Heritage Week 2019: Public lecture on food in ancient Ireland

In Ireland, we have just started celebrating Heritage Week 2019. Heritage Week in Ireland is coordinated by the Heritage Council and is a part of European Heritage Days -- an initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union. The main aim of European Heritage Days are to promote awareness of our built natural and cultural heritage, and to promote Europe's common cultural heritage. We celebrate for a whole week in Ireland, with more than 2000 events organised throughout the country.

This year, I will present a public lecture on my research into food in ancient Ireland. This is the keynote event hosted by TII for Heritage Week 2019, and the event will take place at the National Museum of Ireland. TII (Transport Infrastucture Ireland) is the largest procurer of archaeological services in Ireland, and they have overseen the excavation of hundreds of archaeological sites from which ancient food remains have been recovered. The event is free, but booking is required.

I will start by exploring how we investigate food in archaeology. Then, drawing upon my work at the UCD Bloom garden this summer, I will examine case studies from four periods, based largely upon evidence from TII excavations: early settlers (Mesolithic), first farmers (Neolithic), medieval traders (medieval) and industrial society (post-medieval). Check out the Bloom garden website for more information on the case studies. If you are interested in reading even more, I have published widely on ancient food, so check out my publications.

As well as the public lecture, there will be an associated pop-up exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland, displaying the TII site reconstruction drawings that we featured at the UCD Bloom Garden, as well as replica artefacts relating to ancient food production. More information here.

New research project: Ireland’s food culture in the 16th and 17th centuries

I am very excited about my role in a new research project that started at the beginning of this month. The project is taking a multi-disciplinary approach to exploring what was on the dinner table before the arrival of the potato into Ireland. I am a Project Partner in in the five-year project, which was awarded €1.5 million funding from the ERC (European Research Council). The project is entitled “Food, Culture and Identity in Ireland, 1550–1650” (FOODCULT) and is led by a historian, Dr Susan Flavin (Trinity College Dublin), who is bringing together historians, archaeologists and scientists to investigate what was eaten, where, why and by whom, at a level never before attempted in Europe (McClatchie, in press).
 

The Irish diet underwent significant changes during the 16^th and 17^th centuries, particularly at the dining tables of the elites, reflecting changes in both locally produced and imported foods. Dr Flavin has undertaken extensive research into historical evidence for food in early modern Ireland (Flavin 2014). During this period of political and cultural change, she has highlighted the important role that food and drink played in constructing and maintaining social identities. This was a time when trade was booming, and there was also movement of peoples into Ireland from neighbouring countries, such as England, Scotland, Wales, France and the Netherlands. During this dynamic period, a wide range of imported luxury foods were enjoyed in the homes of elites, including sugar, turkeys, pineapples and artichokes. Flavin has also revealed how new ways of ‘civilised’ eating and drinking came to be accepted by some individuals, including in the lower classes of society. Written records of consumption from this period focus mainly on Ireland’s wealthy households, however, and offer fewer details of the average diet.

The FOODCULT project is addressing this issue by undertaking a detailed investigation of archaeological evidence, which can provide insights across a greater variety of social contexts. In recent decades, many archaeological excavations across Ireland have unearthed the actual remains of foods – often comprising charred seeds and animal bone – and food-related objects. As part of the FOODCULT project, my team at UCD School of Archaeology will explore a variety of datasets – archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological and artefact data from completed excavations – to develop new understandings of food preferences across time and space. The UCD team will work closely with members of the wider project team, comprising historians, environmental archaeologists, isotope analysts, residue analysts and data modellers from other institutions in Europe. This multi-disciplinary approach will enable an unprecedented level of investigation into diet and food culture in 16^th and 17^th century Ireland, allowing the team to map social, regional and temporal patterns, and provide new insights into broader societal change during this important time in Ireland’s history.

Reference

Flavin, S. 2014. Consumption and culture in sixteenth-century Ireland: saffron, stockings and silk. Woodbridge: Boydell Press.

