Heritage Week 2017: What’s on in Achill?
It’s August which means Heritage Week! Coordinated by the Heritage Council, National Heritage Week (19-27 August) is Ireland’s most popular cultural event and this year over 450,000 people are expected to participate in over 2,000 heritage events around the country. As part of our ongoing public archaeology programme Achill Field School are holding a walking tour […]
Open day at the ‘Cromlech Tumulus’ site: A photo essay
Thursday 3 August was our open day at the ‘Cromlech Tumulus’ site. Over 70 people trekked up Slievemore to visit our site and we were delighted to be able to share our discoveries and to have some really interesting chats about life on this remarkable mountain over 3,000 years ago. Huge thanks to to everyone […]
Find of the week: Prehistoric coarse pottery
For the last month we’ve been hard at work digging a Middle Bronze Age roundhouse on Slievemore. Much of our work has been spent uncovering the fascinating series of features around the east-facing doorway of the building. Apart from a handful of lithics (stone tools) from one of our deep sondages the site has yielded little […]
Return to the ‘Cromlech Tumulus’ – a Bronze Age roundhouse on Slievemore
It’s been a busy few weeks here on Achill. In July we bade farewell our pre-Famine settlement at Keem Bay and made the move to the slopes of Slievemore mountain to the site of the ‘Cromlech Tumulus’. Despite what the name suggests the site is in fact a large Middle Bronze Age roundhouse. Slievemore was […]
Soil flotation: A DIY approach
Post-excavation analysis is the underappreciated sister of excavation–less glamorous and exciting–but absolutely fundamental to making sense of a site. Here at the Achill Field School we like to give our students a taste of all aspects of the archaeological process, so this morning we rolled up our sleeves for some soil flotation. Soil flotation is […]
Drizzle, turf, and hand-knitted socks: Keem Bay open day 2017
Over fifty visitors young and old braved the damp weather to participate in our open day at Keem Bay this afternoon. The open day is a chance for people from Achill and further afield to come and see our excavation in action, and to learn and talk about life in Mayo before the Famine. Achill Archaeological […]
Field Trip! Exploring the north coast of Achill Island
Most Wednesdays during the summer season the staff and students at the Achill Field School take a day off digging and head off to explore a part of the Island. These weekly tours provide a break from the tough work of excavating and allow us to get up close and personal with some of the wonderful […]
Find of the week: A handmill from Keem
The many visitors who stroll up past our excavation at Keem Bay all inevitably ask the same question: ‘have you found anything?’ I’m never entirely sure how to respond. For most of us archaeologists the site is the find. The artefacts we carefully retrieve from the small demolished dwelling we’re excavating are not treasures to […]
