8
The Study of Fossil Insect Remains in Environmental and Archaeological Investigations: An Irish Perspective
Abstract
This chapter reviews the usefulness of fossil insect remains in archaeological and Quaternary sediments. It outlines the history of the discipline and highlights the different insect groups available for analysis and their uses and contribution to the understanding of past environments. The practicalities of sampling, identification and analysis are presented. The second part of the chapter provides a comprehensive review of the available fossil insect evidence from Ireland, starting with our knowledge of climate change inferred from fossil insects, then moving onto studies which highlight the development of the Irish landscape via a series of published prehistoric archaeological sites, and including unpublished data from a new investigation at Ballyarnet Lake, in Co. Derry. Finally, the contribution of urban and rural archaeological faunas from the historic period are discussed, with particular reference to research from Dublin, such as published research on Viking and Medieval deposits and a new Post-Medieval assemblage from Newmarket. The importance of analyses from rural assemblages at the Early Christian rath site at Deer Park Farms, Co. Antrim, is highlighted. The chapter concludes by highlighting areas to be addressed and future research directions.
Introduction
Insects potentially provide one of the most effective means of reconstructing both past environments and the details of changing climate, being very sensitive to environmental change and occupying almost every type of habitat on land and freshwater. Their diversity enables them to be utilised as proxy data for a wide variety of habitats and climatic conditions (Elias 1994, 55). As a group, their remains may be the most frequent identifiable fossils in terrestrial, waterlogged sediments and they are similarly common in anaerobic archaeological sediments.
Fossil insect research (Quaternary entomology or palaeoentomology) has provided important palaeoclimatic data on the transition from arctic to temperate conditions during the Late-Glacial (e.g. Coope et al. 1998), as well as highlighting the scale of environmental changes, particularly during the last 5,000 years of the Holocene (Buckland and Coope 1991). Much of this record has been obtained through the use of palaeoentomology in archaeological investigations. Many of these have concerned rural sites, such as Neolithic and Bronze Age trackways and occupation sites (e.g. Girling 1976; 1979; 1980; Robinson 1991; 2000; Smith et al. 1997) and Iron Age enclosure sites (Chowne et al. 1986; Robinson 1993; Roper and Whitehouse 1997). Urban archaeological sites have also yielded copious insect material (e.g. Hall and Kenward 1980; Greig 1981; Kenward and Hall 1998). There has also been a growth of palaeoecological studies which have examined deposits not directly associated with archaeological features, usually peat or alluvial sequences, but which carry a record of human impact on the landscape. Fluvial sediments often accumulate material, particularly in secondary channels bends, backflows and pools, as well as adjacent floodplain deposits (Brown 1997; Smith and Howard 2004), such as those from Bole Ings, in the Trent Valley (Dinnin 1997) and Tiln, in the Idle Valley (Howard et al. 1999), both in Eastern England. Bogs and fens are also rich sources of fossil insect assemblages, although fen peats tend to be richer in insect remains than acid peats (Buckland 1979; Roper 1996; Whitehouse 2004). Anaerobic conditions ensure excellent preservation and the rapid built-up of deposits provides good temporal resolution.
Although the focus of Quaternary entomology has undoubtedly been in Great Britain, investigations in Ireland have, over the last ten years or so, become more frequent, although they are still perhaps relatively rare compared with other areas of environmental archaeology. This is largely due to under-funding in this area, lack of specialists and, perhaps, limited awareness of the potential of sub-fossil insect data. This paper is, therefore, a timely opportunity to evaluate the published evidence and identify future opportunities. Methods associated with this approach are summarised, particularly those associated with fossil beetles, although reference is made to other groups studied, together with a review of their usefulness. Workers who have made the greatest contribution to the field include Russell Coope (Coope et al. 1979; Coope 1981), Eileen Reilly, working on archaeological deposits from Dublin and wetland sites such as Corlea trackway and Derryville Bog (Reilly 1996; 2003; Caseldine et al. 2001), Harry Kenward investigating the faunas from Deer Park Farms, Co. Antrim (Kenward and Allison 1994; Allison et al. 1999) and more recently, the author (e.g. Plunkett et al. 2004; Hall et al. 2005; Whitehouse 2006). Not all research is, as yet, unfortunately, available in the public domain.
Figure 8.1 shows the location of the Irish sites referred to in the text. Coleoptera nomenclature in the text follows Lucht (1987), while plant nomenclature follows Stace (1991). Apart from the discussions of Late Glacial and earlier records, where dates are expressed as calibrated radiocarbon dates BP, dates are expressed as cal. BC/AD where possible, to provide easy comparison with archaeological records and dendrochronological dates.
Principles and Methods
Carl Lindroth and fellow Scandinavian entomologists established the foundations of the modern discipline in the 1930s and 1940s, but in the mid 1950s research activity moved to Britain and the geology department at Birmingham University (Morgan and Morgan 1987). Here, Professor Russell Coope began studying Quaternary insect fossils from Upon Warren, an interstadial site in the British Midlands dated to c. 40,000 radiocarbon years ago (Coope et al. 1961). By making patient comparisons with modern specimens, he matched most of the material to modern species. Coope showed that insects had remained evolutionally stable in their morphology and their environmental requirements throughout the whole of the Quaternary period (Coope 1970). Indeed, evidence for evolutionary change is extremely rare from Quaternary insect assemblages. John Matthews (1970) working in Alaska, has been able to show changes in Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene fossils, but even here, these are only slight. Research from the far north of Greenland has confirmed Matthews’ work (Böcher 1986; 1997). It seems that the overall composition of the assemblages of insect species which broadly occur today, at least in the temperate zones, were established during Late Tertiary times, with very similar fossil insect assemblages recovered during different glacial, interglacial and interstadial climatic episodes (Elias 1994).
