Kinship, Culture and Death in Neolithic Ireland

Dig into the Story in Amplify Archaeology Podcast Episode 50 with Dr Jessica Smyth, Dr Neil Carlin & Dr Susan Greaney

In this episode of Amplify Archaeology Podcast, Neil chats with Dr Jessica Smyth, Dr Neil Carlin and Dr Susan Greaney about their recent paper that discusses Neolithic society, kinship, ancient DNA, and how we understand and interpret the story of the past.

In recent years there have been a number of studies looking at Neolithic society. With the use of emerging techniques such as ancient DNA, some of the studies have interpreted aspects of society, with ideas of hierarchy and elites. However, while genetic studies are another lens that we can use to look at the past, it doesn’t give the full picture by itself. This has been examined in an important recent paper, Social and Genetic Relations in Neolithic Ireland: Re-evaluating Kinship by a collaborative team of researchers including Dr Neil Carlin, Dr Jessica Smyth, Dr Catherine Frieman, Prof. Daniela Hofmann, Prof. Penny Bickle, Dr Kerri Cleary, Dr Susan Greaney and Dr Rachel Pope.

In this episode, Neil was joined by three of the authors; Dr Neil Carlin, Dr Jessica Smyth and Dr Susan Greaney, for a wide ranging discussion that delves into the paper and what we know about the Neolithic period, the process of archaeology and how that has changed and developed, our understanding of megalithic tombs and their role, and a discussion about ancient DNA and genetics, and how the use of these techniques, when combined with archaeological approaches, can give us remarkable new insights into past societies.

Amplify Archaeology Podcast is sponsored by Tuatha, this is our online membership with a growing community of like-minded people who love exploring Ireland’s sites, landscapes and heritage. You can find out more and start your own Irish archaeological adventure today at tuatha.ie.

AMPLIFY ARCHAEOLOGY PODCAST

AMPLIFY ARCHAEOLOGY PODCAST

Title: Kinship, Culture and Death in Neolithic Ireland

Duration: 1 hour 35 mins.

Summary:
In this episode we take a deep dive into Neolithic society, ancient DNA, kinship, and how we interpret the past

Kinship, Culture and Death in Neolithic Ireland – Key Discussion Points and Show Notes

• What is it about the Neolithic period that captures the imagination? – 2 min 17 secs
• An introduction to Neolithic Ireland – 4 min 50 secs
• An archaeology of the archaeology – how our understanding of megalithic tombs has developed – 8 min 04 secs
• What has recent excavations revealed about life in Neolithic Ireland? – 12 min 45 secs
• Ireland’s megalithic tombs – 19 min 52 secs
• How distinctive is the Neolithic in Ireland in comparison to Britain and Europe? – 25 min 17 secs
• Our understanding and interpretation of megalithic tombs and Neolithic mortuary practice – 27 min 57 secs
• Who gets to be buried in a megalithic tomb? – 41 min 50 secs
• Genetics and interpreting the past – 55 min 02 secs
• Further discussion on genetic evidence and what it tells us – 1 hour 07 mins 42 secs
• Ancient DNA and its use in archaeology – 1 hour 14 mins 20 secs
• The importance of using collaborative approaches to look at the past – 1 hour 20 mins 50 secs
• Solstice Pigs! – 1 hour 25 mins

Links to further information

• You can read the paper Social and Genetic Relations in Neolithic Ireland: Re-evaluating Kinship here.
• You can delve further into the discussion in the paper The ‘king’ of Newgrange? A critical analysis of a Neolithic petrous fragment from the passage tomb chamber here.
• And dig into the story of the solstice pigs that Neil discussed at the end in this paper: ‘Pigs, pannage, and the solstice: isotopic insights from prehistoric feasting at Newgrange’, available here.
• I highly recommend Gabriel Cooney’s brilliant book, Death in Irish Prehistory for an overview of some of the topics we touched on, it’s available here.
• And you can watch the livestream of the Winter Solstice at Newgrange here.
• I hope you enjoyed the show. This marks our 50th episode of the podcast! I’d be so grateful if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts if you can, or share the episode using the podcast #AmplifyArchaeology – it really does help us to be found!
• If you’d like to dig deeper into the stories of Ireland you’ll love our membership service Tuatha. You’ll find online courses on Irish archaeology and heritage, articles on places to visit, itineraries for great days out, opportunities to join us on our monthly lecture series and on our tours, and lots more! You can learn more and sign up here. And remember to use your coupon code AMPLIFY20 for 20% off.
• Or if you have an archaeological aficionado in your life, you can make Ireland’s past your present! Pick up a gift membership to Tuatha at our store. And use the coupon code amplify20 for 20% off your purchase.

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