Two New Dig Blogs From County Meath 12/07/2010
View Archaeology Digs 2010 in a larger map I'd like to draw people's attention to the blogs of two ongoing excavations from county Meath. One, taking place at Bective abbey is in its second year of blogging (it was featured in the Irish Times last year) , and the other, based on an excavation in Rossnaree in the Boyne Valley has only been online a matter of weeks. You can follow the, generally daily, updates for a fascinating insight into two ongoing research excavations. Sure you could even visit if you manage to drag yourself away from the internet for a few hours.. Louth Museum Webcast 26/04/2010
 The County Museum Dundalk, Co. Louth which has been mentioned on this blog before, is undertaking a series of streaming webcasts to a school in the US. the idea is to bring local studies to a wider audience. Its a great idea and will hopefully get a big listenership. The first broadcast was this afternoon (apologies for getting the post up a bit late) although I had difficulties logging onto it. I'll try again next time. For more info and a schedule of upcoming webcasts click "Read More" below Update: There were technical difficulties with the webcast today but a podcast will be posted tomorrow. Above is a google calendar very similar to my own events calendar which I've blogged about previously, but this one lists archaeological events in the UK. A very nice compliment to my own. There is plenty on the calendar that would be of interest to Irish and other archaeologists. The calendar was created by Win Scutt and can be accessed here. I met Win years ago when I was an undergraduate digging on Dartmoor with the Shovel Down project. Back then he drove a restored but battered old Land Rover with no roof which saved me walking to the pub quite a few times! I have embedded his calendar on the events page with appropriate links and instructions on how to add it to your own. I've posted previously about the events page on the blog where you can find a calendar of archaeology related events going on in Ireland. To highlight the calendar and how useful it can be I've decided to try out a weekly post listing the events for that week.
You can add the calendar to your calendar application or your Google Calendar by using the links on the events page. EDIT 20/04/10 : An additional event has been added Spring Equinox at Loughcrew 19/03/2010
 This weekend is equinox weekend at Loughcrew. I went at the Autumn equinox last September and was blessed with a perfect clear sunrise and got lots some lovely photos. I won't be heading myself but good luck to you if you do. Click Read More for further details about admission. Oh and be aware that it is NOT possible to get a fry up at the Loughcrew Gardens Cafe, only a fairly expensive omellette/toast/cereal. I was very dissappointed.. UPDATE: There's an Irish Times article about the equinox at Loughcrew here. SMELT 2010 - Preparations 23/02/2010
I spent yesterday researching and organising things for Smelt 2010 which is fast creeping up on me. One of the fancy things I'd like to do for the smelt is some time-lapse photography so I devoted a bit of time to figuring out how my still relatively new digital slr works; familiarising myself a bit more with terms like apeture, shutter-speed and ISO. The result is a test video of me working for a couple of hours in my little home office: It reveals a weird tendency to play with my beard (shared by all bearded men i'd imagine) and a dangerous sedentism that reminds me how much exercise I don't do. Besides that, preparations are coming along and the Smelt will go ahead on the 6th and 7th of March. The one big thing I need to sort out is a bellows system, which I will make if need s be but I would be more than happy to borrow if someone would like to donate! For people who would like to come to see the smelt (taking place in the Irish National Heritage Park in Co. Wexford) the schedule will hopefully run as follows: Friday 5th - I'll be there prepping and setting up the smelting area and probably starting construction of the furnace Saturday 6th - Completion of furnace and pre-firing with wood. Ore preparation and roasting. Sunday 7th - The smelt (volunteers needed!) Monday 8th - Clean up All are welcome to come but if you can't make it I will be putting up videos and images from the smelt on the project's website. Archaeological Scene Investigation 31/12/2009
 I just received a press release about a recent exhibition of archaeological material in the Dundalk County Museum. I haven't seen it myself unfortunately but if the very professional (and potentially copyright infringing) poster is anything to go by then a lot of creativity, thought and a bit of fun have gone into the exhibition. I love seeing archaeology presented in interesting ways like this, the public likes to be entertained and there is nothing wrong with giving them what they want, as long as the substance is there under the pleasant gloss of shiny graphics! Down with woolly jumper archaeology (but up with woolly jumpers in general, its bleedin' cold out!) and up with sexy, slick, and hopefully popular archaeology. Forget disseminating (snore), lets entertain! TAT 2010 CFP launched 12/12/2009
 Last year myself, Emmett O'Keeffe and Terry O'Hagan launched and organised an international, inter-disciplinary conference focused on theoretical approaches to material culture (TAT 2009). Following on from the conference a number of delegates expressed an interest in continuing the conference in a different venue in 2010. A competition was run and the University of Michigan proposal was successful. An international committee has been set up alongside the local committee and I was delighted to receive the CFP (click the read more link to see it) for TAT 2010 last week. Upcoming Events in Irish Archaeology 2010 11/12/2009
Hopefully a few of the blog's readers have noticed the little 'events' section on this site. This contains a calendar (also above) of archaeology lectures, conferences and other events that I keep regularly updated. It can be perused online, integrated into your own google calendar (by clicking on the plus symbol at the bottom of the calendar above), subscribed to as an XML feed or imported into many calendar applications using ICAL. 2009 was a busy year, particularly November when there were multiple lectures on every week and a number of conferences too. The 2010 calendar is looking fairly bare in comparison (so far) although some upcoming high-lights that I will be attending include the EMASS conference in UCD and the AYIA conference in UCC. Unfortunately, while I get news about most archaeology-related stuff straight to my inbox quite a few still slip through or I hear about them very late. So, with that in mind I would love to hear from anyone who is organising an event for 2010 and is looking to advertise the fact. Loughcrew Equinox 20/09/2009
Cairn T at Loughcrew passage tomb cemetery is aligned on the Autumn and Spring equinoxes, one of which falls on Tuesday 20th. On that day and those around it the sun shines down the passage and illuminates the back recess and the stunning megalithic art that decorates it. O.P.W. staff are in attendance at the cairn today (from 7.15 - 8.30 am), tomorrow and Tuesday; so this morning I dragged myself out of bed at 5.30 a.m. and made the trip. We arrived about 7.30, fifteen minutes after sunrise but didn't get into the chamber for another half hour. I can't say it wasn't worth the wait though and with the absoloutely perfectly clear sky we got a spectacular experience. Check out some pics above and a time-lapse video of a previous equinox below. | What?A site about Irish archaeology: conferences; links; opinions;news; information and the internet.      CategoriesAll ArchivesJuly 2010    
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