artist and currach builder based in the Boyne Valley in Co. Meath. He began building Boyne currachs – a small riverine vessel made from cowhides stretched over a woven hazel frame – on his return to Ireland in 1991 and became deeply influenced by the richness of the archaeology to be seen along the River Boyne, in particular the great megalithic tomb of Newgrange (O’Gibne 2012). O’Gibne is interested in exploring how the great quantities of stone that went into the construction of Newgrange could have been transported during prehistory and he feels that the river, and the boats upon it, would have played a central role. He has been researching and experimenting with the currach type for over a decade now, gradually increasing the size and scale of the vessels as his own skills improved. Since 2009, he has been constructing a 36ft ocean-going currach, with the intention of exploring the prehistoric maritime links between Ireland and continental Europe (www.newgrangecurrach.com).
Fulachta fiadh have come into focus once again as traditional interpretations concerning their use are challenged. Archaeologists Billy Quinn, Declan Moore and Nigel Malcolm suggested an altogether different use for these sites, namely the brewing of beer (Quinn and Moore 2007). They began this line of investigation partly because of the lack of concrete evidence for cooking and consumption of meat at fulacht fiadh sites but also because of their scepticism about how much influence the term fulacht fiadh – a Gaelic term interpreted as denoting a ‘cooking place in the wild’ first coined in the seventeenth century – was having on the interpretation of the archaeological evidence (Quinn and Moore 2007, 8). In order to test their theory that fulachta fiadh may have been prehistoric breweries, they constructed a fulacht fiadh using a wooden trough and proceeded to attempt to brew beer. They were successful from the first attempt and argue that there are a number of points in favour of fulachta fiadh having been used for brewing in the Bronze Age, such as the occurrence of quern stones in close proximity to fulachta fiadh (Quinn and Moore 1997, 11).
Archaeologist Ronan O’Flaherty collaborated with crafts workers Boyd Rankin and Lynn Williams in order to explore the possible use of Bronze Age halberds (O’Flaherty et al. 2002). Traditional interpretation held that halberds were used as ceremonial or ritual objects and that their morphology did not lend them to use
in martial contexts. O’Flaherty undertook a number of experiments using exact replicas and studied the impact of their blows on sheep skulls as well as the visible wear pattern on the halberds themselves, concluding that halberds could indeed have been used as a weapon as they were capable of inflicting potentially lethal damage during combat (O’Flaherty 2006; O’Flaherty et al. 2008). He also proved that the edge wear seen on the original halberds was best replicated by halberd on halberd action (O’Flaherty et al. 2011, 51).
Dr Barry Molloy’s research on the efficacy of combat weaponry in Bronze Age societies across Europe is another example of the more practically informed approaches that are beginning to become more common within Irish archaeological research (Molloy 2006; 2007). Molloy’s work began with the production of replica Bronze Age weapons, which were then tested to explore their combat potential. His findings illustrate wonderfully how this more practical approach can afford insights that would otherwise never be attained. He concluded that even in the hands of a skilled combatant, later Aegean Bronze Age swords had a maximum cut-depth of 10-15mm due to the shape of the blade. This means that they would rarely have inflicted lethal wounds when used in combat. (Molloy 2008, 127-128). Molloy concluded that this inherent feature of the weapons would, however, have made them an attractive choice for the duelling.
At this early stage, the UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Ancient Technologies has embarked on a range of projects, beginning with the learning of skill sets and then moving towards recorded, scientific archaeological projects. Most of the early advances have been made in exploring the manufacture and firing of pottery, from both prehistory and the early medieval period in Ireland. In regard to the latter, for example, it is known that early medieval Ireland was largely aceramic, apart from the northeast of the island, where a simple, hand- made pottery known as souterrain ware was used for domestic storage and cooking. It is a ubiquitous find on early medieval settlements, but little is known about its production. It often seems to be made of local clays, was heavily tempered with stone, was low-fired and is often heavily sooted from its use for cooking in hearths and fires. It is often grass-marked on its bases and body sides, presumably from the wet clay pot being placed on chopped grass to act as an elementary means of turning it by hand as it was being coiled and drawn up. Despite its simplicity, it has a fairly consistent style across the northeast, meaning that some scholars have suggested that it may have been a specialist craft, made by itinerant potters who travelled around the community making pots from local raw materials. It has even been suggested that more accomplished pieces are made by the putative visiting specialist, while the inferior pots were made by site inhabitants. However, UCD archaeologists led by Aidan O’Sullivan have made circa 100 pots, using clays that they have dug themselves, and temper gathered on lakeshores including various types of sand and gravel. A simple souterrain ware pot can be made using a combination of pinch techniques and coiling or strap-building methods, in 10- 20 minutes. These pots can be dried to leather hard stage in 3-4 weeks in a dry room, then fired on an open bonfire or in a pit clamp-kiln in a day (for example, 10 am-6 pm), resulting in a largely oxidised appearance with some fire clouds and
some reduced areas (Figure 2). Several pots have been used to make meat stews and porridges and gruels, as indicated in early Irish sources. The resulting pots are identical in form, appearance, colour, grass-marking, visible and cross-section fabric and general character to the assemblages known from early medieval sites. The UCD archaeologists conclude that far from being a specialist craft, these were ordinary pots made quickly by everybody amongst the household, and that indeed the lop-sided, ‘floppy’ looking pots in the archaeological record may have been made by children learning a simple domestic task. Further projects are planned.