The Late Bronze Age fortified hill of Outeiro do Circo I’m helping to excavate this month has a lot to investigate. The team – led by site directors Miguel Serra and Eduardo Porfirio and supervisor Sofia Eiras – have opened a number of trenches on the summit of the hilltop and just inside the enclosing wall. Their goal for this… Read more →

For month eight of Global Archaeology I am thrilled to be helping excavate the Late Bronze Age (1250-850 BC) fortified hilltop settlement of Outeiro do Circo in the Alentejo plain of southern Portugal (find their blog here). The site is one of the largest settlement of this time period in the Iberian Peninsula, covering about 17 hectares (12 soccer pitches!).… Read more →

When people think of Ireland often the first thing that comes to mind is the Irish pub. These can be found all over the globe (I have enjoyed a pint in one or two as far away from Ireland as Lesotho and Tasmania) but the atmosphere of a genuine Irish pub cannot be recreated outside of this island nation. If… Read more →

Ireland is a brilliant place to visit if you are interested in the past: there are sites and monuments everywhere you look in the lush green landscape. You are sure to see medieval tower houses as you speed along the roads or wander through the towns, and if you have a really keen eye you may even spot a prehistoric… Read more →

Like many of the projects I have worked on during this year of digs, the Caherconnell Archaeology Field School is revealing evidence of past activities through excavation – in this case at Caherconnell cashel in the Burren region of western Ireland. A caher (or cashel from the Irish word Caiseal – ‘stone fort’) is a farmstead enclosed by a… Read more →

Since the early medieval period when monks created beautiful illuminated manuscripts, Ireland has been known as an island of learning. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that many students of archaeology flock to Ireland to have their first experience with fieldwork, this archaeologist included! In 2006 as an untested undergraduate I traveled to the west of Ireland to learn how… Read more →

As the sun sets on month six of Global Archaeology one thing that stays with me from my time on the Cycladic island of Naxos is the image of the Aegean Sea shining in the rose tinted sunrise. This is not something the average tourist sees while on holiday but if you are an archaeologist heading early to site you… Read more →

Greece is iconic when it comes to archaeology. When I tell people the countries I’m visiting for my year of digs for some they ask: “Do they have archaeology there?”, but that question is never asked when I mention Greece!  I’ve been lucky enough to be digging something entirely different to the temples that most people think of as Greek… Read more →

As an average person with an average lifespan, it’s very difficult to wrap your head around a time span of 1 million years. This is the amount of time that has passed since hominins first moved into Europe from Africa, during a period called the Lower Palaeolithic before modern humans had even evolved. It has always been assumed that these… Read more →

To be honest, it’s difficult to stifle the morning grumpiness when you are waking up at 5am to hike up a small mountain… But it’s worthwhile when the reward at the top is the chance to dig some amazing archaeology. Not only is this month’s site in a stunningly beautiful location, but it is one of the most artefact rich… Read more →