Aerial Archaeology in Ireland - The Heritage Council

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An ever-increasing interest in the environment and its conservation features widely in modern life, and spatial data has a special role to play in both monitoring and managing environmental change. By using aerial or satellite imaging, digital mapping or data conversion techniques, accurate locational and elevation data can be created to provide a wealth of information on changes in our world. BKS works both independently, and as part of Private Finance Initiatives, to deliver spatial data solutions that facilitate the integration of a Planning Authority’s information into an active GIS. With available technologies, BKS creates databases to hold information of Local Land Charges, Land Terrier, Council House Sales, Planning Applications, Conservation Orders etc. in a digital form, thus facilitating storage, retrieval, updating and measurement and ultimately the monitoring of urban growth.’ 3 The size of the oblique archive collection is difficult to ascertain, but a representative of the company reports that it may amount to c. 2,500 to 3,600 images. Vertical photography is mainly project-based and has recently included a major resurvey of the whole of Ireland for the OSi. Other surveys include city-based coverage at 20-25m resolution of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. Vertical coverage also relates to specific types of development or land-use change (roads, housing, industry, pipelines, forestry, and general development planning). Contact with archaeologists seeking archival material is reported as being virtually non-existent, though certainly a number of photographs were commissioned or accessed during the compilation of the SMR. The material is not publicly accessible for inspection, but inquiries are handled over the internet. Recently, the Discovery Programme and Heritage Council have commissioned BKS to undertake air photographic and lidar surveys by (see above; Figures 14 and 27). Fairey Survey and Hunting Surveys These two commercial operators, leading exponents of vertical survey in the 1960s to 1970s, ceased to trade in the 1980s. Copies of some of their surveys (e.g. the 1971 Fairey Survey coverage of Ireland) are held in various Irish public archival collections (see above), but much of the original archives were destroyed. (Aerofilms hold some Hunting material; Engineering Surveys hold some Fairey Survey material.) Other Companies and Internet Resources A number of other small commercial companies occasionally take archaeological air photos to order (e.g. Redmonds of Roscrea have taken photographs in the Limerick/Tipperary/Kildare area which are included in the SMR files). In many cases, these were commissioned for particular requirements such as book illustrations. They do not operate as public archives. There are also several web-based collections, some of which contain some aerial photographs of specific places, such as Joe Kenny’s low-level images of Fethard, Co. Tipperary, 4 5, 6 and more general collections. Another extremely valuable online resource is that of Google Earth. 7 This site offers basic cover of most of the world from what appears to be Landsat TM images. Superimposed on this are blocks of much higher quality material with a resolution of 1-2m (Figure 18). 3 http://www.bks.co.uk/ 4 http://www.fethard.com/mainpages/aerial.html 5 http://www.picturresofplaces.com/Europe/ireland.html 6 http://www.jasonhawkes.com/servlet/Public?page=search&search=ireland 7 http://maps.google.co.uk 39
40 Figure 18: Google Earth satellite image of a post-medieval farming settlement at Carrignagower, Co. Wicklow
Page 1 and 2: A I R A N D E A R T H A E R I A L A
Page 3 and 4: © An Chomhairle Oidhreachta / The
Page 5 and 6: 3.9 Integration with other Types of
Page 7 and 8: Figure 14: The Discovery Programme
Page 9 and 10: Figure 39: This vertical photograph
Page 11 and 12: 10 Foreword One of the initiatives
Page 13 and 14: 12 Acknowledgements It would not ha
Page 15 and 16: 14 Key Priorities for Aerial Archae
Page 17 and 18: 16 • A practical handbook in arch
Page 19 and 20: 18 • A series of pilot studies co
Page 21 and 22: 20 5. Any new strategy for reconnai
Page 23 and 24: 22 As a means of discovering archae
Page 25 and 26: 24 Drawing on the work of O.G.S. Cr
Page 27 and 28: 26 2 PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF AIR PHOTO
Page 29 and 30: 28 National Museum of Ireland While
Page 31 and 32: 30 Other material held by the GSI i
Page 33 and 34: 32 Figure 9: An infrared vertical i
Page 35 and 36: 34 The aims and objectives of these
Page 37 and 38: 36 2.5 Private Collections Dr Daphn
Page 39: 38 2.6 Commercial Collections Two w
Page 43 and 44: 42 3.2 Aerial Platforms The equipme
Page 45 and 46: 44 Figures 20 a-b: The use of ballo
Page 47 and 48: 46 Figure 23: The true form of the
Page 49 and 50: 48 Figure 25: The cumulative impact
Page 51 and 52: 50 3.4 Conventional Photography: Di
Page 53 and 54: 52 Vertical versus Oblique Photogra
Page 55 and 56: 54 Metrical Survey As Doody observe
Page 57 and 58: 56 shoreline and topography (ground
Page 59 and 60: 58 The fieldwork showed that the ge
Page 61 and 62: 60 Sonar Bathymetry Although there
Page 63 and 64: 62 Both Kelleher (1995) and Redfern
Page 65 and 66: 64 Interpreting Chronology and Sequ
Page 67 and 68: 66 While the Archaeological Survey
Page 69 and 70: 68 County No. Ringforts No. identif
Page 71 and 72: 70 Figure 36: Newly identified crop
Page 73 and 74: 72 Figures 38 a-b: Contrasts in urb
Page 75 and 76: 74 Roles and potential for historic
Page 77 and 78: 76 4.2 Roles in Supporting Archaeol
Page 79 and 80: 78 Figures 41 a-b: Gillian Barrett
Page 81 and 82: 80 The Archaeology of Lakes, Coast
Page 83 and 84: 82 Whole Landscape Approaches Perha
Page 85 and 86: 84 Figure 45: Drumlin landscape nea
Page 87 and 88: 86 Roads The National Roads Authori
Page 89 and 90: 88 Pipelines The general principles
Page 91 and 92:
90 General Development Where there
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92 ‘…numerous sites in pasture
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94 • • Earthen monuments are co
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96 Designed Landscapes and Conserva
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98 showing the clear benefits of in
Page 101 and 102:
100 Figure 55: Aerial photograph of
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102 5 QUALITY, RESOURCES AND ORGANI
Page 105 and 106:
104 Estimates of costs per site or
Page 107 and 108:
106 ago in England, may have meant
Page 109 and 110:
108 6 TEACHING AND TRAINING 6.1 Cov
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110 6.2 Other Provisions for Traini
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112 Benson, D and Miles, D 1974. Th
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114 Doody, M G, 1995. ‘Ballyhoura
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116 Twohig and M. Ronayne (eds) Pas
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118 Raftery, J, 1951. Prehistoric I
Page 121 and 122:
120 Colin Shell Cambridge Universit
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Aerial Archaeology in Ireland - The Heritage Council

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