Figure 8.1: Location map of Irish sites discussed in the text.
Insect groups identified commonly include the beetles (Coleoptera), because their robust exoskeleton survives well in waterlogged deposits, leaving many of their diagnostic features still evident (Fig. 8.2). There are about 4000 species in Great Britain and c. 3000 in Ireland, which means that identification is still very much of a specialist activity. Other insect orders are, however, increasingly being analysed, such as larval head capsules of the Chironomidae (Diptera) (commonly known as ‘non-biting midges’) (Fig. 8.3). This group have recently received considerable research attention (e.g. Walker et al. 1991; Brooks et al. 1997a; 1997b; Brooks and Birks 2001; Langdon et al. 2004; Brooks 2006). Although their use in archaeological investigations has been limited so far, they show considerable potential (Ruiz et al. 2006), as discussed further below.
Figure 8.2: Fossil beetle assemblage associated with Old Croghan Man, Croghan Bog (Photo: N. Whitehouse).
Work on other Dipterous (fly) remains is being pioneered through the work of Pete Skidmore (1995) and more recently Eva Panagiotakopulu (2004). Trichoptera (caddis) have also received some attention (e.g. Wilkinson 1984; Greenwood et al. 2003). Hymenoptera (bees) are often well represented and groups such as the Formicidae (ants) merit specialist attention (e.g. Robinson 1993). Increasingly, there is the use of multiple insect groups to refine reconstruction of past environments, particularly where high quality data is required concerning periods of rapid environmental change. A good example of this approach is provided by the Kråkenes Project, which has investigated the ecosystem of this lake in western Norway during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene (Birks et al. 2000).
On archaeological sites, ectoparasites of animals and humans, such as lice and fleas are commonly recovered, particularly where there is preservation of good organic material (e.g. Allison et al. 1999). Other arthropod groups such as mites (Acarina) have received some study, notably by Karppinen and Koponen (1973; 1974) and Schelvis (1987; 1997) in the investigation of archaeological deposits.
Figure 8.3: Chironomid head capsules from Lough Nadurcan: Monopsectrocladius sp. (left), Dictotendipes sp. (right) (Photo: J. Watson).
Reconstruction of past environments operates upon on the major assumption that the ecological requirements of insects have not dramatically changed. The fact that groups of species have consistently been found together suggests that the ecological requirements of most species have not altered (Kenward 1976). However, there are considerable difficulties in establishing the ecological requirements of single species and their significance in fossil faunal assemblages. For instance, the available field data may not cover all available habitats and may include casual records. Even when the biology of species is known in some detail, this may not cover all the suitable habitats, especially when microhabitats may provide suitable locations where the overall situation may provide a rather different ecological environment (Kenward 1978). It is recommended that a large number of taxa and individuals are utilised, which when examined together provide a picture of past environments and conditions, an approach known as the ‘mosaic’ approach (Kenward 1975; 1976).
Another consideration concerns the depositional context of an assemblage, and whether the faunal assemblage constitutes a largely in situ assemblage (autochthonous), one which is primarily brought onto site (allochthonous) (e.g. material transported through flooding or insects brought onto a site through human-related activities such as the transport of animal bedding) or whether a mixture of processes has deposited material. This is frequently the case for archaeological material, where a component of insect material represents the population living close to the burial deposit and other material which may have been brought onto the site. Many human activities may influence the transport of such material. Kenward and colleagues provide a review of some of the processes of transport (Kenward 1985; Hall and Kenward 1998), whilst Buckland et al. (1994) consider the different components in Norse floor layers in Greenland and Iceland. Separating out these different components is particularly crucial for the understanding of an archaeological assemblage, whilst in palaeoecological work this additional information may be considered an asset (Coope 1977). An important indicator of the depositional history of fossils is their state of preservation (e.g. Kenward and Large 1998). This can provide clues, amongst other things, of differential preservation, separate origins of ecological components and episodes of dehydration.
The scale of environmental reconstruction required is an important consideration when deciding whether insect fossils should be used in the investigation of a site. Fossil insects will usually provide a largely local rather than regional picture of the environment, in contrast to palynology which will tend to provide a regional picture of environmental change. This combination often makes the twinned approach of using pollen and fossil insects a useful one and is elegantly exemplified in a study by Brayshay and Dinnin (1999). The combined approach of using plant macrofossils and insects is one which has been used very successfully in the analysis of urban archaeological deposits such as those in York (e.g. Kenward and Hall 1995) and elsewhere (Hall and Kenward 1980).
Practicalities: Sampling and Analysis of Fossil Insect Material
Sampling of material suitable for fossil beetle analysis entails the removal of material from an exposed section or bulk sampling from an archaeological or palaeoecological context (e.g. cess pit; ditch; fossil tree rot holes). In the case of the latter, samples are usually removed in 5–10 cm thick contiguous ‘slices’, usually of at least 5–7 litres, taking care not to cross stratigraphic boundaries. Depending on the research questions being posed, and whether these require fine resolution data, even finer sampling may be undertaken (e.g. 3–4 cm slices), although this may not always be practical, but may be desirable with palaeoclimatic investigations. Occasionally it is possible to remove blocks of deposit (e.g. 50 cm x 50 cm), when non-friable deposit is being sampled. This approach allows the investigator to sample in the laboratory particular points in the stratigraphy and is preferable to the former approach. Sampling methods for caddis analysis are very similar to beetle analysis, using similar quantities, at similar resolution.
In archaeological excavations or single palaeoecological contexts, large bulk samples of contexts of interest are recommended. The standard recommendation by English Heritage (2002), for instance, is that specialist bulk samples should be in the order of 20 litres, to allow for sub-sampling of material for different kinds of analyses. Often it may be most appropriate to remove the complete context, such as the fill of a storage or cess pit.
