Further Particulars
Celtic Connections and Crannogs: A new Study of Lake Settlements Across
the Irish Sea
Project background
Celtic Connections and Crannogs: A new Study of Lake Settlements Across the Irish Sea is a
new AHRC funded research project led by Professor Tony Brown (PI) and Dr Peter Langdon
(Southampton), with other collaborators from Newcastle, Plymouth and Queen’s (Belfast)
Universities.
Around 3000 years ago communities in Scotland & Ireland started building islands called
'crannogs' in lakes & mires, a practise that in places continued into the Medieval Period. Why
& how did these sites fit into the emerging Celtic landscapes we still see today? Crannogs
show a distinctly westerly distribution being absent in England, with one in Wales, but
common in Scotland (400) & Ireland (1500). Being under water these sites can have
remarkable preservation of perishable artifacts, but because they are rarely in the path of
development few have been excavated, however, many are under threat from erosion,
pollution & natural decay. The recent discovery of a crannog with near-perfect preservation
of artefacts due to road construction at Enniskillen (Drumclay) & another superbly preserved
wetland village in Dumfreis & Galloway (Black Loch of Murton) offer rare glimpses of their
archaeological potential & provides a unique opportunity for this project. Although crannogs
can be found from the Scottish Islands to the SW of Ireland the central point in the
distribution is the North Channel of the Irish Sea, separating Dumfreis & Galloway from
Antrim & Down. There are many cultural links between these regions particularly in the Iron
Age & early Medieval Periods. Was Medieval Christian and/or noble connection founded
upon earlier Iron Age cultural links & is this reflected in vernacular traditions including
crannog construction? In order to answer these questions & explore the common lakesettlement heritage we need to know more about the chronology, longevity, intensity of use
& environmental context of these enigmatic sites. The fact that in both areas their
construction spanned over two millennia suggests there is no single stimuli for
construction, however, indications of parallel chronologies may have implications for
cultural, political, symbolic & environmental stimuli.
This project takes to a new level previous research by the applicants which developed a new
methodology for 'remote sensing' crannog construction & inhabitation through the analysis
of lake sediment cores. This involved a multi-proxy approach utilising pollen, diatoms &
insects which relied on the inevitable disturbance to the biology of small lakes caused by
crannog construction/use. This project will go far further by applying these techniques
alongside a new generation of bioarchaeological methods, particularly geochemistry, lipid
biomarkers & aDNA metabarcoding in conjunction with archaeological excavation, landscape
survey & community involvement. A major limitation of previous work was that none of the
crannogs remote sensed were excavated. One of the most variable aspects of crannog
archaeology is longevity of use. Recent excavation at Cults Loch (SW Scotland) suggests it
may have been in use for no more than half a century with construction in pulses. Whereas
indications from Drumclay suggests it may have been occupied for several centuries. An
allied question is the intensity of use - were they dwellings & if so used seasonally,
episodically or permanently? It is clear that longevity & intensity are key variables but since
only a few crannogs will ever be excavated we need additional estimates from unexcavated
crannogs. Site ages will be established using 14C AMS dating from lake cores, volcanic ash
& tree-ring counts. Improvements in crannog dating each side of the Irish Sea will have
important implications for understanding the stimuli for crannog construction since
correlation may relate to common environmental conditions, especially under the unstable
climatic conditions of the later prehistory & the sixth century AD. Although primarily a
survey & environmental project, material culture will be compared as part of the survey
element & partnership with excavations. Material culture from structures to portable
artefacts are invaluable for understanding the cultural context of crannog use from
agricultural implements to religious items.
This project will use survey, lake coring & environmental analyses from archaeological
excavation to tackle the following archaeological questions under 3 workpackages;
1. Were crannog construction phases or pulses synchronous or asynchronous both
regionally and across the North Channel (WP1)?
2. Was the longevity of use comparable during different periods (WP1)?
3. Are patterns of construction, form & function similar or significantly different (WP1-2)?
4. What can a combination of traditional palaeoecological and new molecular techniques tell
us about the activities and use of crannogs (WP3)?
4. What can crannogs tell us about the similarity of both Iron Age and later crannog
construction and use each side of the Irish Sea. (WP1-3)?
5. What is the chronological and spatial relationship between crannogs, nobility and the
history of Christianity and its transmission across the Irish Sea (WP1)?
The objectives will be realised though the workpackages:
WP1. Provide a survey (using existing data from NIEA map, aerial photographic and field
survey) of Northern Irish crannogs with associated dating and artefact evidence comparable
to the Republic of Ireland & Scotland, and to then select 8 crannogs for coring & analysis
using a suite of palaeolimnological proxies (geochemistry, pollen, diatoms & insects) and
AMS dating.
WP2. Conduct environmental analyses at three crannog sites that have been recently
excavated to inform site interpretation & reconstruction & to undertake on-site
environmental investigations at one site in SW Scotland.
WP3. To conduct novel analyses (biomarkers, aDNA metabarcoding) at both the excavated
site & the Northern Irish core sites with the aim of providing both direct & indirect
signatures of human living & activities on the crannogs.