McClatchie, M. in press. Research project to examine Ireland’s food culture in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Trowel.

 

Environmental conference at Aarhus

I am in Aarhus, Denmark this week, participating in the annual conference of the Association for Environmental Archaeology. The AEA is a wonderful organisation, bringing researchers together to explore human interactions with past environments.

I am presenting a poster at the conference on plant remains from a Late Mesolithic lakeside platform. Derragh Island is located at the edge of Lough Kinale in central Ireland. The site contained habitation deposits and features, knapping debris and peat sediments, with evidence for several phases of use and abandonment. Exceptionally good waterlogged preservation was encountered. A wide variety of environmental analyses was undertaken, several of which have just been published by the Irish Quaternary Association (IQUA). Analyses included plant macro-remains, animal bone, wood charcoal, pollen, insects, peat stratigraphy, geomorphology and sediments. 

My poster is focused on the unusual discovery of a large cache of water-lily seeds. A wide range of plant species was recorded at Derragh, including hazelnut shell, yellow-water lily seeds and lesser celandine tubers. A very large deposit of water-lily seeds within a hollow may reflect processing of these seeds for consumption. Perhaps the seeds were being fermented before being dried, dehusked, winnowed, parched, ground and consumed. The poster explores the evidence from Derragh in the wider context of plant processing from Mesolithic Ireland and beyond.

Conference: The Role of Crops in Irish Farm History

I am a member of the Agricultural History Society of Ireland (AHSI), which is open to all with an interest in the history of agriculture and food in Ireland. We are a diverse group from many different backgrounds, including farmers, archaeologists, historians, agricultural advisers, palaeoecologists and social scientists. Our members range from established academics to students to the interested public. The AHSI organises regular conferences, as well as field-outings to places associated with farming and food.

The next AHSI conference will take place on 10 November at the Helen Roe Theatre, RSAI, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. The topic is "The Role of Crops in Irish Farm History".  I will be speaking on my research into prehistoric cereals in Ireland, tracking the introduction of cereals into Ireland around 6000 years ago and exploring how agriculture changed over time.

Further information (including registration) is available here.

PROGRAMME

Session 1
10.00–10.10 Welcome remarks — Jim McAdam QUB (Acting Chairperson, AHSI)
10.10–10.45 Meriel McClatchie UCD Crops and Farming in Irish Pre-History
10.45–11.20 Jim Collins UCD Aspects of soil fertility in Irish farm history ( Provisional title)

11.20–11.40 Coffee / tea

11.40–12.15 John Hyland Teagasc CERERE: Back to the Future - Adding Value to Heritage Cereals
12.15-12.30 Sadhbh Gaston, an artist working on the same project as John will introduce her work which will be on display over lunch

12.30–13.45 Lunch (in house: tea/coffee and sandwiches will be available at the venue; incl. in registration fee)

13.45–14.30 AGM, Agricultural History Society of Ireland (in Helen Roe Theatre)

Session 2
14.30–15.10 Ethel White QUB Oats in Irish Agriculture
15.10–16.00 Jimmy Burke UCD Technological developments in some arable crops in Ireland
16.00 Wrap up. Jim McAdam

Flotation: introducing the wheelie-bin tank

During archaeological excavations, we often collect soil samples from different deposits to check if any plant remains are present. Plant macro-remains must be extracted from the soil sample before they are identified. The flotation technique is used to process bulk soil samples containing charred plant macro-remains. Differences in the density of organic and inorganic material mean that flotation is useful method for separating the two, because the specific gravity of water lies between that of organic and inorganic material. Flotation involves the placing of a soil sample into a container, then immersing the sample in water. When agitated, organic material (such as charred plant remains) is released from the soil matrix and floats to the surface, or is suspended in the water, whereas inorganic material sinks to the bottom of the container.