In the case of small insects, such as the chironomids, much smaller amounts of sediment are normally sufficient, typically 0.5–2 cm3, to yield the 50–100 head capsules required, although palaeochannel deposits may require larger amounts of 200 cm3 or more (Ruiz et al. 2006). Chironomids are ubiquitous in freshwater habitats and will be abundant in lake sediments, in-filled lakes and floodplains (e.g. Gandouin et al. 2006). Material for analysis is thus normally extracted using a sediment corer, such as a Livingstone. The analysis of archaeological material entails the recovery of small bulk samples from contexts of interest.
As in the case of all sampling strategies, types of contexts and deposits and how they are to be sampled depends upon the research questions being posed by the investigation. It is therefore imperative that an environmental specialist is involved at the planning stage, enabling the archaeology and environmental aspects of the project to be fully integrated. English Heritage (2002) has produced an excellent booklet specifically aimed at archaeologists and provides a run-down of approaches and sampling strategies. Equivalent guidelines have very recently been prepared for Ireland (Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland 2006).
The extraction of fossil beetles follows a technique adapted by Coope and Osborne (1968) and outlined in full by Buckland and Coope (1991). Up to 5 litres of material are removed for each sample, although more may be required depending upon the deposit being studied. In very organic-rich deposits considerably less may be sufficient; a sub-sample of half or a litre will often be informative about the density of preserved fossils and a good indication of how much sediment may be required for full analysis. Each sample is disaggregated over a 300 micron (μm) sieve to remove any clay, silt and sand fraction from the sample. Paraffin (kerosene) is mixed to the remaining material and cold water is added. The resulting ‘flot’ is then poured off, washed in detergent, rinsed and stored in ethanol. Sorting for insect remains is carried out under a binocular microscope at x10–40 magnification. The amount of time devoted to this activity may vary from between several hours to several days, depending on the volume of the flot. Problematic samples tend to be those associated with fen and raised peats, where often almost the entire sample of several litres may have to be sorted by hand. For the extraction of caddis, the same paraffin flotation method is used, but with the addition of a smaller sieve of 125 microns to collect smaller fragments (Greenwood et al. 2003).
Extraction of chironomids follows the techniques of Hofmann (1986). Firstly, samples are deflocculated in hot 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH), and then sieved through a pair of nested sieves, usually 90 μm and 180 μm. Chironomid head capsules are then hand-picked from the remaining fraction. Keeping the two size fractions separate makes sorting easier. If, however, a large amount of material still remains, further chemical treatment is possible (Walker 2001). The paraffin flotation technique described above has also been found to be very effective (Ruiz et al. 2006). Midge head capsules are usually counted to a minimum of at least 50, although accuracy of palaeoenvironmental reconstructions are strengthened with counts of c. 80–100 (Hieri and Lotter 2001; Quinlan and Smol 2001), and mounted directly onto slides or dehydrated in 99% ethanol before mounting in Euparal or another suitable mounting medium. Head capsules are usually identified based on mentum (see Fig. 8.3), ventromental plates and other structures according to Cranston (1982), Hofmann (1971), Wiederholm (1983) and Rieradevall and Brooks (2001). It is usually possible to identify taxa to genus or groups, whilst identification to species or species group level has become increasingly possible due to advances in identification guides for fossil midge head capsules (Brooks 2006).
The identification of other insect fossil material is carried out through the use of European entomological keys and through direct comparison with a range of modern comparative material (Buckland and Coope 1991). Most researchers will require access to a good museum collection. After identification, the minimum number of individuals (MNI) from the parts recovered are listed and counted. Where preservation levels are good, species level identification is possible for about 70% of the fauna, allowing very detailed environmental histories and reconstructions to be made. Where many samples are to be examined, however, it may not always be necessary or desirable to identify all samples to species level, as rapid scanning techniques can often be informative without the time requirement associated with full analysis (Kenward et al. 1986; Kenward 1992). Conversely, this approach may mean that occasionally significant species may be overlooked, although this is unlikely where experienced researchers are concerned. Rapid scanning techniques should only be undertaken by very experienced workers. For caddis, identification is mostly based on shape, size and colour pattern of frotoclypeal apotome, as matched against reference material and standard texts (Greenwood et al. 2003).
The ‘mosaic’ approach is usually used in the interpretation of many fossil insect assemblages. This may be limited to a discussion of the significance of particular species and their habitats, but can extend itself to the classification of assemblages into groups of species, such as aquatics, wetland species, wood and tree species and so on (e.g. Kenward 1978; Robinson 1991; 1993; Kenward and Hall 1995; Whitehouse 2004). The setting up of an ecological habitat and fossil beetle database at the University of Sheffield, now based at the University of Bournemouth, has greatly facilitated and contributed to the use of this approach (cf. Sadler et al. 1992; Buckland et al. 1997). It should, however, be noted that modern descriptions of habitat preferences and ecological groupings cannot necessarily be applied to archaeological studies without modification and have to be interpreted by a trained practitioner.
The division of data into categories is, however, essentially an interpretative tool and suffers from certain limitations, including the subjective nature of selection, assignment and interpretation of categories (Whitehouse 2004). The interpretation of the resultant diagrams always should be done by reference to the species list. Other types of analyses include the use of indices to examine species diversity (e.g. Kenward 1978; Roper 1996), sample similarity (Perry et al. 1985; Whitehouse 2004), and rank order curves (Kenward 1978; Roper 1996). A further step in palaeoenvironmental interpretation can be achieved through indicator groups and species associations, where a suite of species might be expected to be found consistently under certain conditions. This type of approach has been developed by Kenward and colleagues (Kenward et al. 1986; Kenward 1997; Kenward and Hall 1997; Hall and Kenward 1998), who have attempted to identify the origin of deposits from their ‘signature fauna’.
