James O’Driscoll
@jodarchaeology.bsky.social
1.3K followers 250 following 49 posts
Lecture in geospatial archaeology at the University of Glasgow, interested in landscape archaeology, GIS, remote sensing, hillforts, causewayed enclosures and anything big on top of a hill
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
forestcollectiv.bsky.social
#AncientSiteSunday with Ladle Hill, the great unfinished hillfort

See more of it & the Hillforts of Hampshire & Wiltshire in the new episode >>>
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-I1...
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
antiquity.ac.uk
Ancient bevelled rim bowls from fourth millennium BC Iraqi Kurdistan were likely used to distribute large quantities of stew, suggesting the earliest state institutions were formed based on their ability to provision food to labourers.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Multiple bevelled rim bowls stacked together.
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
davidstifter.bsky.social
Yesterday was the big day:
The team of the Glasgow-Maynooth OG(H)AM project celebrated the end of four years of intensive work (2021-5) with the launch - in the venerable rooms of the Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie - of the new, revised and hugely updated 𝕆𝕘𝕙𝕒𝕞 𝕚𝕟 𝟛𝔻 database and website.
/1
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
bobmarshall.co.uk
If you, like me, would love to see the first broch built in Scotland in over two thousand years, please help out by making a donation. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/buy-the-br...

Learn more about the Caithness Broch Project at www.thebrochproject.co.uk/the-big-broc...
Artist's impression showing what the new broch built at Flygla in Caithness might look like when completed—the first Iron Age-style broch structure to be built in Scotland in over two thousand years.
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
trimontiumtrust.bsky.social
#Carloway Broch, an impressive Iron Age #ScottishBroch on the Isle of Lewis, crowns a rocky knoll above Loch an Duin. Built around 200 BC, it was used until AD 1000, later serving clans for defence into the 1500s, & even as a pottery kiln in subsequent centuries.
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
tuatha.ie
It's #LoveDonegal Day! Not only is Donegal one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, but it is rich in history.

Here are just four of my favourite places to discover the story of Donegal:

1. The Grianán of Aileach

2. Glencolmcille

3. Beltany Stone Circle

4. Dísert

#Ireland #SpéirGhorm
An aerial view of the circular Stone fort known as The Grianán of Aileach One of the stations of the Turas Glencolmcille, a stone pillar carved with an early cross An aerial view of Beltany stone circle A stone arch under a rowan tree at Dísert in the Bluestack Mountains of Donegal
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
davidstifter.bsky.social
One week to go.

@researchireland.ie
ceilteachomn.bsky.social
The team of the Glasgow-Maynooth OG(H)AM project invite you to the launch of the new Ogham in 3D website on Friday 12 September from 15.30–16.45 in the @ria.ie as part of the conference Teangeolaíocht na Gaeilge.

All information and tickets available at www.tickettailor.com/events/mayno....
Ogham Project logo
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
trimontiumtrust.bsky.social
Beneath the stillness, something stirs.
An empire strikes. A hillfort resists.
Smoke lingers. Lead falls.
Burnswark awakes.

Coming July 2025. Stay tuned.

#BurnswarkAwakes #TheBurnswarkExperience #WhenRomeAttacks
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
Low hanging fruit for a PhD!
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
Looking at the chronically understudied Irish cursus today and spotted some nice unrecorded features in Lugnagun cursus, Co. Wicklow that might show internal divisions similar to some British sites! Haven't seen those on an Irish cursus before, but then again, not sure anyone has ever looked!
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
trimontiumtrust.bsky.social
#RomanFortThursday Near Lockerbie lies #Birrens -Blatobulgium- a Roman fort built cAD80, like Trimontium.

It was a cultural crossroads, with altars to Brigantia & Ricagambeda.

Just 6 miles away #Burnswark Hill— the site of a Roman siege on a native hillfort, likely involving troops from Birrens.⚔️
Field at Barrens; head of a deity found at Birrens; relief depicting Brigantia; aerial image of Burnswark hillfort Field at Barrens; head of a deity found at Birrens; relief depicting Brigantia; aerial image of Burnswark hillfort Field at Barrens; head of a deity found at Birrens; relief depicting Brigantia; aerial image of Burnswark hillfort Field at Barrens; head of a deity found at Birrens; relief depicting Brigantia; aerial image of Burnswark hillfort
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
With fieldwork season just about to start, and because I am too cheap buy one, I decided to make my own large sieve! Here is a first attempt - lots of blood, sweat and tears gone into this (mostly blood, I should not be left near sharp things)
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
trimontiumtrust.bsky.social
🏞️ Hillfort of the Week: Bell Hill 🏞️

Overlooking #Lindean Loch near #Selkirk , Bell Hill is a brilliant example of a ridge-top fort. The Borders has one of the highest concentrations of #IronAge hillforts in Europe—evidence of a thriving past in this ancient landscape.
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
My thoughts exactly! An OSL profile of the collapsed rampart to see if it was pulled down in a single event or gradually eroded over time - though a Roman sword was found underneath some collapse, so again, strong support for a siege
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
hillfortian.bsky.social
#RomanFortThursday
2 for the price of 1- It's the south and north camps on either side of Burnswark Hillfort, Dumfriesshire.
A LOT of lead bullets found here from Roman slingers. But lack of robust contextual data means the story is not yet clear. A mighty siege? A training camp? Something else?
Hillfort on skyline A fence line in foreground with panoramic verdant landscape beyond. Looking closely one can see earthworks of a Roman  fort out there
(South camp) Green fields with a stand of trees middle ground. A Roman fort is in there

(north Roman camp)
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
With the evidence we have for the ballistics, and the early first millennium AD material culture from the occupation within the interior, I think there is every chance this was a siege, but simply getting some good radiocarbon dates for the hillfort and settlement is badly needed prove either or
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
There has been much debate as to whether Burnswark hillfort in S. Scotland was the site of a Roman siege, or was a long abandoned fort re-used by the Romans as a training camp. Excavation in in the 60's recovered lots of Roman ballistics and even a Roman sword! #HillfortsWednesday
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
antiquity.ac.uk
Lidar of 5 cursus monuments at Baltinglass 🇮🇪 It is one of the largest cursus clusters found in Ireland or Britain, indicating Baltinglass was intensively settled from the Neolithic to Bronze Age #FridayLidar 🏺

🔗 to research published #OnThisDay in 2024 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Hillshape and Simple Local Relief Models of the cursus monuments.
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
The stone-built enclosure on the elongated summit of Turlough Hill, Co. Clare, Ireland, has long been identified as a hillfort. However, its unusual polygonal shape and the numerous breaks in its bank might suggest it represents a Neolithic causewayed enclosure instead! #HillfortsWednesday
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
As an #MUFC fan this is incredibly offensive….you hammered us 4-1 🤣
Reposted by James O’Driscoll
trimontiumtrust.bsky.social
A clip of Bonchester Hillfort in #Roxburghshire in the #ScottishBorders - Excavations have dated the fort to the pre #Roman Iron Age & this clip shows the traces of the stone foundations of the round houses, within & without the defences. 

#HillfortsWednesday #ScotlandStartsHere
jodarchaeology.bsky.social
Yes, the central enclosure has been suggested to represent a Roman temple, with the Roman 'toilet' implements and iron pins possible votive deposits, and the inhumations, which have typically been associated with the BA cairn, reinterpreted as Late Iron Age - no dating for any of this through!!