We often use mechanised flotation systems or flotation tanks for efficient processing of soil samples. This summer, I was thrilled to use a new type of system: the converted wheelie bin. This flotation system was created by team members of a Serbian excavation project over the past few years, and I was delighted to join the team in July 2018. We undertook excavations at the fortified centre of Gradiste Idjos, working with an international team from Serbia, the UK and beyond. You can find out more about the project here. 

One of my roles on the project this summer was to oversee flotation of soil samples using the wheelie-bin system. It is very simple, but very clever. Water is pumped into the base of the bin through an inlet. A fine mesh (1 mm) is suspended just below the surface of the water in the bin, and the soil sample is placed onto the mesh. As the soil is disaggregated in the flow of water, the organic material floats to the surface and is then caught by a smaller sieve (minimum 0,3 mm mesh) at a run-off point, cut into the top of the wheelie bin. The residue does not float, remaining on the 1 mm mesh. The wheelie bin proved to be an excellent innovation and could be moved around with little effort. I am very much looking forward to using it again next summer!

Further reading on flotation: McClatchie, M (2015) Archaeobotany and past landscapes. In (eds): Chavarría Arnau A, Reynolds A, Detecting and understanding historic landscapes, pp. 297–324. Mantova, SAP Società Archeologica.

Gordon Hillman: a pioneer in archaeobotany

Gordon Hillman, photographed by his daughter

It was with great sadness that the archaeobotany community learned of the passing of Gordon Hillman earlier this month. Gordon was a pioneer in archaeobotany. He was a leading expert in the identification of ancient remains, and I was lucky enough to spend time in front of the microscope with Gordon learning about cereal identifications. I still use my notes from those sessions today.

But Gordon did much more than this. He undertook extensive fieldwork in south-east Europe and south-west Asia in particular, learning about traditional farming and food production processes, and applying this knowledge to better understand archaeobotanical assemblages and transitions to agriculture. In recent years, he focused on plant foraging in prehistoric Britain, often processing and tasting plants himself to see if they were edible (he appeared to have a strong stomach), again contributing much to our understanding about plant gathering and food production. His wide-ranging experiences, expertise and knowledge meant that a conversation with Gordon often helped people to think differently and learn more deeply about our ancestors and their interactions with plants.

See here for an obituary by fellow archaeobtanist Prof. Martin Jones.

See here for an obituary by Prof. Dorian Fuller -- who became lecturer in archaeobotany at University College London when Gordon retired -- and messages from the archaeobotany community around the world. You will see from the messages that Gordon had a positive impact on many of us. We were lucky to have had Gordon in our lives.

Climate change in the past: presenting research in Paris

I participated in a fascinating conference in Paris earlier this month. The International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques – UISPP) was founded in Bern in 1931. This organisation focuses on scientific studies of prehistoric and protohistoric materials, including archaeology, anthropology, palaeontology, geology, zoology, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, environmental sciences, physics, chemistry, geography, history, numismatics, epigraphy and mathematics. The 18th UISPP world congress took place in Paris from 3rd to 9th June 2018. It was an enormous conference, held at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, with parallel sessions on many different aspects of archaeological science, incorporating both practice and theory.

I presented research in a session entitled "Climatic variability and societal responses during the Metal Ages in Europe and the Mediterranean (3000-300 BC)". The co-authored paper was entitled "Agricultural strategies and climate change in later prehistoric northern Europe", and it detailed some of the results from an INSTAR-funded research project: “Settlement and Landscape in Later Prehistoric Ireland – Seeing beyond the site”. This project has brought together an inter-disciplinary team to contextualise the archaeology of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Ireland within its contemporary prehistoric landscape, focusing on farming strategies and broader landscape interactions. My role on the project is to explore archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data.

Our "Seeing beyond the site" paper in Paris revealed results from collation and analysis of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data, focusing on south-east Ireland during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. We explored farming practices in the context of changing climates and environments, and within the broader context of northern Europe. Now we intend to write up the results for publication in a major journal -- one of my many tasks for this summer!