Relatively few multivariate ordination techniques have been used in the analysis of fossil beetle assemblages (e.g. Perry et al. 1985; Cong and Ashworth 1987; Perry 1987), although recent work has highlighted the value of these approaches. Carrott and Kenward (2001) and Kenward and Carrott (2006) have used detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA) for separating different ecological groups in the analysis of urban assemblages from York, whilst Whitehouse (1998; 2004) used correspondence analysis to explore mire ontogeny at Thorne and Hatfield Moors, south Yorkshire, to establish similarities between sites and samples as well as the frequency and association of common species. These approaches suggest there is considerable potential for the use of multivariate statistics to study fossil coleopteran data sets, particularly where relationships between species, samples and sites are being investigated. Such analyses require large data sets, so are most suitable for the analysis of urban archaeological assemblages, or where multiple sites have been examined.
The analysis of fossil midges, in addition to using similar ordination approaches such as those described above (e.g. DCA, PCA), also use transfer functions to infer environmental conditions, based on modern training sets. This is a well-established method which has been used by researchers to reconstruct a wide range of environmental variables from different proxies. Birks (1998) provides a review of the principles involved. Performance measures are applied in order to test the robustness of results. Results from these analyses suggest that each midge lives within a narrow temperature range, and counting the relative abundance of different species can pinpoint summer temperatures to within 1–2 °C. Midges can respond fast to temperature changes as they fly and reproduce in less than one year. The analysis of chironomids is also used extensively for bio-monitoring, for instance, in the study of lake eutrophication, productivity, pH, water levels, toxicity and physical disturbances (Brodin 1986; Brooks et al. 2001).
Quaternary Entomology and Climate Change
One of the most important research areas of Quaternary entomology lies in the field of climate change. A succession of studies in the early 1970s by Coope and co-workers showed that beetles were responding to a series of very rapid climate changes of greater amplitude and speed than those deduced from the pollen record (Ashworth 1972; 1973; Coope and Brophy 1972; Osborne 1972; 1980; Coope and Joachim 1980). The botanical record is impeded by the slower migration rates of plants, particularly of trees. Through work on many sites, Coope was able to produce a composite curve showing climate through much of the Late Glacial (c. 13,000 BP–10,000 BP) (Coope and Brophy 1972; Coope 1977; 1994; Walker et al. 1993; Lowe et al. 1999). The rapid changes from cold to warm conditions during the this period inferred by this work, possibly in less than fifty years during the Younger Dryas-Holocene transition (Ashworth 1972; 1973; Osborne 1974; 1980), have been confirmed by the Greenland ice cores which suggests abrupt and rapid warming, perhaps within 10–20 years (Dansgaard et al. 1989). There is a particularly good correlation between the palaeoclimatic curve derived from fossil insect sites in the British Isles and those derived from the Greenland ice core and other proxies (Coope and Lemdahl 1995; Lowe and Walker 1997), although local as well as regional influences can have important effects upon results (Coope and Lemdahl 1995; Coope et al. 1998; Vandenberghe et al. 1998).
The quantification and standardisation of the palaeoclimatic data have been aided by the Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) method (Atkinson et al. 1989). The application of the MCR technique has seen the production of palaeoclimatic curves for almost the last 45,000 years (Lowe and Walker 1997), at least for northern Europe. Elias (1996; 1997; Elias et al. 1996) has also applied MCR to insect assemblages from the American continent, whilst in the southern hemisphere Marra et al. (2004), working in New Zealand use a new technique (Maximum Likelihood Envelope or MLE) which works on similar principles but which accommodates for the uneven state of knowledge of the present day New Zealand fauna, mathematically tests the robustness of each calculation, and makes any necessary adjustments.
The basic assumption of these approaches is that if the present climatic tolerance range of a beetle species is known, then fossil occurrences of that species imply a palaeoclimate which lies within the same tolerance range. The palaeoclimate is reconstructed by using the mutual intersection of modern climatic ranges of selected species in the fossil record (Atkinson et al. 1989). Coleoptera are especially suitable for this technique as they are a varied group in which many species show fairly well defined tolerance ranges (Elias 1994). Carnivorous and scavenging beetle species are usually utilised as they are able to respond more rapidly to climate change and they are not tied to specific types of vegetation. MCR reconstructs mean July (warmest month) temperature (TMAX) and mean January (coldest month) temperature (TMIN). It is possible to test the accuracy of MCR by reconstructing climates from living beetle assemblages. This has been carried at a number of sites in Europe, Siberia and North West Canada (Atkinson et al. 1989). The results show that the reconstructed median is lying slightly above the true value of TMAX, whereas with TMIN the median overestimates the true value in colder climates but underestimates it at sites with mild winters. The MCR results can be corrected to take into account these differences (Walkling and Coope 1996).
The Late glacial transition (LGIT) is well documented in Ireland (Coope et al. 1979; Cwynar and Watts 1989; Andrieu et al. 1993) with clear evidence for the Late Glacial Interstadial/Woodgrange Interstadial and Younger Dryas Stadial/Nahanagan Stadial, though the precise timing, duration and magnitude of these oscillations is uncertain (Andrieu et al. 1993). The abundance of suitable deposits, many still unstudied and of high resolution, suggests that Ireland has considerable potential to play a significant part in climate change research. The limited work carried out on the Late Glacial and Early Holocene in Ireland is confined to published and unpublished work undertaken by Professor Russell Coope, formerly at Royal Holloway College, University of London, and unpublished work by the author and her students. Of the published work, two sites cover this period–Shortalstown, Co. Wexford and Drumurcher, Co. Monaghan–while a further three unpublished sites–Finglas River, Co. Tipperary; Craddenstown, Co. Meath; Ballybetagh Bog, Co. Wicklow–also exist (see Coope and Lemdhal 1995; also Turney et al. 2000).
