The Discovery Programme

Archaeology is concerned primarily with studying the human past.  What we call the material cultural remains – i.e.  the physical products of human beings, whether objects or structures  - are the main concern of the discipline.  An essential part of that study is the dating of those objects and structures.  Outside of the literate cultures (those that left writing) - and in many cases even then - this was formerly a difficult and tentative process. However, since about the middle of the 20^th century the dating of ancient remains has been greatly assisted by relevant advances in the physical sciences.

But archaeologists have always been interested also in the remains of nature and the past natural processes that they come across, particularly the evidence for the various kinds of interaction in the past between humans and nature, e.g. hunting, forest clearance, agriculture, mining and the recycling of natural materials for construction purposes.

In addition, in recent years a particular niche area of archaeology has been developed which uses the methods of archaeology along with other disciplines to investigate what past natural environments and climates would have been like, independent of the connection with human activity.

If artifacts – the products of humans or cultural activity – are the principal objects of study for archaeologists, then what have recently come to be called ecofacts or palaeo-environmental samples are the principal objects of study for environmental archaeologists. The word ecofact has been coined to mean the non-artifactual remains from the past that nevertheless have cultural relevance, including faunal or plant remains and soil samples.

An excellent book that describes in greater detail the work of environmental archaeologists in this country is Environmental Archaeology in Ireland, edited by Dr Eileen Murphy and Dr Nicki Whitehouse (Oxford 2007).  That book contains a chapter on ‘Wood and Charcoal Research in Ireland’ by Dr Ingelise Stuijts who is a member of the staff of the Discovery Programme (see pages on Plant studies in this section).  Both of the book’s editors, Dr Murphy and Dr Whitehouse, work in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queen’s University Belfast.  Dr Murphy is a member of the Council of the Discovery Programme (2009-2013) and Dr Whitehouse has been a research collaborator with the Discovery Programme on material excavated by the Lake Settlement Project at the Derragh island Mesolithic site (see below and pages in Research section)

• Infant burial at Tulsk
• Pollen Analysis
• Radiocarbon (or C14) dating
• Dendrochronology