Determining ancient land use: detailed level and large scale

From Carla Lancelotti's Twitter

Earlier this week, I spent a fascinating few days in Barcelona, participating in a research workshop on land use in early Europe. The workshop was part of the “LandCover6k: European Land-use at 6000BP” project and was organised by Nicki Whitehouse, Ferran Antolin and Marco Madella.

The working group for this project is investigating prehistoric human impacts on land cover (i.e. anthropogenic land cover change due to land use), and assessing if impacts were sufficiently large to have a major impact on regional climates.

Colleagues from around Europe came together to provide an overview of evidence from each of our regions. It was wonderful to hear how we each interpret our datasets, hearing from some of the leading scholars in each region. We focused on agricultural and land management evidence, showing exactly where we had data, site by site, and synthesizing and standardising our datasets, with the aim of produce a coherent picture of land use across Europe at the point of 6000 BP (4000 cal BC). 

For more information on this exciting project, see here.

Bitter sweet: a new documentary about ancient Irish apples

I was interviewed recently by a radio documentary maker -- Patricia Baker -- who has been recording a documentary on the history of apples in Ireland. The documentary has now been completed, and it will be broadcast on Newstalk 106-108 FM (in Ireland) on Bank Holiday Monday 07 May at 7am, and repeated on Saturday 12 May at 9pm.

The documentary is entitled "Bitter sweet" and will tell the story of an important collection of native Irish apples, based at Rosemount in UCD. Patricia interviewed many people for the documentary, learning about the different routes that can be taken in investigating the role of apples in our food history. 

I met with Patricia in the National Museum of Ireland, and we conducted the interview beside the exhibit of apple remains from Hiberno-Norse (Viking) Dublin. I explained how apple remains -- usually pips and endocarp (core) fragments -- can become preserved in the archaeological record. Possible remains of apples have been found as far back as the Mesolithic period in Ireland, and they appear throughout prehistory, with cultivated examples emerging in the historic period. Listen in to the documentary to find out more.

Beyond food: promoting equality in Irish universities

This blog usually concentrates on research into ancient food and farming, which is a primary focus in my work. But as a lecturer at University College Dublin, I play many roles beyond being a researcher. One of the roles that I most enjoy is Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at UCD School of Archaeology.

UCD is committed to celebrating diversity within the university community and promoting an environment where equality of opportunity is created for all. My role as EDI Officer is to develop and promote EDI initiatives within the School, advocate for EDI values in decision making, policy and strategy development, and work closely with colleagues across UCD in promoting EDI.

On International Women's Day earlier this month (08 March), we launched a new banner that is now housed in the main corridor of UCD School of Archaeology, Newman Building. The banner will remind us every day of our commitment to equality within the School, which I hope will have a lasting impact on our culture and activities.

For more on my EDI work, see https://www.ucd.ie/archaeology/edi/.

A taste of prehistory: feasting and science in Belfast

I spent a very enjoyable evening on Friday (23 February 2018) at the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I was participating in a Northern Ireland Science Week event, where I was part of the team bringing archaeological science to the public. The event, "A taste of prehistory", invited people to feast on a three-course special dinner in the Museum, inspired by ingredients and objects from prehistoric Ireland. Before dinner, attendees heard the call of ancient musical horns played at feasts and explored the science behind investigating ancient foods.

I was equipped with a (replica) saddle quern stone, rubbing stone and grain, and I encouraged people to try their hand at grinding grain to make flour. Most people were surprised at how hard it can be to produce flour! The activity helped me explain how archaeobotany can provide exciting insights into what people ate in the past. I also brought along some archaeobotanical specimens, including Bronze Age emmer wheat and barley, and outlined the long history of these crops in Ireland.

As well as the quern stone, a great variety of other demonstrations took place on the evening, including willow weaving and eel fishing, stone tool and palaeoecological analyses, ceramic reconstructions and analyses, tracing the history of animals in Ireland, and more. The event sold out in advance and was a great success. Well done to Dr Greer Ramsey and the team at the Ulster Museum for organising a very enjoyable event. 