From Shortalstown, Co. Wexford, Coope (1971) investigated two samples; the uppermost dated to 12,160±180 BP (I-4963; 13,500–11,700 cal. BC). Although there are a few species which have predominantly northern distributions (e.g. Pelophila borealis Payk., Patrobus septentrionis Dej. and Dytiscus lapponicus Gyll.), they all still live in Ireland today and the majority of the fauna consists of eurytherm species–those which are able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures–as well as a large number of species which are today rare or absent from Northern Europe (e.g. Bembidion minimum F., Hydroporus granularis L., Colymbetes fuscus L., Donacia cinerea Hbst.). Many taxa are inhabitants of stationary fresh water, as well as those which live in accumulating plant debris in ponds. A rich littoral vegetation is implied by the beetles, there is no evidence for tree-dependant species or warmth-loving species, although Coope (1971) suggests a climate little different from that of Ireland at the present day, with an average July temperature of c. 15–16 °C. Coope interprets the faunas as belonging to the Bölling phase of the Interstadial, where insect faunas indicate a climate at least as warm as the present.
In contrast, insect faunas from Drumurcher, Co. Monaghan (Coope et al. 1979), date to the Younger Dryas (10,515±195 BP; Birm-239; 11,100–9,700 cal. BC) and the Early Holocene. The Younger Dryas assemblages are dominated by beetles associated with arctic and melting snow bed conditions, such as Bembidion fellmanni Mnh., Nebria nivalis Payk., Diacheila arctica Gyll., and Helophorus glacialis Villa. Moss and leaf litter debris are also indicated by small staphylinid beetles such as Olophrum fuscum Gr., O. boreale Pk. and Arpedium brachypterum Gr. Many of these taxa are today restricted to the most northerly areas of Europe.
The contribution of the Irish record to our understanding of climate change is extremely important, not just in terms of understanding past climates and how these would have impacted upon prehistoric populations, but also within the wider context of global climate change. We now know that there are regional differences in the Late Glacial climate of northern Europe based upon beetles (Coope and Lemdhal 1995; Walkling et al. 1998), and that there is very good correlation between the climatic curve for the wider geographic area of the British Isles and that from the Greenland ice core and other proxies. This suggests that there are causal links between North Atlantic surface water circulation (Thermohaline Circulation) and climatic conditions on the adjacent continent. Effects would be most prominent in these areas closest to the ocean margin, provided there were no other overriding counter-balances. This idea can be tested most effectively in Ireland where periods of rapid climate change may have been most felt in westerly localities, adjacent to the North Atlantic. The prevailing westerly airflow, combined with the strongly controlled maritime climate and an absence of any significant ice cap at the time of the Late Glacial transition (McCabe 1987), allow climatic changes to be identified and quantified free from any effects of ice and continentality in the east. In fact, the Irish record has played relatively little part in this debate, despite being in an ideal location to examine some of these issues. Work is now underway at several sites to examine the sensitivity of Ireland to these changes and how these compare with Great Britain and elsewhere across northern Europe via a PhD studentship undertaken by Jenny Watson, based at Queen’s University Belfast, under the supervision of the author and Steve Brooks, Natural History Museum, London. Improving chronological methods such as the identification of rhyolitic and basaltic microtephra horizons within Late Glacial minerogenic sediments (Turney 1998) allow the correlation of sequences from Ireland with sites across Europe and with ice cores. Recent research at sites such as Roddans Port, Co. Down (Morrison and Stephens 1965), has indicated the presence of several marker Late Glacial tephra horizons in deposits in the north of Ireland (Turney et al. 2006) and offers the potential for high-precision correlation of palaeoclimatic records throughout the North Atlantic region.
More recently, there has been considerable success in reconstructing past climates using non-biting midges. Brooks examined midges with considerable success from a Late Glacial chironomid sequence from Whitrig Bog, south-east Scotland (Brooks and Birks 2000). Brooks’ temperature curve reveals dramatic fluctuations in the relative populations of coldwater and warm-water taxa for 5000 years after the end of the last ice age c. 14,000 BP. Chironomid-inferred transfer functions are based on 109 Norwegian modern lakes. Four interstadial oscillations were identified as well as a gradual warming throughout the Younger Dryas (Brooks and Birks 2000). The largest fluctuation is the Younger Dryas; the midge remains suggest that Scottish summer temperatures at the start of the Younger Dryas crashed by about 10 °C over just a few decades. These results corresponded closely with the oxygen isotope curve derived from the GRIP ice core, although there is some debate concerning the global extent of this event (e.g. Turney et al. 2003). More recently, other sites have been investigated for their midge record, such as at Howes Water, near Liverpool (Marshall et al. 2002; Bedford et al. 2004), and in Ireland work is now well underway at Lough Nadurcan, Co. Donegal, and Roddans Port, Co. Down (Watson unpub.; Whitehouse and Brooks unpub.).
Despite the success in examining Late Glacial climatic change, Holocene climatic change has been less easy to infer from the insect record. For example, terrestrial floral evidence indicates a cool start to the Holocene, but the beetle evidence suggests that this period may have been the warmest (Osborne 1997), a fact corroborated by the Greenland ice core data (Johnsen et al. 2001). There has been perhaps more success looking at climate change using midges, but even these are beset with interpretational problems relating to the influence of pH on lake systems and the fact that the amplitude of climate changes in the Holocene is of the same magnitude as the error margins associated with the transfer functions used (Brooks 2006).
