Chronological precision is a pre-requisite for all palaeoecological analyses, especially in more recent Holocene deposits such as small hollow peat and mor humus in woodlands. Here, tephrochronology was employed to improve the chronological control of such deposits to aid subsequent sub-fossil insect analyses from three sites in western and southwestern Ireland. Six tephra layers were detected from the three small hollows but only one from the mor humus sites. Four of the layers were matched to known tephra horizons regularly recorded in Ireland while two new tephras of possible Azores and Grímsvötn origin were recorded. The latter tephra may be the first definitive record of Laki 1783-4 from Ireland and is potentially an important new chronological marker for Irish palaeoecological investigations of late Holocene deposits. Results suggest that tephrochronology is a successful additional chronological tool for small hollow palaeoecological studies but is less helpful in mor humus deposits.
Parks of Garden, a Neolithic site in southern Scotland, is located within a thin wedge of peat which abuts a ridge of glacial moraine that stretches across the Upper Forth river valley. The site comprises a rapidly constructed small wooden platform dating to 3340–2920 cal BC, within the Early Neolithic period of Scotland. The platform may have functioned as a transitory hunting hide and as a preparation area for hunting and gathering expeditions across the fen and into the salt-marshes of the local environment.
Excavations in the grounds of St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh were undertaken by Headland Archaeology from November 2006 to February 2007 on behalf of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in advance of the construction of a hotel on the site. Soil analyses suggested that flash floods had swept through this part of Cowgate up until the early development of the medieval town upslope in the 11th-12th centuries. This early pattern was followed by the gradual build-up of material washed downslope from the High Street; this contained midden material and dung beetles, illustrating the nearby presence of the town. The site lay outwith the bounds of the burgh until the 14th century, when a substantial ditch was cut across the site, believed to be the medieval town boundary. The ditch was backfilled in the 15th century and finds and samples have revealed a vivid picture of life in the medieval town. The ditch was a stinking rubbish dump for many kinds of human and animal detritus, which illustrates that the Cowgate was a busy thoroughfare to the town's markets and contained a variety of industries, including horn working. After the ditch was filled in deep midden deposits, characteristic of this area of Edinburgh, built up on the site.
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