Further information here: http://www.nisciencefestival.com/event.php?e=35

Ancient Irish grains

People who are interested in food often ask me what cereals were eaten in Ireland hundreds and thousands of years ago. One of my main research interests is archaeobotany, where we recover the fragmentary remains of food plants from archaeological excavations. Luckily for me as an archaeologist and archaeobotanist, if plant components are sealed beneath the ground in certain conditions, they can survive for thousands of years. If the plant components have become burnt (charred), for example, or kept in consistently wet conditions (waterlogged) or dry conditions (desiccated), then they can be preserved.

Bronze Age barley grain

Cereal grains are quite robust, so we often find them in soil samples taken from archaeological excavations. Based on my research and the work of colleagues, I will be presenting a talk entitled "Ancient Irish grains" to introduce archaeobotany and archaeological science to a wider audience. The talk will take place on Thursday 25 January at  a Slow Food Ireland event in Ballymaloe Cookery School, east Cork, Ireland. The event is being hosted by Darina Allen, who is well known for her fantastic work in exploring and promoting Irish food cultures. I am really looking forward to engaging with the Slow Food community and the Ballymaloe team, and hearing their perspectives as growers and food producers.

Further information on the event can be found here: http://slowfoodireland.com/event/ancient-irish-grains/.

Bronze Age Forum: new paper on agriculture

I was delighted to present at paper at the Bronze Age Forum, which took place at University College Cork, Ireland from 10 to 12 November 2017. The Bronze Age Forum is held every two years, and it provides an excellent opportunity to hear about recent discoveries by scholars on all aspects of Bronze Age life (and death) in Europe. The event in Cork was very enjoyable. More than 40 papers were presented, as well as posters, providing a great overview of what’s new in research and an opportunity to catch up with European colleagues.

The last time I spoke at a Bronze Age Forum event was back in 2006, so it was good to get involved again. My paper was entitled "Farming in Late Bronze Age Ireland: a landscape approach". The paper was co-authored with international and inter-sectoral colleagues from our major research project, “Settlement and Landscape in Later Prehistoric Ireland – Seeing beyond the site”.

Agriculture in Bronze Age Europe is often considered to have provided a basis for economic growth and emerging social power. Extensive scientific data from Bronze Age excavations – particularly archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological evidence – have become available over the past two decades. Despite this availability of data and the recognised importance of farming, detailed analysis of what was being farmed, and how farming was undertaken, is often absent from narratives on the Bronze Age. To address this issue, a major INSTAR-funded research project was established, “Settlement and Landscape in Later Prehistoric Ireland – Seeing beyond the site”, which aimed to contextualise the archaeology of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Ireland within its contemporary prehistoric landscape, focusing on farming strategies and broader landscape interactions.

The paper revealed results from collation and analysis of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data, focusing on south-east Ireland during the Late Bronze Age. The project team is currently writing up results for publication, so watch this space for more information on our findings.

Tree fruits: a different type of crop

I was delighted to spend last week participating in an excellent workshop in the La Rioja region of northern Spain. The workshop was organised by Guillem Pérez Jordà and Leonor Peña-Chocarro, both of whom work at the Instituto de Historia, CCHS/CSIC, Madrid. Pérez Jordà and Peña-Chocarro are running a fascinating research project to explore the origins and spread of tree-fruit cultivation.

When exploring origins of agriculture, the focus has often been on cereals and legumes, but this project is focusing its attention on tree fruits. We were treated to fascinating presentations from some of the leading archaeobotanists in Europe, showing how tree-fruit cultivation emerged in their regions and the types of fruits being cultivated through time.

My presentation was entitled “Arboriculture at the northern margins of Europe: insights from Ireland”. I drew upon archaeological, historical and ethnographic data to explore when and where tree-fruit cultivation took place in Ireland. We have very little evidence in Ireland for tree-fruit cultivation during the prehistoric period, but it does seem that apples, plums and perhaps other fruits were cultivated in early medieval Ireland.

