7th National Monuments Service annual archaeology conference

Monuments and well-preserved artefacts are what usually come to mind when we think of archaeology, but archaeologists can glean a lot from small things too. This conference will take us from the micro to the macro. In Traces of a bigger picture we will hear about how items like minuscule pollen grains or small everyday artefacts can fill out the story of a peopled landscape or reveal an overlooked community; Senses of the past and Musket balls and molecules will investigate some more surprising research into the past through the senses of sound, taste and smell; and The devil in the detail takes a close look at the finer details of medieval metalwork and manuscripts to reveal the work of skilled craftspeople.

Speakers include: John Henry Phillips, Romani archaeologist, author and film-maker; Dr Gillian Plunkett, archaeologist and palaeoecologist at Queen’s University Belfast; Dr Joshua Kumbani, archaeologist, whose research focuses on archaeoacoustics, rock art and analysis of music-related artefacts; Dr Niamh Whitfield, who specialises in the early Middle Ages, especially metalwork from Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England; Prof. Pádraig Ó Macháin, Principal Investigator on the Inks and Skins Project, an interdisciplinary project dedicated to the investigation of the materiality of the late medieval Gaelic manuscripts; culinary historian Brigitte Webster, who specialises in Tudor and seventeenth-century food; Dr Caro Verbeek, researcher of olfactory heritage at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; and Dr Damian Shiels, archaeologist and historian, who specialises in battlefield and conflict archaeology.

Conference: 9.15am–5.30am

Registration: 8.30am

In person and online:

General admission €35

Limited-time Early Bird registration: €25

Includes tea/coffee breaks and a light lunch

On-line registration €10

Includes quarterly digital subscription Archaeology Ireland ( + archive) value €7.00

Host or Publisher National Monuments Service