While the archaeological study of the early modern period was generally underplayed within Irish archaeology before the 1970s, since that time there has been a significant increase in research on post-medieval and industrial themes. The origins, achievements, and recent developments of post-medieval and industrial archaeology in Ireland are discussed, with a consideration of the future of these disciplines.

Introduction

Peat has been used as a fuel and as an additive to arable fields to aid fertility since prehistoric times in many parts of northern Europe (e.g. Fenton 1986; Whittle et al. 1986). The cutting of deep peat and the construction of peat stacks as part of the drying process has been documented from Medieval times, but the antiquity of such activities is unknown. Peat stacks are ephemeral structures whose purpose is to aid the drying of hard-won, wet peat in areas where other fuels such as wood and coal are expensive or unobtainable. They are typically cleared within a few months of construction and leave no traces of their former presence. Here we report the unprecedented discovery of a ‘fossil’ pyramidal peat stack dating to the 2nd millennium BC, from the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Individual turves contained finger and thumb impressions and pollen analysis reveals environmental conditions at around the time of cutting. The method of extracting and stacking the peat used some 3500 years ago may be similar to that used today.

The last 25 years has been a period of rapid change in the approach to archaeological fieldwork in Britain and this has been reflected in the development of survey within the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), the government financed body responsible for maintaining the national record of archaeology and architecture. The monolithic county-based inventory approach of RCAHMS' first 60 years has been replaced by a more broadly-based archaeological strategy founded on programmes of work that range from national overviews and regional surveys to individual site plans. Archaeological mapping has superseded monument planning as the key field objective, and all survey, whether terrestrial, aerial or desk-based, is underpinned by the RCAHMS Geographical Information System (GIs). The radical changes in field data-capture have been mirrored by parallel developments in making that data accessible once it has been collected.

Introduction

In the past Britain has been a global naval, mercantile and industrial power and, as an island which has benefited from successive waves of settlement, its history is inextricably linked to its surrounding seas (Lavery 2001). High volumes of shipping traffic and a long history of seafaring and warfare have contributed to a density of shipwreck remains in UK territorial waters which is likely to be amongst the highest in the world.

Recently warship wrecks have been given a significantly higher degree of attention in the UK and world-wide, and the recent ‘scheduling’ of the German High Seas Fleet wrecks under the terms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 2979 (AMAA 1979) has led to new challenges in heritage management. At the same time as we are becoming aware of the value of these resources, the administrative, legislative, environmental and social frameworks in which they have to be managed are changing rapidly.

Introduction

The subject matter for this article is a large one and could be approached in a number of different ways. I have chosen to focus on some of the more distinctive characteristics of contract archaeology as it is currently practised in Scotland. This may encourage comparison with the situation elsewhere but it is not my intention to ‘compare and contrast’. I will leave it up to the reader, if they wish, to set their own experiences against the Scottish situation.

I define contract archaeology as all types of archaeological work undertaken through a commercial contract. Scotland is a small country with a small economy and it has a commercial archaeological sector to scale. The nuniber of commercial archaeological organizations working regularly in Scotland is somewhere between 10 and 20 depending on your point of view. Only five of these organizations have permanent staff numbers in double figures; some of the others are effectively sole traders who may take on staff with project-specific contracts.