In the case of apple, charred and waterlogged apple pips and endocarp fragments have been found at several early medieval excavations in Ireland, including the Viking towns of Waterford and Dublin. It can be difficult to distinguish between wild and cultivated apples simply by looking at the gross morphology (appearance) of the preserved seeds and endocarp fragments. Studies of the early law texts have revealed, however, that there was a generally recognised distinction between the sour wild apple and sweeter cultivated types (Kelly 1997, 259-260). Kelly notes that the ninth-century text Bethu Brigte refers to an abundant crop of sweet apples, ubla cumra, in a churchyard, while an eighth-century law text refers to a wild apple, fiaduball. It appears, therefore, that apple cultivation had arrived into Ireland. At the La Rioja workshop, I learned that apple cultivation was widespread in Europe by this period, so the Irish evidence fits well into this wider picture.

The workshop participants are planning to write up their findings in the coming year, so watch this space for a more detailed review of the Irish evidence.

Swords Castle: re-imagining ancient foods

A few weeks ago, I was delighted to participate in a public event at Swords Castle. The event formed part of a collaborative project that I developed with Fingal Community Archaeologist Christine Baker, Fingal Public Art Coordinator Caroline Cowley, and an invited curator and artists.

The project, ‘All Bread is Made of Wood’, is curated by Anne Mullee, who invited artists Fiona Hallinan and Sabina Mac Mahon to contemplate bread and its elements as a vehicle for the transference of knowledge and memory as embodied in its production. The project is composed of a series of private and public interactions, including recipe salons with local African women’s group and the area’s older population, and public events where hypotheses of bread and its elements are anatomised and considered.

As part of the Swords Castle - Digging History community excavation project, I am undertaking archaeobotanical analysis of the excavated deposits, and I have discovered a large quantity of early medieval and medieval food remains, particularly cereals. Inspired by these results, ‘This Dirt’ took place on 29th August, and brought together methods of baking and food production from North County Dublin’s past and present. Utilising Swords Castle as a catalyst for exploration, ‘bread’ acted as the threshold for investigations into contemporary and ancient local food culture, somatic learning and haptic processes of making.

"Seed Carriers" was a pair of activities devised by Fiona Hallinan. Plant macro-remains found in archaeological deposits at Swords Castle were made visible in two ways: in one instance, figuratively, as illustrations on nail transfers applied to the hands of participants, and in another, constitutively, as ingredients used in the menu of an on-site food truck (see image above). It was really exciting for me to see the tiny seeds re-imagined as nail transfers, while the food from the food truck showed how 'basic' ingredients from early medieval and medieval Ireland can provide a creative and delicious meal.

Sabina Mac Mahon presented a pop-up exhibition – the first part of Anti-anti-pasta, a project exploring the life and work of little-known (imaginary) Italian Futurist Ermenegildo Cervi (1897-1966) who settled in north county Dublin following the publication of his fellow Futurists’ Manifesto of Futurist Cooking in late 1930. The manifesto called on Italians to turn their backs on pasta, a staple foodstuff believed to induce lethargy, pessimism and nostalgia, and therefore contrary to the Futurists’ belief in technology and speed. Cervi became disillusioned with the Futurists’ anti-pasta stance and, assured of Irish people’s enthusiasm for starchy foods like bread and potatoes by relatives who ran a fish and chip shop in Dublin, decided to move to Ireland and attempt to establish a new nation of pasta-eaters here. This was a beautifully presented and wonderfully creative exhibition that really got me thinking about cultural attitudes to certain foods.

Our event was featured on the RTE Radio 1 arts show, Arena on 28 August. I'm looking forward to working with the team again. Watch this space for further events.

