Joe Fenwick is the Archaeological Field Officer (Senior Technical Officer) in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway. He has a long-standing and active research interest in the Later Prehistoric ‘royal sites’ of Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon and Tara, Co. Meath, in addition to the archaeological landscape of Brú na Bóinne, Co. Meath, on which he has published widely. Phone: 00353 (0)91 493100 Address: Department of Archaeology School of Geography, Archaeology & Irish Studies University of Galway Galway Ireland
Following an extensive programme of geophysical survey at Rathcroghan published in 2009, five hit... more Following an extensive programme of geophysical survey at Rathcroghan published in 2009, five hitherto unexplored areas were surveyed using magnetic gradiometry in 2010–12. In an area south of Oweynagat a faint circular anomaly 20m in diameter and an equally faint arc some 8m across are of possible archaeological significance. Survey between the linear earthworks known as the Mucklaghs did not reveal any definite archaeological features but examination of Cashelmanannan demonstrates this is a complex multiperiod site. East of Rathcroghan Mound and its surrounding 360m enclosure, the geophysical evidence suggests that the avenue approaching the great mound does not extend beyond the enclosure limits. An area on the northwest was also investigated but apart from a semi-circular anomaly proved to be featureless. The latter, a possible ring-ditch, does indicate the possibility of significant features adjacent to and outside the enclosure. A summary account of the monuments at the royal ...
A renewed programme of geophysical survey was implemented over selected archaeological features i... more A renewed programme of geophysical survey was implemented over selected archaeological features in the fields surrounding Rathcroghan mound during the summers of 2013 and 2014. This was undertaken as part of the Rathcroghan ArchaeoGeophysial Field-School, a combined interdisciplinary field-research and teaching initiative based at NUI Galway. An electromagnetic conductivity survey was deployed to map the variable depth of soils and glacial sediments in the immediate vicinity of the great mound. In addition, a suite of geophysical techniques were applied over two 40m x 40m sample survey areas, targeting parts of the 360m Enclosure, encircling the focal ritual complex, and the Northern Enclosure, situated on the summit of a glacial ridge that extends from the north-eastern flank of the mound. Few new details relating to the enclosing element of the 360m Enclosure emerged, but the combined survey results resolved a number of questions relating to later episodes of cultivation over its sediment-filled fosse. By contrast, the high-resolution survey of the Northern Enclosure revealed a wealth of new detail and demonstrated that this remarkable structure had been replaced episodically over a number of generations. The overall survey results confirm that the monuments identified through geophysical means at Rathcroghan share broad similarities with those revealed through excavation and field-survey at the other Irish royal sites of Navan Fort, Tara and Knockaulin, in addition to some other cognate sites of predominantly Iron Age date
Fennema, K & Kamermans, H. 2004 Making the connection to the past CAA 99: Computer applications and quantitative methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 27th conference, Dublin, April 1999. Leiden University., 2004
The pre-Christian royal site of Rathcroghan (ancient Cruachain) is situated about 5 km to the nor... more The pre-Christian royal site of Rathcroghan (ancient Cruachain) is situated about 5 km to the northwest of the village of Tulsk in Co. Roscommon, Ireland. The archaeological remains of over 50 visible monuments, of various type and antiquity, are concentrated over an area of ...
Following an extensive programme of geophysical survey at Rathcroghan published in 2009, five hit... more Following an extensive programme of geophysical survey at Rathcroghan published in 2009, five hitherto unexplored areas were surveyed using magnetic gradiometry in 2010–12. In an area south of Oweynagat a faint circular anomaly 20m in diameter and an equally faint arc some 8m across are of possible archaeological significance. Survey between the linear earthworks known as the Mucklaghs did not reveal any definite archaeological features but examination of Cashelmanannan demonstrates this is a complex multiperiod site. East of Rathcroghan Mound and its surrounding 360m enclosure, the geophysical evidence suggests that the avenue approaching the great mound does not extend beyond the enclosure limits. An area on the northwest was also investigated but apart from a semi-circular anomaly proved to be featureless. The latter, a possible ring-ditch, does indicate the possibility of significant features adjacent to and outside the enclosure. A summary account of the monuments at the royal ...
A renewed programme of geophysical survey was implemented over selected archaeological features i... more A renewed programme of geophysical survey was implemented over selected archaeological features in the fields surrounding Rathcroghan mound during the summers of 2013 and 2014. This was undertaken as part of the Rathcroghan ArchaeoGeophysial Field-School, a combined interdisciplinary field-research and teaching initiative based at NUI Galway. An electromagnetic conductivity survey was deployed to map the variable depth of soils and glacial sediments in the immediate vicinity of the great mound. In addition, a suite of geophysical techniques were applied over two 40m x 40m sample survey areas, targeting parts of the 360m Enclosure, encircling the focal ritual complex, and the Northern Enclosure, situated on the summit of a glacial ridge that extends from the north-eastern flank of the mound. Few new details relating to the enclosing element of the 360m Enclosure emerged, but the combined survey results resolved a number of questions relating to later episodes of cultivation over its sediment-filled fosse. By contrast, the high-resolution survey of the Northern Enclosure revealed a wealth of new detail and demonstrated that this remarkable structure had been replaced episodically over a number of generations. The overall survey results confirm that the monuments identified through geophysical means at Rathcroghan share broad similarities with those revealed through excavation and field-survey at the other Irish royal sites of Navan Fort, Tara and Knockaulin, in addition to some other cognate sites of predominantly Iron Age date
Fennema, K & Kamermans, H. 2004 Making the connection to the past CAA 99: Computer applications and quantitative methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 27th conference, Dublin, April 1999. Leiden University., 2004
The pre-Christian royal site of Rathcroghan (ancient Cruachain) is situated about 5 km to the nor... more The pre-Christian royal site of Rathcroghan (ancient Cruachain) is situated about 5 km to the northwest of the village of Tulsk in Co. Roscommon, Ireland. The archaeological remains of over 50 visible monuments, of various type and antiquity, are concentrated over an area of ...
Uploads
Papers by Joe Fenwick