From the mid-Holocene onwards, palaeoecological studies highlight the increasing scale and extent of environmental change. Data clearly indicate that not only is human impact of considerable importance, but that it may swamp and mask low magnitude climatic events. Osborne (1969; 1976; 1982) attempted to examine the distribution of beetles linked to habitats which are less subject to human disturbance. He concluded that there was some evidence to suggest that between four and three thousand years ago summer temperatures were higher than the present day, declining to present levels during the Iron Age and remaining more or less constant until the ‘Little Ice Age’ (Osborne 1982; Girling 1984). The effects of this climatic deterioration have still to be fully evaluated (see Buckland 1975; Buckland et al. 1983; Girling 1984; Dinnin 1997; Osborne 1997; Wagner 1997). Buckland and Wagner (2001) suggest that this episode may have had some impact upon insect faunas, but draw attention to the fact that very few deposits spanning this period have been investigated, where a clear climatic signal would be evident, whilst a recent review by Kenward (2004) suggests that there is some evidence to support the idea that bugs at least may have been affected adversely by the Little Ice Age. Thus, despite the wealth of information, a full understanding of the complexity and interplay between climatic and human factors that cause change remain elusive.
Quaternary Entomology and Holocene Environmental Change
Quaternary entomology has also highlighted the scale and extent of environmental change during the Holocene. Much of the work relates to Britain, but there is an increasing Irish data set. Evidence from Britain suggests that an ancient tree and woodland fauna had already started to arrive within the first 1,000 years of the beginning of the Holocene (Dinnin and Sadler 1999). As tree species expanded from Europe and habitats became more diverse, its associated fauna moved northwards over the next few thousand years, including a number of specialist saproxylics that no longer live in Britain and Ireland. Recent research by the author explores the mechanisms by which many of these species arrive (Whitehouse 2006).
Turning to the Irish record, very little fossil insect work covers the environmental record representing the early part of the Holocene. Several samples from Drumurcher, Co. Monaghan (Coope et al. 1979), included material dating from the first few hundred years of the Holocene. The faunas suggest open country with few or no trees, but already showing an increase in humus content of the soil. Rapid climate amelioration is indicated by the beetles, with an average July temperature of about 10 °C at c. 11,100–9700 cal. BC (10,515±195 BP; Birm-239). Work undertaken by Karen Rogers (2004) as part of an undergraduate thesis project on inter-tidal peats from Strangford Lough, Co. Down, indicates a tree-dominated environment, with plenty of pines. The peats have been dated elsewhere in the Lough to between 7320–7070 cal. BC (9270–9020 cal. BP; 8173±34 BP; UB-4587) and 7030–6600 cal. BC (8980–8550 cal. BP; 7894±35 BP; UB-4581) (McErlean et al. 2002). The lack of beetle taxa associated with deciduous trees is noticeable, but their absence is much more likely to be related to local edaphic conditions associated with the study area and may imply little about the wider environment. The species list included several beetles which are not on the current Irish list, including Hylastes ater (F.), H. angustatus (Hbst.) and weevil Rhyncolus ater (L.). All species are still present on the British list, the former two living in southern England, whilst the latter is mostly confined to the Caledonian forests in Scotland.
No other sites have been investigated which represent the very Early Holocene period, between c. 10,000–6000 cal. BC, and this is clearly a period that would benefit from further investigation. A series of new projects undertaken and in progress by the author over the last few years provides some important new data concerning the Later Mesolithic period onwards, including work from Sluggan Bog, Co. Down, Derragh (on the shores of Lough Kinale), Co. Caran, and Ballyarnet Lake, Co. Derry.
Sluggan Bog in Co. Down has been subject of several palaeoecological investigations (Smith and Goddard 1991; Pilcher et al. 1995; Lowe et al. 2004). Peat initiation at the site began during the Late Glacial, continuing through the Holocene, during which time c. 6 m of peat accumulated. Around 6300–5500 cal. BC and again at 3350–3250 BC (dendro date), a pine woodland invaded the surface of the bog (Pilcher et al. 1995), indicating that the mire had become sufficiently dry to allow colonisation by trees onto its surface. Four samples associated with this layer, dated to between 6500–6000 cal. BC, were processed for fossil beetle analysis (Whitehouse unpub.). The insect species recovered include beetles typical of lowland raised bogs and a community characteristic of areas of old pine woodland, including three species which are not included on the current Irish list of Coleoptera–the Urwaldrelikt species Rhyncolus elongatus Gyll., R. sculpturatus Waltl. and the very rare Bothrideres contractus. Dajoz (1977) regards the last as a Tertiary relic under threat of extinction and an Urwaldrelikt (Vogt 1967). The first two taxa have also been recovered associated with pine trees from Ballymacombs More, Co. Antrim (Whitehouse unpub.). They mostly inhabit scattered localities throughout central and southern Europe, reaching southern Fennoscandia (Whitehouse 2006). These are first fossil records for these species in Ireland. They are also not on the current British list, but have been recovered from fossil contexts, thereby indicating their former wider occurrence (Whitehouse 2006).
New investigations by the author in association with the Irish Discovery Programme at the Derragh waterlogged Late Mesolithic platform site, placed at the junction of the former River Inny and Lough Kinale, Co. Cavan, will provide some valuable new data for the period between c. 5400–4300 cal. BC. Work is still very much at a preliminary stage, but results so far are very encouraging. As Brown et al. (this volume) highlight, such landscape and ecosystem interfaces represent areas of considerable archaeological and palaeoenvironmental potential.
A recent project funded by the Environment and Heritage Service (DOE: Northern Ireland) and the British Academy has allowed an investigation of the conditions of settlement associated with a Middle Bronze Age settlement site in the fen peats that surround Ballyarnet Lake, Co. Derry. The excavation established that the structural remains of the lake settlement are represented by a timber platform overlying fen peat and retained by a palisade. The archaeological importance of the site is outlined by O’Neill et al. (2003; submitted).
