University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2019 The Medieval Borderland: Geophysical Analysis of a Later Medieval Deserted Settlement and Cultural Landscape from Western Ireland Andrew Ryan Bair University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons, and the European History Commons Recommended Citation Bair, Andrew Ryan, "The Medieval Borderland: Geophysical Analysis of a Later Medieval Deserted Settlement and Cultural Landscape from Western Ireland" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1561. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1561 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. THE MEDIEVAL BORDERLAND: GEOPHYSICAL ANALYSIS OF A LATER MEDIEVAL DESERTED SETTLEMENT AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FROM WESTERN IRELAND ______________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Social Sciences University of Denver ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts ____________ by Andrew Bair June 2019 Advisor: Lawrence B. Conyers ©Copyright by Andrew Bair 2019 All Rights Reserved Author: Andrew Bair Title: The Medieval Borderland: Geophysical Analysis of a Later Medieval Deserted Settlement and Cultural Landscape from Western Ireland Advisor: Lawrence B. Conyers Degree Date: June 2019 Abstract This thesis investigates the archaeological remnants of an early 14th century settlement at Ballintober, Roscommon County, Ireland. An innovative methodology combining ground-penetrating radar, magnetic gradiometry, and archaeological excavations is utilized to reconstruct the medieval built environment, which wa s comprised of a masonry castle, nucleated settlement and wider arable agricultural landscape. By integrating the archaeological and historical records, I pose hypotheses related to the differential statuses of people at the settlement, their domestic and agricultural practices, and a timeline of their occupation and abandonment of the site. The Ballintober settlement offers a unique case study to investigate the colonial dynamics of the Irish later medieval period. My findings suggest that the built environment of this site was constructed and inhabited by its residents as an overt claim to English identity and embodied the complicated and nuanced intersection of power and ethnicity within the Irish colonial period. ii Acknowledgements I must first wholeheartedly thank my extraordinary advisor, Dr. Lawrence Conyers. I’ve never met someone so committed to his graduate students, and for that I offer him the deepest of thanks. I also must greatly thank Dr. Bonnie Clark, who has been a wonderful voice of counsel. Finally, I would like to thank the outside chair of my committee, Dr. Scott Howard. The research for this project comes entirely out of the Castles in Communities field school, to which I am extremely indebted. Thanks go out to the entire Castles in Communities directorship and student body, but I must especially thank Dr. Niall Brady, Dan Cearley, Dr. Sam Connell, Siobhan Boyd, Rachel Brody, Lauren Brooks, Colin Jaramillo, Maureen Carpenter, and Sean McConnel. Outside of the field school, I must also thank Joe Fenwick and Dr. Kiernan O’Conor of NUI Galway, Heather Gimson at Earthsound Archaeological Geophysics, Alan Garvey, landowner, the Ballintober Tidy Towns Committee, and Pyers and Marguerite O’Conor Nash, owners of the castle. Finally, I must thank my family who have endlessly encouraged my intellectual curiosity and love of learning. iii Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Historical Background .............................................................................................. 3 Previous Work .......................................................................................................... 6 Methods and Data Analysis ...................................................................................... 7 Results and Conclusions ........................................................................................... 9 Chapter Two: Historical Background ............................................................................... 11 Medieval Ireland ..................................................................................................... 15 The Anglo-Normans ............................................................................................... 20 Irish Invasion: 1169-1185 ....................................................................................... 21 Anglo-Norman Colonization .................................................................................. 27 Connacht in the Later Medieval Period .................................................................. 34 Chapter Three: Archaeological Background ................................................................... 55 Archaeology of Medieval Settlements in Ireland ................................................... 56 Previous Archaeological Work at Ballintober ........................................................ 58 Chapter Four: Methods ..................................................................................................... 63 Geophysical Survey ................................................................................................ 63 Ground-penetrating Radar .................................................................................. 66 Magnetometry ..................................................................................................... 70 Integration ........................................................................................................... 74 Excavation............................................................................................................... 77 2016 Excavation.................................................................................................. 78 2017 Excavation: DS1 ........................................................................................ 83 2018 Excavation: DS2 ........................................................................................ 87 Cultivation Furrows ........................................................................................ 89 Boundary Ditches............................................................................................ 92 House Walls .................................................................................................... 94 Hearth .............................................................................................................. 95 Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 98 Chapter 5: Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 99 Surface Features .................................................................................................... 103 Geophysical Features ............................................................................................ 107 Tillage ............................................................................................................... 108 Road .................................................................................................................. 111 Ditches .............................................................................................................. 113 Pits..................................................................................................................... 121 Houses ............................................................................................................... 123 iv North Cluster House Type ............................................................................ 125 Additional Houses ......................................................................................... 128 House A .................................................................................................... 129 House B ..................................................................................................... 135 Crannog ............................................................................................................. 139 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 142 Chapter 6: Data Synthesis ............................................................................................... 143 Interpretive Map Analysis..................................................................................... 144 Area 1 ................................................................................................................ 145 Area 2 ................................................................................................................ 147 Area 3 ................................................................................................................ 150 Historic Record Integration................................................................................... 153 Rural Life at Ballintober 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