Deborah Nagle

@naikaiouk.bsky.social

Archaeologist, mother, maker. Currently a PhD student at University College Dublin studying Moynagh Points. Yoga teacher, novice flint knapper, occasional runner, always knitting.

Shenanigans on site at Glendalough today with this year’s students. As someone who delights in taking photos of other people taking photos I suppose I had this coming. 🤣 They all have the phone in front of them in view and of course someone had to take a photo of the whole thing!

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Lots of activity on our last fieldwork day at Mount Sandel. Coring in the woods (and a challenge for GPS!), volunteers helping process samples, Borough Council filming us and lots of visitors! Great day.

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Loads of details to share over the next few days. TX to many colleagues in Causeway Coast & Glen BD, local Museums, Historic Environment Division and many others, not least Mount Sandel Discovery and Heritage Groups, for making this possible. Overall funding from Peaceplus.

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Interested in Holocene Hunter-Gatherers? Come to UISPP Poznan (31 Aug-4 Sep) for session "Adapting to Diversity: Holocene Hunter-Gatherers in Varied World Landscapes" org. Frederica Fontana (Ferrara), Jacek Kabaciński (Polish Acad Sci) & me. Abstract below - deadline Feb 28th. uispp2026.syskonf.pl

The defining feature of the Holocene is the global rise in temperatures that marked the end of the last glacial cycle. This major climatic transition concluded a process that had begun during the terminal Pleistocene, fostering the development of diverse ecological niches across the continents.
In terms of social dynamics, these processes were accompanied by a general demographic increase and a geographical redistribution of human communities across the planet. New territories—particularly those in the lower latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere and in mountain regions—became available for occupation, while coastal areas were progressively reduced in extent, forcing human groups to reorganize their settlement. During this period—particularly in its early phases in some parts of the planet Earth—certain human groups began transitioning toward agriculture and herding, while in most other regions hunting, gathering, and fishing remained the primary subsistence strategies. In the millennia that followed, the new economies spread at varying paces depending on the region, progressively reducing the areas occupied by hunter-gatherer communities.
This session welcomes contributions—at a global scale—focusing on how hunter-gatherer groups adapted to the diverse landscapes that emerged during the Holocene, maintaining a long-term perspective from the beginning of the period to the present day. Contributions may address any aspect of human adaptation, including settlement patterns, mobility, subsistence strategies, technological developments, and ritual or symbolic behaviors.

IMPORTANT NEWS re. 14th Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies... ISHGR are delighted to announce that CHAGS14 will be held in summer 2027 in Belém, Brazil. This will be a partnership between the Goeldi Museum and the Universidade Federal do Pará. More details to follow soon. Please share!!

a picture of a minion holding a megaphone with the words breaking news below him

ALT: a picture of a minion holding a megaphone with the words breaking news below him

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Can the archaeological collective help? These are finds from our recent excavation at Glendalough. All from cultivated soils with lots of C19-20 material. Triangular(ish) sections, varied widths. They are very clearly a 'thing' but we don't know what. Any suggestions/parallels appreciated.

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