Roseanne Schot
I am an archaeologist and Principal Investigator on the Tara Research Project at the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland. I studied archaeology and history at the National University of Ireland, Galway and undertook my doctoral research on the cultic royal site and landscape of Uisneach, County Westmeath, the sacred umbilical centre of Ireland in early tradition. Prior to joining the Discovery Programme, I was a research associate and part-time lecturer in the School of Geography and Archaeology, NUI Galway (2009-2015), where I contributed to research and teaching on ceremonial royal landscapes and early Irish kingship. During this time I was involved in a number of collaborative research projects and directed large-scale geophysical surveys and field schools at various sites in Ireland and Europe, including the Irish ‘royal’ centres of Dún Ailinne (2006-2008), Tara (2010) and Rathcroghan (2010-2012); the monasteries founded by St Columbanus at Annegray, France (2010–2011) and Bobbio, Italy (2013) and the early ecclesiastical foundation at Cleenish Island, County Fermanagh (2013–2014).
My research interests are multidisciplinary in nature and include landscape studies, late prehistoric and early medieval Ireland and Europe, Irish ceremonial/royal complexes, the archaeology of ‘natural' places, kingship, religion and cosmology.
Address: The Discovery Programme, Dublin 2, Ireland
My research interests are multidisciplinary in nature and include landscape studies, late prehistoric and early medieval Ireland and Europe, Irish ceremonial/royal complexes, the archaeology of ‘natural' places, kingship, religion and cosmology.
Address: The Discovery Programme, Dublin 2, Ireland
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Papers by Roseanne Schot
Long after the conversion to Christianity, the sacramental motifs of early kingship embodied in royal and lordly landscapes continue to resonate in the archaeological, historical, literary and onomastic records of Ireland. Together, these strands of evidence trace the evolution of kingship and landscapes associated with royal ceremonies from prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Bringing the most recent Irish research to the international study of kingship, these essays explore how the worldwide phenomenon of sacral kingship, with its emphasis on harmonizing the human and divine spheres, found expression in Ireland. From the birth- and death-tales of kings, to the sacralized landscapes of Tara, Sgiath Gabhra and the umbilical centres of Uisneach and Dullu, Nepal, what emerges from this wide-ranging study is a rich and diverse suite of common themes that open up exciting new horizons for comparative analysis.
Chironomid and pollen evidence shows that the lake was an open water system in the Late-glacial/Early Holocene. A subsequent increase in macrophytes (aquatic plants) and macrophyte-dwelling chironomids indicates that the lake had begun to close in the Early Holocene. The dominance of terrestrial/semi-terrestrial chironomid taxa, the spike in C:N values and the near absence of lake aquatic plants and algae demonstrate that a marshland had formed by 8350–8240 cal. BC. The changes in chironomid and pollen taxa, in addition to abrupt changes in C:N ratios, d15N and LOI values, and lake sediment characteristics show that lake sediment was likely removed by human endeavour to re-initiate open water conditions. The results of this more exhaustive investigation, in conjunction with archaeological, mythological, folk history and place-name evidence, suggest that the lake may have been dug out in medieval times. This, however, may have been only one in a series of dig-outs in the lake’s history. When people first encountered this site it was probably a marshland. It is suggested here that the existing lake is probably anthropogenic in origin and is likely to have had a symbolic or ritual significance. Lough Lugh can potentially be considered an archaeological site or monument.
Long after the conversion to Christianity, the sacramental motifs of early kingship embodied in royal and lordly landscapes continue to resonate in the archaeological, historical, literary and onomastic records of Ireland. Together, these strands of evidence trace the evolution of kingship and landscapes associated with royal ceremonies from prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Bringing the most recent Irish research to the international study of kingship, these essays explore how the worldwide phenomenon of sacral kingship, with its emphasis on harmonizing the human and divine spheres, found expression in Ireland. From the birth- and death-tales of kings, to the sacralized landscapes of Tara, Sgiath Gabhra and the umbilical centres of Uisneach and Dullu, Nepal, what emerges from this wide-ranging study is a rich and diverse suite of common themes that open up exciting new horizons for comparative analysis.
Chironomid and pollen evidence shows that the lake was an open water system in the Late-glacial/Early Holocene. A subsequent increase in macrophytes (aquatic plants) and macrophyte-dwelling chironomids indicates that the lake had begun to close in the Early Holocene. The dominance of terrestrial/semi-terrestrial chironomid taxa, the spike in C:N values and the near absence of lake aquatic plants and algae demonstrate that a marshland had formed by 8350–8240 cal. BC. The changes in chironomid and pollen taxa, in addition to abrupt changes in C:N ratios, d15N and LOI values, and lake sediment characteristics show that lake sediment was likely removed by human endeavour to re-initiate open water conditions. The results of this more exhaustive investigation, in conjunction with archaeological, mythological, folk history and place-name evidence, suggest that the lake may have been dug out in medieval times. This, however, may have been only one in a series of dig-outs in the lake’s history. When people first encountered this site it was probably a marshland. It is suggested here that the existing lake is probably anthropogenic in origin and is likely to have had a symbolic or ritual significance. Lough Lugh can potentially be considered an archaeological site or monument.