Topics

Experimental archaeology for an Early Medieval Irish farm.

This blog is dedicated to the research and documentation of material culture of the Early Medieval Irish (ca. 300 CE to ca. 1200 CE).  Posts are slowly being added into various categories (see the menu of topics below) as the researcher and experimental archaeologist finds time to make them.  Questions can be sent via email, or posted as comments; suggested avenues of further research into these topics, as well as additional sources, are always appreciated.

The goal of this blog is to take rather esoteric subjects and make them more accessible for anyone interested in Irish reenactment.  Although the topics are grounded with as many primary sources and references as possible, the hope is that the language and contents will still be readable and useful even to those who have never looked into these topics before.  Please forgive any posts that venture too far into scholasticism or that stay too shallow and general; keeping the balance between those two extremes can, at times, be difficult.

Posts Organized by Topic

Defining the Irish:
Insular, not Celtic: new evidence on the ancestry of the Irish

Garb: evidence for clothing in Early Medieval Ireland

Garb Part 1: analysis of sources
Garb Part 2: materials and decoration
Garb Part 3: the hooded tunic
Garb Part 4: the rest of the outfit

Fiber arts: making textiles in Early Medieval Ireland
Whorls: removable weights for spindles

Forestry: tree-training techniques
Coppicing Part 1: forest management for sustainability instead of deforestation
Coppicing Part 2: coppicing
Coppicing Part 3: pollarding
Coppicing Part 4: hedges

Cooking: fires and utensils in Early Medieval Ireland
Hearths: rectangular pits with stone sides

Uses for ash: lye (various types of hydroxide), soap making, food preservation, etc.
Lye Part 1: overview
Lye Part 2: potash lye, wood ash
Lye Part 3: sodium hydroxide, soda ash
Lye Part 4: saponification

Charcoal: the use of anaerobic heat treatment to carbonize wood
Charcoal Part 1: overview
Charcoal Part 2: making charcoal in mounds
Charcoal Part 3: making charcoal in pit kilns
Charcoal Part 4: making charcoal in a crucible
Charcoal Part 5: char-preservation for wood posts

Farming: the life, laws and context of agriculture in Early Medieval Ireland
Laws: the legal evidence regarding Irish farming 
Mills: wind, water and tidal mills

Livestock: the animals kept in Early Medieval Ireland
Pigs
Goats
Sheep
Horses 

Scribal arts: the materials and art of Irish script
Parchment Part 1: availability and value of parchment in the medieval period
Parchment Part 2: overview of the material

This blog is written and maintained by Ollam* Sadb ingen Chonchobair, a reenactor and crafter in the Society for Creative Anachronism.  Her small, sustainable farm is located in central Virginia (USA) and has a small complement of sheep, goats, pigs and poultry, as well as various gardening projects and ongoing forest management.
*Ollam means teacher/professor and is used as an alternative title for the rank of Laurel in the SCA.