Our final lecture of the year will take place on Friday 24th November at 8pm in St Patrick's Gateway Center, Patrick Street, Waterford.
Topic : New Perspectives on the Archaeology of Iron Age 'Celtic' Ireland'.
In this lecture Dr Becker will explore the fundamental changes in our knowledge and interpretation of the archaeology of Ireland's Iron Age past. Until recently the people and communities who lived in Ireland during the Iron Age were solely visible through finds of 'Celtic' Iron Age artefacts. These objects were mostly found in the northern half of the island which led scholars to ponder what sort of society existed in those parts of the country, like Waterford, where these objects were not found. New discoveries, from archaeological excavation and other research, over recent decades now allows us to reconstruct the lifeways of local Iron Age populations across the whole island and to re-visit old questions relating to the cultural and ethnic identity of the people who lived here in this formative period.
Dr Katharina Becker is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology in University College Cork, where she teaches on the Late Bronze Age and Iron Archaeology of Ireland, Britain and Europe. Her research is focused on the archaeology of Later Prehistoric Ireland, about which she has published extensively. Katharina is director of UCC's Higher Diploma in Archaeology, a 1-year conversion degree for anyone who already has an undergraduate degree in another subject and would like to obtain an Archaeology qualification, she is always delighted to chat to potential new students.
