Revealing a Medieval Village: The Advantages and Limitations of Applying Geophysical Techniques

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Exploring the Gaelic Social Order through Castle Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Geophysical surveys have become a common feature in archaeological investigations in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The collection of data sets tend to be carried out rapidly and in many cases results can be immediate, however the interpretation of this data is not necessarily consistent nor are the formative processes of many of the geophysical signatures well understood. After four years of intensive application of ground penetrating radar integrated with magnetic gradiometry in rural Roscommon County, the Castles and Communities (CIC) field school and research project has attempted to better understand the relationship between these two techniques and seek methods which allow a more reliable means to draw conclusions. This paper will report on the preliminary findings from the 2018 field season where an excavation unit was able to expose the cross section of a number of the more common geophysical features. Based upon these preliminary results the scope, usage, and shifting patterns of activity may allow clearer insight into the life and ultimate abandonment of a medieval village.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Exploring the Gaelic Social Order through Castle Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26133