Rathcroghan: Archaeological and Geophysical Survey in a Ritual Landscape

by John Waddell

The authors have completed a major programme of archaeological field research in the Rathcroghan area of Roscommon in the west of Ireland.

This project involved the use of a range of geophysical techniques to explore a number of extraordinary monuments in the Rathcroghan and Carnfree areas of Co. Roscommon. Rathcroghan is one of the most famous archaeological complexes in this part of Ireland and, like Tara, is renowned in archaeology, history and legend as a late prehistoric royal centre.

In addition to detailed micro-topographical survey the principal geophysical techniques deployed included magnetic susceptibility, magnetic gradiometry, electrical resistivity, ground penetrating radar, and electromagnetics. There was a strong emphasis on computer-based processing and interpretation techniques, using a number of sophisticated two and three dimensional mapping and modelling software packages, to provide high-resolution images which were correlated to the local topography.

Contents
Rathcroghan and Carnfree: myth, legend and history
Survey at Caran Fort, the 250m enclosure, Rathnadarve, Rathmore, Oweynagat, the Mucklaghs and Rathbeg
Survey at Carn Lámha, Carnfree and Dumha Sealga
Rathcroghan Mound
Rathcroghan landscapes: archaeological, mythical and remembered

John Waddell is Professor of Archaeology at NUI Galway. Joseph Fenwick is Archaeological Field Officer at NUI Galway. Kevin Barton is an independent consultant specialising in applied geophysical survey techniques.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[John Sgammato · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about the technical archaeology, not about the history. It's a fascinating view into the everyday tools and methods of physical archaeology that deepened my appreciation for what archaeologists can and cannot claim.
However, after the first few sections, you have learnt that part, and the rest is all about the data that was gathered using those methods - that part was less interesting because it lacked the context that you get when the same information is presented along with other relevant information in a book with more background and analysis.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed and highly enlightening description of the various non-intrusive archaeological studies that have been carried out in the Rathcroghan complex. If you are the type of person to read about an archaeological survey using magnetic ground-penetrating techniques and go "but did you account for ferrous litter from the nearby road" or "what about the different makeup of the soil layers, did you control for that", this is the book for you. (That's me, so I was delighted.) There's a substantial introduction discussing the types of tools used in the survey and the benefits and limitations of each type of sampling, and then reams of data generated by the various surveys in the ritual complex area, combined with out-takes from ancient manuscripts, folklore studies, and other scholarly works about similar or related findings in this or nearby complexes. My one complaint about the book is a layout issue -- often, a description of a diagram and its findings would be a couple pages away from the diagram, and you'd have to flip ahead to find out what they were talking about. Still, in such an interesting work, that's pretty nitpicky. I particularly appreciated the comparisons to Knowth and Navan fort at the end, setting the findings thus far at Rathcroghan in a useful context for the nerdy reader.