The environmental aspects of the project were designed to address the wider context of the lake settlement and eco-dynamics. Detailed palaeoenvironmental studies of early prehistoric wetland settlements and their contexts are generally lacking throughout Ireland and the project provided an opportunity to address this gap in the archaeological record (Plunkett and Whitehouse 2004; in prep.) and to contribute to the understanding of prehistoric lake settlement in the north of Ireland. The surrounding area has a long history of prehistoric activity, including a nearby Early Neolithic settlement complex at Thornhill (Logue 2003) which occurs nearby. Palynological, coleopteran and plant macrofossil analyses on the peats adjacent to the Bronze Age settlement site have provided detailed insights into the context of foundation and abandonment of the site. The fossil beetle material is typical of a faunal assemblage from the margins of a lake. Many taxa are associated with aquatic and semi-aquatic environments and wet reed vegetation, also represented in the pollen or plant macrofossil records (Plunkett and Whitehouse 2004). The earliest samples precede the occupation of the site and date to the Neolithic period and include a variety of ancient woodland species (including the extirpated Rhyncolus sculpturatus Waltl., which has already been discussed above). However, increasing levels of meadow, grassland and dung beetle taxa, together with decreasing levels of tree-associated beetles suggest clearance of the wider landscape. There are also obvious hydrological shifts in evidence, with drying out of the site before human use of the area. Use of the site clearly coincides with a period of drying out of the fen adjacent to the lake.
A series of samples associated with the archaeological horizons have also been examined. There are culturally-favoured taxa within the assemblages, including dry mould-feeders such as Lathridius minutus, which is often associated with hay/straw and a variety of dung beetles. There are several pasture/grassland indicators, whilst tree and wood components are restricted to a few feeders on oak and species which often inhabit worked timber, such as the furniture beetle Anobium punctatum. All the indications are that the archaeological site is located in a much cleared landscape compared with previously, although the intensity of the use of this landscape is far from clear.
Several other wetland investigations from raised bogs dating from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age provide other perspectives on the impact of human activities across the Irish landscape, as inferred from the fossil beetle record. Here, I will consider just two of these studies; the investigation of material associated with the trackway at Corlea, on the Mountdillion Bog complex, Co. Longford (Reilly 1996), and the research project at Derryville Bog, part of the Lisheen Archaeological Project, Co. Tipperary (Caseldine et al. 2001). Excavations at Corlea, between 1985 and 1991, revealed numerous wetland archaeological sites, particularly trackways preserved in the peat, dating from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age (Raftery 1996). Several samples from the surfaces of the Neolithic trackways Corlea 9 and 10 were studied for their insect fauna (Reilly 1996). The fauna was dominated by raised mire specialists, many of which indicated that fully ombrotrophic conditions had developed by the time the trackways were laid down. There are surprising few obligate wood specialist beetles which might be expected associated with such a trackway.
Between 1995 and 1998 the Lisheen Archaeological Project was undertaken at Derryville Bog on behalf of Minorco Lisheen Ltd. (Caseldine et al. 2001). The project funded an integrated study of both the palaeoecology and archaeology of this wetland landscape. Numerous Bronze and Iron Age sites were also excavated on the western margins of the bog. Summaries of the results of the archaeological work and the palaeoecological work have been published (Caseldine et al. 2001). The fossil beetle work, carried out by Eileen Reilly, alongside other proxies, indicates distinct landscape spatial trends. On the eastern side of the bog, it seems that primary or sub-primary woodland survived during the Bronze Age, together with its associated fauna, although some areas appear to have been given over to pasture. In contrast, on the western margins of the bog, species associated with cultivation, grassland and dung were evident and there were no ancient woodland taxa. This interpretation is in line with archaeological evidence from the dry land areas, which shows that there was consistent settlement activity on the western margin of the mire, with very little activity indicated on the eastern margin (Caseldine et al. 2001).
Many notable species of Coleoptera were recovered during the course of this investigation (Caseldine et al. 2001), including the non-Irish Prostomis mandibularis (F.). This beetle is viewed as an Urwaldrelikt (ancient woodland relict) by Palm (1959) and Horion (1960), living in just a few, more or less isolated strong-points of primary woodland, attacking wood in the final stages of decay. Today, its nearest living relative is living somewhere in France; Caseldine et al. 2001, figure 6, provide a distribution map of its current distribution, but in fact its modern distribution is more extensive, including Switzerland (Gistl 1829), several different regions across Italy (Porta 1929) and eastwards into Slovenia (Whitehead 1992; see Whitehouse 2006 for further details). Its recovery in these deposits, together with other locally ‘extirpated’ taxa from Sluggan Bog, Ballymacombs More and Ballyarnet Lake underlines the loss of several important elements from the Irish fauna.
In Britain, the demise of many of these species has been attributed to the combined loss of undisturbed woodland and tree habitats and particularly of dead wood. The apparent poor mobility of many of these saproxylics species (cf. Warren and Key 1991) may have played an important part in their decline and extirpation (Buckland and Dinnin 1992; Whitehouse 1997; 2006), particularly with the onset of woodland fragmentation and the loss of continuous woodland corridors (Whitehouse 1998; 2006; Smith and Whitehouse 2005). Woodland history, management and temporal continuity of habitat also appear have been significant components in the maintenance and survival of many of these saproxylic communities. The loss of particular types of woodland, such as pinewood and its associated habitats, either through successional competition, decline in woodland fires and/or the development and expansion of peatlands, appear to have been an important contributory factor for some species (Whitehouse 1997; 2000; 2006). Climate change may also have been a strong causal factor (Buckland 1979; Whitehouse 1997; Dinnin and Sadler 1999; Whitehouse 2006). It thus appears that a complex combination of anthropogenic, edaphic and climatic changes probably caused the extirpation, or at least reduction, in the distribution of numerous wood-dependant invertebrates, bringing with it a dramatic increase in elements associated with open, disturbed ground and cleared landscapes. The effect of deforestation on the aquatic environment resulted in a change in the sedimentation regimes in major rivers, and drastically altered the communities of water, especially riparian beetles (Osborne 1988; Smith 2001; Smith and Howard 2004; Greenwood and Smith 2005).
