Smelt 2010 Time-Lapse Videos on Vimeo 30/06/2010
Just a quick note to let people know that more videos from Smelt 2010 are now up on Vimeo. These are time-lapse videos of the experimental smelt, some of which have already been seen. Work is in progress on a final video report of the smelt using these videos in combination with other video taken at the project. Smelt 2010 Video Preview 19/03/2010
 As promised here is some video from Smelt 2010. During the project I tried to capture as much as possible using time lapse photography to give a sense of the activity and number of people involved in a smelt. The video above shows the painstaking building of the furnace chimney which was built up of sausages of pre-mixed clay. The clay was mixed using equal parts horse dung, potters clay and sharp sand. The mix worked very well and we ended up with no cracks at all in the furnace. You can see the hardy volunteers in the background kneeding the sausages of clay in their hands. The next video is from near the end of the smelt when we began to burn down the charcoal after about five hours of charging. It was getting late at that stage and the light fades until you can only see the glow of the burning charcoal. Unfortunately the lack of light meant no time-lapse of the removal of the bloom but we do have photos. These and other videos and photos will be combined with standard video taken over the course of the weekend into a video report on the smelt which will be made available as soon as its ready. I have to thank Mark Gordon for acting as cameraman for the event and volunteering to edit all the footage, no small task. UPDATE: One more video of the opening of one of Niall and Eoin's charcoal pits is available over at charcoal.seandalaiocht.com. British Pathé Old Boy! 01/03/2010
GALWAY MARKETI have just been perusing www.britishpathe.com, a wonderful collection of old British newsreel footage from the age of empire. There's some great Irish material capturing aspects of Irish life long since gone. I've linked to a few here but I'd recommend having a good browse through the thousands of clips on the site. WEST COAST OF IRELANDThere is a nice selection of Irish related material here if you want to skip to the popular stuff. 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! Bog Iron Ore - Gone Prospecting 16/12/2009
Yesterday, myself and some obliging volunteers (Conor McDermott, Angela Wallace and Niall Kenny) went to a Bord na Móna bog in Offaly (with their permission of course!) looking for bog iron ore.  Large orange splodges in this Bord na Mona bog indicate the presence of bog iron ore. Photo: OSI Online Mapviewer Bog iron ore is referred to in much of the archaeological literature on iron smelting in Ireland. It is often suggested as the primary source of iron in prehistory and medieval times but this assertion is rarely supported with scientific analysis (although this has changed in recent times and there are many sites now where chemical analysis of iron slag has indicated a bog source for the smelted ore).  A large orange spread of probable bog ore The assertion is a logical one, considering the lack of large, high quality mineral ore deposits in Ireland on the scale of those in Britain. Also, bog ore is supposed to be a renewable resource, replenishing over a few decades according to Tylecote, and thus providing a very useful source for small scale iron smelters.  Troweled patch of potential bog ore Unfortunately very little is known about where and to what extent it occurs in Ireland (more is known about American, Canadian and Scandinavian bog ores). Discussions with Conor McDermott, a colleague of mine in the UCD School of Archaeology who had worked extensively in Irish bogs led to a plan to go collecting some of the 'bog iron' he had frequently observed in the field: with the goal of checking its iron content to test if it really is a viable ore and, if it is, of smelting it. Our expedition was very successful, collecting almost 40KG of orange material from the bog (presumed bog ore pending XRF analysis). The material varied from a clay-like consistency to hard agglomerations similar in morphology to iron slag. All of it was very orange, presumably derived from oxidised iron.  Slag-like agglomerations of probable bog ore All of this is part of the SMELT 2010 project which will culminate in an experimental iron smelt in the National Heritage Park, Ferrycarrig, Co. Wexford. Tree Felling with a Bronze Axe 09/12/2009
Earlier this week myself and Niall Kenny headed out to cut down some oak trees in preparation for an upcoming experiment Niall is organising to re-create a traditional charcoal making pit. We chopped down one of the trees with a replica bronze axe to see how long it would take to fell compared with the modern iron axes we had: we took 11 minutes with the bronze axe and only 4 minutes on a similarly sized oak with the modern iron axe. Presumably the difference wouldn't have been quite as acute in the past considering variations in metal alloys and of course in the skill of the axe-wielders. Why you ask? In these days of climate change, flooding and general mayhem (as if there has ever been a time when those things haven't been happening!). Well, its all part of Niall's research into early Irish charcoal production which nicely compliments my own work into early Irish ironworking. Hopefully we will be able to use the traditionally-produced oak charcoal to fuel the furnace for SMELT 2010, which will take place in March. Iron, Flint and Drink! 13/03/2009
 Have a look at the new video page for a selection of technology related clips. At the moment there's a few on iron, a flint knapping tutorial and the great Bronze Age beer experiment. I'll keep adding to the page as I find interesting stuff and I'll add anything vaguely archaeological that I find as long as its interesting. There's a surprising amount out there. Please let me know if you see any good ones I can add to the list! | What?A site about Irish archaeology: conferences; links; opinions;news; information and the internet.      CategoriesAll ArchivesJuly 2010    
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