Participating in the EAA conference, Maastricht

I am delighted to be in Maastricht, where I am participating in the 2017 EAA conference. The EAA (European Association of Archaeologists) is the Association for all professional archaeologists of Europe and beyond. There are thousands of archaeologists in Maastricht for the conference, and I am looking forward to the start of lectures tomorrow.

I am delivering one lecture and co-authoring another. The paper that I will deliver is entitled "Fibre plants in prehistoric Ireland: insights from archaeobotany and other sources". The paper will provide a review of fibre plants from prehistoric Ireland, based primarily upon archaeobotanical evidence. The potential use of fibres from wild plants during the Mesolithic period (8000-4000 BC) will be explored. Cultivated plants arrived into Ireland at the beginning of the Neolithic period (4000-2500 BC), including flax, but there is also extensive evidence for continued use of wild plants in various activities, possibly including fibre production. It is during the Bronze Age (2500 - 700 BC) and Iron Age (700 BC-AD 400) in Ireland that we start to find actual textile fragments, as well as further archaeobotanical evidence for plants possibly used in fibres. The paper will focus on archaeobotanical evidence for fibre production in prehistoric Ireland, but will also explore archaeological evidence for tools utilised during the various stages of fibre and textile production, as well as related archaeological features. The paper will also draw upon documentary and folkloric evidence from the historic period to provide an integrated approach to understanding the role of plants as resource fibres.

The co-authored paper is entitled "Exploring the 'somewhere' and 'someone' else: an integrated approach to Ireland's earliest farming practice". The paper will be delivered by my colleague at UCD School of Archaeology, Dr Jessica Smyth, and our colleague Associate Professor Graeme Warren is another co-author. We have had fun putting the paper together, bringing our individual perspectives on the nature of early farming in Ireland, and learning from each other. As an island on the westernmost edge of Europe, with few native wild predecessors of the main domesticated animal and crop species, the idea that farming arrived in Ireland from somewhere and someone else has rarely been contested. Only recently have archaeologists begun to amass significant amounts of data on the specifics of the earliest crop and animal husbandry on the island. This has resulted in narratives that sometimes complement, and sometimes conflict with, existing models on the arrival of farming drawn from observations of the material culture record. In this paper, we review multiple strands of evidence for what the earliest farming in Ireland looked like, combining results from the organic residue analysis of pottery, programmes of radiocarbon dating, and analysis of plant macro-remains, lithics and settlement remains. Together, these data provide greatly increased resolution on where these somewheres, and who these someones, may have been.

The EAA conference will also be a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues from around the world and hear the results of lots of good research! I'm looking forward to it.

Building our lab resources: a comparative collection

Spelt wheat, ready for harvest

These are busy times for members of the Bioarch Laboratory at UCD School of Archaeology, where we are building up a reference collection of modern plant specimens. The Bioarch Lab was established in 2016 at UCD, and it is where staff and students undertake analysis of archaeobotanical (non-wood plant macro-remains) and anthracological (charcoal) remains.

A modern collection of plant specimens is required to enable secure identification of ancient plant specimens. Botanical illustrations are certainly helpful for narrowing down identifications. But the most important requirement for identification is a regional comparative collection of modern specimens. This comparative collection enables the placing of ancient and modern material side-by-side to confirm identification of the ancient material.

Members of the Bioarch Lab are now working with botanic gardens and growers around Ireland to secure these modern specimens. Earlier this week, we visited a farmer in Co. Meath, Mr Dominic Gryson, who very kindly allowed us to take samples from his crops. Mr Gryson is growing a fantastic array of heritage crops, such as the spelt wheat pictured. It was a wonderful opportunity for us in the Bioarch Lab to see these plants growing and to learn about their growing preferences and challenges. 

Building up a modern comparative collection really is time consuming, but we are finding it worthwhile. I am particularly enjoying the opportunity to discuss and learn about the plants with our students, postdocs and professionals beyond UCD. The samples we collected this week are now back in the lab, and we are preparing them for long-term storage and hopefully many years of use by UCD staff and students.