The Role of Research in Issues of Management and Conservation: Prehistoric Landscape of the North Central Burren a Case Study

Christine Grant (National Monuments Service)

Project Summary

This project focuses on a particular study area while looking at research issues relating to the prehistoric period and its application to management and conservation issues.  In order to do this it was decided to use a study area where there is ongoing research by the author and one that would allow for a broad scale assessment of the archaeological record and recurrent management issues.

A number of monuments have recently come to light the north central Burren that dramatically alter our understanding of the significance of this area in prehistory.  This includes a large hilltop enclosure on Ceapaigh an Bháile hill and it’s associated cairns.  A second group of newly recorded monuments on Aillwee Hill, including a number of cairns and enclosures, highlights another hill with significant prehistoric material that alters our perspective of this area.  This also highlights the issue of the number of unrecorded monuments on the Burren, how these can significantly alter research and how best to deal with this gap in the record. 

This study will look at the monuments in terms of understanding how people used the landscape in prehistory, and the challenges that we face in protecting the archaeological resource from the pressures of modern land use.  These challenges include the regeneration of scrub, inappropriate grazing and feeding regimes, damage caused through land clearance and the impact of tourism.  The expected results will be to highlight and quantify the relevant issues.  These long term results will have an application to the larger question of how to approach the protection of archaeological landscapes.

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