Seamus McGINLEY

PhD Candidate (2012- present) M.A. Landscape Archaeology 2012 NUI Galway BA (Hons) Geography and Archaeology 2008-2011 NUI Galway Diploma Sc. (Geology) 2010 NUI Galway
Room:	114, Geography Department
Phone:	091 493829 Ext: 3829
Email:	s.mcginley3nuigalway.ie

Current Research

Working Title:  On the Trail of the Invisible people: a multi proxy study of climate change and human impacts on the environment in the Irish Iron Age”.

The Irish Iron Age (600BC to AD400) is one of the most enigmatic periods in the history of Ireland.  The archaeologist Barry Raftery described the Iron Age population   as “the Invisible People” due to the scarcity of Iron Age houses or other settlement evidence in the archaeological record.  In terms of environmental evidence, the most prominent feature is the Late Iron Age lull marked in pollen records by forest regeneration and reduced farming activity. This phenomenon is often attributed to population decline driven by climate downturn, and sometimes linked to major natural catastrophes.

The palaeolimnological study uses multiple proxies (including pollen and chironomid analysis, identification of macroscopic charcoal and heavy metal contamination)   to reconstruct Iron Age cultural landscapes by identifying changing intensity in everyday domestic activity, industrial activity, and changes in surrounding land-use patterns.  Chironomid (non-biting midge flies) analysis from an isolated lake will also provide a quantitative record of temperature changes in the Irish Iron Age.

Research Cluster:

Awards

Monsignor Hynes Award 2011
Duignan Prize in Archaeology 2011
NUI Galway Doctoral Research scholarship 2012.

Professional Memberships

Selected Readings:

Boyle, J. 2002 Inorganic Geochemical methods in palaeolimnology (2). In Last, W. and Smol, F (eds.) Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediment. Netherlands: Kluwer

Cohen, A.  2003 Paleolimnology: the history and evolution of lake systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Raftery, B.  1994 Pagan Celtic Ireland: the enigma of the Irish Iron Age. London: Thames and Hudson.

Ruiz, Z., Brown, A. and Langdon, P. (2006) The potential of chironomid (lnsecta: Diptera) larvae in archaeological investigations of floodplain and lake settlements. Journal of Archaeological Science 33, 14-3 3.

Taylor, K. 2011,   Ecological impacts of early farming in western Ireland: a palaeolimnological approach. (Unpublished M Litt: National University of Ireland)