Aerial Archaeology in Ireland - The Heritage Council

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4.2 Roles in Supporting Archaeological Research
Research Frameworks
The publication of archaeological research frameworks to guide new work is usually seen as a way of either reshaping ideas or
giving them new impetus. This can be of value within a pure research context, as well as in projects carried out in response to
development pressure. For example, the Irish urban surveys of the 1970s and 1980s were carried out in response to the need
to address looming urban development pressures. Surveys such as these also acted as a wide review of the state of academic
research in the subject.
The Discovery Programme and the Heritage Council have provided other avenues through which thematic reviews of the state
of archaeological research and potential for future work on various themes have been developed. Aerial archaeology has been
important in some of these, although this has been somewhat variable, depending on the theme concerned (see below).
Research Themes
In their book, The early development of Irish society: the evidence of aerial photography, Norman and St Joseph (1969)
deliberately set out to indicate how aerial archaeology could contribute to a number of research themes. These were divided
between four broad chapter headings: Before the Celts, Iron Age Dwellings and Fields, Iron Age Defences, and Early Christian
Sites. They also illustrated several other aspects of aerial archaeology, including later medieval sites, and post-medieval and
industrial remains. From the late 1970s onwards, aerial photography has figured in a range of important archaeological research
projects. Although it is probably fair to say that aerial archaeology has not in general been regarded as a mainstream feature of
archaeological research, it has been a key aspect of much work that fits well within all the broad themes highlighted by Norman
and St Joseph. Indeed, it extends beyond them, as in the following:
• Multi-period ceremonial centres (Swan 1978; Condit 1993; Newman 1997; Hartwell 1991a, 1991b; Waddell 1983;
Herity 1983, 1987, 1988; Burenhult 1980, Burenhult et al. 1984; Bergh 1995, 2002; Shell and Roughley 2004).
•
Late prehistoric settlement patterns (Gowen 1988; Doody 1993c, 1995, 1996).
• Hillforts and settlement patterns (Condit et al. 1991; Condit and Gibbons 1991; Condit 1992; Condit 1995; Grogan
1993, 1996; Grogan et al. 1995).
• Early medieval settlements and the origin of early medieval ecclesiastical and urban centres (Swan 1983, 1985;
Murphy 1993).
• Early medieval settlement and landscape change (Barrett 1980, 1982a and b, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1995a and b, 1997,
1999, 2002, and forthcoming a and b).
•
Medieval rural settlement (O’Conor 1998).
• Field patterns and landscape change (Waddell 1983; Herity 1983, 1987, 1988; Kelleher 1995; Barrett 1995b, 1997,
1999; Shell and Roughley 2004).
• Methodological approaches (Doody 1993a, 1993c, 1995, 1996, 2001; Kelleher 1995; Redfern 1998, 2002; Shell and
Roughley 2004).
It is inevitable that the effective use of aerial archaeology relies partly on an interactive process of enhancing interpretive
approaches in the light of fieldwork results. Large projects in which aerial archaeology has played an important initial role tend