Aerial Archaeology in Ireland - The Heritage Council

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• Work Placement, in RCAHMS to experience the major aspects of their practical work, including data acquisition, classification and cataloguing, and curation. The MLitt Dissertation is a sustained piece of scholarly work on a topic to be agreed between the convenor and the student and is undertaken between June and September. Assessment Assessment is entirely on the basis of course work (essays, practicals etc.) and a portfolio of practical work. Progression to the MLitt dissertation will require performance at MLitt level across the coursework elements. There are no training courses as such for aerial archaeology in Ireland. But most undergraduate and MA courses in archaeology in Irish universities do include aerial archaeology as a standard technique, as follows. University College Dublin The undergraduate course in archaeology includes ‘Practice and context of archaeology in Ireland’ which includes remote sensing. Their MA in Landscape Archaeology includes ‘Looking at sources in landscapes studies’ which includes aerial archaeology. In 2005, the Discovery Programme was invited to spend a day introducing the MA class to the range of GIS and survey techniques used in archaeology. After a classroom session showing the methods and technologies involved, from GPS ground survey through to aerial photogrammetry and GIS data manipulation, the group experienced some of the practical aspects of survey. University College Cork The undergraduate course in archaeology includes a module on ‘Archaeological Fieldwork and Excavation’ which includes aerial archaeology. The MA in Archaeology includes a module on ‘Archaeological Cultural Resource and Project Management’, but this does not explicitly cover aerial archaeology. National University of Ireland, Galway The undergraduate course in archaeology includes ‘Introduction to fieldwork’ which covers aerial archaeology. Their MA in Landscape Archaeology includes a module on ‘Investigating Landscapes’ which includes aerial archaeology. Queen’s University Belfast The undergraduate course in archaeology has a module on ‘Archaeological sites’ that includes aerial archaeology. Their Postgraduate Diploma and MA in Archaeology included the same module on ‘Archaeological sites’, and after a break in 2006-07, Masters courses are to be reinstated for 2007-08. Other University and Practical Courses Not all teaching and training need be within formal archaeological courses (or departments). For example, at the Geography School at Wolverhampton in the UK, Dr Gillian Barrett used her extensive collection of Irish aerial photographs in undergraduate courses to illustrate the potential and problems of aerial reconnaissance and post-reconnaissance mapping and evaluation in Year 2 as part of a ‘Reading the Landscape’ module, and in Year 3 in a module exploring the links between Geography and Archaeology. English Heritage hold a regular annual workshop, and another short course training session is provided in the professional archaeology programme at the Department for Continuing Education at Oxford University. There seems no reason why similar initiatives should not be developed in Ireland. 109
110 6.2 Other Provisions for Training and Mentoring With the growth in archaeological aerial survey of road corridors, a number of archaeological contracting companies are encouraging more staff members to assist in taking air photographs. The extent to which this can be regarded as training or even mentoring depends on the experience of those who accompany such new or inexperienced recruits — and it is apparent that this varies. Even though such initiatives may only occasionally involve practitioners with a long and varied track record of experience, there must be at least some benefit in encouraging more archaeologists to have the practical experience of seeing archaeology from the air. In the longer run, this may prove to be the basis for further development of aerial archaeology in Ireland if there is rapid expansion of demand for these services. But in the shorter term, there is some concern that competition for work means that relatively inexperienced archaeologists are being used with little real training or instruction from experienced practitioners — who might otherwise do the work themselves anyway. Although universities and others do provide a basic introduction to aerial archaeology, these courses are mostly fairly introductory, unless students go on to develop their interests through dissertations, placements or much more detailed mentoring. A number of courses have enabled students and others to develop their skills in this way. Figure 57: A pre-flight briefing at an Aerial Archaeology Research Group/EU Culture 2000 training course in Cirencester 2006. Three Irish archaeologists received training in aerial survey as part of this initiative A number of respondents suggested that there would be value in developing more training and mentoring for the development of new talent, including practical legal and safety issues (including suitability of aircraft and airfields) as well as in issues concerning timing, ground and weather conditions, lighting and photographic technique. More training in standards of reporting, interpretation and presentation is also needed (Figure 57). The results of the EU Culture 2000 project — European Landscapes Past, Present and Future — have illustrated graphically the value of close collaboration and training in aerial archaeology and related techniques (Musson and Horne 2007).
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A I R A N D E A R T H A E R I A L A
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© An Chomhairle Oidhreachta / The
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3.9 Integration with other Types of
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Figure 14: The Discovery Programme
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Figure 39: This vertical photograph
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10 Foreword One of the initiatives
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12 Acknowledgements It would not ha
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14 Key Priorities for Aerial Archae
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16 • A practical handbook in arch
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18 • A series of pilot studies co
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20 5. Any new strategy for reconnai
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22 As a means of discovering archae
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24 Drawing on the work of O.G.S. Cr
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26 2 PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF AIR PHOTO
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28 National Museum of Ireland While
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30 Other material held by the GSI i
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32 Figure 9: An infrared vertical i
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34 The aims and objectives of these
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36 2.5 Private Collections Dr Daphn
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38 2.6 Commercial Collections Two w
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40 Figure 18: Google Earth satellit
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42 3.2 Aerial Platforms The equipme
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44 Figures 20 a-b: The use of ballo
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46 Figure 23: The true form of the
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48 Figure 25: The cumulative impact
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50 3.4 Conventional Photography: Di
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52 Vertical versus Oblique Photogra
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54 Metrical Survey As Doody observe
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56 shoreline and topography (ground
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Page 103 and 104: 102 5 QUALITY, RESOURCES AND ORGANI
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Page 115 and 116: 114 Doody, M G, 1995. ‘Ballyhoura
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Page 119 and 120: 118 Raftery, J, 1951. Prehistoric I
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