Further ReadingScott, B. 1990 Early Irish Ironworking.Belfast, Ulster Museum.
ContactPlease write your email in the spacebelow if you would like moreinformation about this project.
AcknowledgementsThis PhD research is beingcarried out within the UCDSchool of Archaeology with thekind support of the Irish ResearchCouncil for the Humanities andSocial Sciences, a NationalUniversity of Ireland TravellingStudentship, Marie Curie EarlyStage Training funding and theHumanities Institute of Ireland.
AbstractIron is and was a key material in people’ssocial lives. This PhD project willexamine the role of iron technology inthe perception and performance of socialidentity, its use and interpretation in dailylife and its meaning in terms of earlymedieval ideologies.
Using a variety of methodologiescombining traditional approaches withmodern scientific analyses it willinvestigate the technological and socialcontext of ironworking. Old and new datawill be examined to provide insights intothe role of ironworking technology in theperception and performance of socialidentity, its use and interpretation in dailylife and its meaning in terms of earlymedieval ideologies.
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MethodologyThe project will combine acomprehensive database ofrelevant sites with contextualanalysis of the material at various scalesof working in the landscape. Case studiesat regional, local and micro levels willexamine every stage of the process ofironworking from creation to destruction.Slag and/or metallurgical analysis maybe undertaken, where appropriate, inconjunction with University CollegeLondon. Archaeological data will becompared with the historical sources andmodern theoretical perspectives on thesocial role of technology will beconsidered.
The DatasetScott’s (1990) seminal andcomprehensive Early Irish Ironworkingidentified 91 early medieval ironworkingsites. However, almost two decades laterthe quantity and quality of new data hasincreased exponentially. Current work byUCD’s EMAP Project has identified 293potentially relevant sites up to 2002.
Specialist slag and metallurgical analysisof sites has become the norm and thiscombined with the quantity of new datahas changed the nature of the evidence.Recently excavated sites have producedslag assemblages measured in tons,dwarfing anything previously known.
Research Questions•Who produced and used iron in theearly medieval period?•How was iron produced?•What was produced, where, and bywho?•Where was iron being smelted, forged,recycled and deposited?
Experimental Furnace
Bog Ore deposit from Turraun, Co. Offaly
Brian DolanUCD School of ArchaeologyPhD supervised by Dr. Aidan O’Sullivan and Dr. Helen Lewis
ContributionThis project hopes to offer a newsynthesis of Irish early medievalironworking material, contributing to anunderstanding of the social context oftechnology in early Ireland
Background Photo: Reconstruction of slave collar from Lagore Crannog. Co. Westmeath. After Scott (1990, 106)
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