In Britain, many of these effects are seen from the Neolithic period onwards, with both pollen and fossil insect evidence suggesting that by the Bronze Age (c. 2500–800 cal. BC; 4000–2700 BP) a significant reduction in primary woodland had occurred (e.g. Robinson 1991). In consequence, by the Iron Age (c. 800 cal. BC–43 cal. AD; 2700–1900 BP) ancient woodland beetle species appear to represent an insignificant faunal element (Osborne 1972; Girling 1982; Robinson 1993). In Ireland, we are still a long way from having any real understanding of the history of clearance and human impact on the landscape, inferred from the beetle record, but it is likely that many of the above factors played an active role in the disappearance of species, although there seem to have been local differences in terms of the importance of factors and in the timing of disappearance of species. These are explored in further detail by Whitehouse (2006). Effects of deforestation on the aquatic environment remain largely unstudied, although suitable deposits exist. Brown et al. (this volume) highlight the usefulness of palaeoecological data derived from palaeochannels and other floodplain deposits for identifying episodes of land clearance, farming and management in areas of floodplains in contrast to raised mires which tend to be more distant from archaeological sites. Research undertaken at Lough Neagh has highlighted this potential (Plunkett et al. 2003; 2004; see Plunkett and McDermott, this volume).
Rural and Urban Settlement Assemblages
The identification of insects from archaeological deposits has been carried out occasionally since the mid-nineteenth century, but it was only after the publication of Coope and Osborne’s (1968) work on the fauna from the Roman well at Barnsley Park and Osborne’s (1971) study of Roman Alcester that their potential for the investigation of immediate archaeological environments was realised. The technique of looking at archaeological deposits has been most consistently applied at York through the work of Harry Kenward and Paul Buckland. The York results provide the best examples of what can be achieved on a large number of sites by the careful integration of entomological data with other lines of evidence (Buckland et al. 1974; Hall and Kenward 1990; Kenward and Hall 1995). For example, many insect species associated with decomposing matter are weakly to strongly synanthropic–favoured by, or dependant upon, habitats created by human occupation and activity. Thus, an examination of insects preserved within archaeological deposits can provide a wealth of information about the conditions in which people lived (e.g. Kenward and Hall 1995; Kenward 1999).
In Ireland, there have been a growing number of investigations concerned with the insect fauna associated with urban settlement, particularly from Dublin. Coope (1981) examined two samples from the excavation of an eleventh-century Viking house at Christ Church Place, Dublin. He found an abundance of species which occur in fermenting vegetable refuse, including the synanthropic Aglenus brunneus (Gyll.), which appears to require mould growth associated with decaying organic matter. Many of the taxa would be at home in a building with a thick carpet of fermenting vegetation, which would provide them with acceptable habitats and warmth. Coope suggests that that this squalid, fermenting carpet was perhaps deliberately contrived by the inhabitants to maintain warmth within the building. The fauna is very similar in composition to those found in Viking and Medieval York (cf. Kenward and Hall 1995). In the better preserved floor layers from Viking York, Oslo, and a number of Icelandic and Greenland sites palaeoecological investigations have shown that such floors were frequently covered with a mass of decomposing and fermenting vegetation, carrion and faecal matter and other detritus of life, thereby proving habitats for a wide range of invertebrates (Buckland et al. 1994). These floors may have played a further role, where living on permafrost or perennially frozen ground has a number of disadvantages–insulation could have been achieved by allowing the litter to build up (Buckland et al. 1994).
More recently, several urban sites in Dublin have been investigated, including ninth to eleventh century deposits at Essex Street West (Reilly 2003). Here, fossil insect evidence helped to separate the use of the building between an earlier phase when it was used as an animal pen and a later phase when it was used for human occupation. The grain weevil, Sitophilus granarius L. was recovered from a pit from the site, a species which has been recovered from deposits elsewhere in Dublin, dated to the late thirteenth/early fourteenth century and from sixteenth century deposits in Limerick (Reilly 2003, 53). As Reilly highlights, it is not known when the species arrived in Ireland–in Britain, it was introduced during the Roman period and is typical of large-scale storage of grain–but its presence raises interesting questions concerning when the species arrived in Ireland. Was it a Viking import or did it arrive before this period during early trading? This work highlights some of the useful insights into early trading patterns which may not be evident amongst other archaeological data. Reilly (2003) also investigated thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman deposits at Back Lane in Dublin. Beetles recovered from house floors and structural timbers included large numbers of wood-dependant taxa, together with a number of rare and locally extinct taxa. Reilly (2003) suggests the species were probably transported into Dublin in structural timber or firewood and indicate that good quality woodland was still present within the catchment areas of the city during the Medieval period.
Archaeological deposits of Medieval and Post-Medieval date at Newmarket (02E1692), in Dublin’s Liberties area, were recently excavated by Bill Frazer at Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd., Dublin, and, amongst other specialist investigations, were studied for their plant, insect and parasite remains (Hall et al. 2004; 2005). The majority of the archaeological remains were from Phase III, dated to about 1673–1725 and Phase IV, dated from c. 1725–1830. A series of plots fronting onto Newmarket Street (formerly Skinners Alley) were revealed, with buildings to the front and yards to the back. Excavation showed that, as the old name for the street suggests, some of the inhabitants of Skinners Alley were involved in the processing of animal products. Newmarket itself was a twice weekly market selling farm products, including hides, wool, butter, and livestock; presumably some of the workers associated with the market were housed in the buildings excavated. During Phase IV some of the structures were subdivided and converted to tenements as the area descended into slums. It is from deposits associated with these Phases III and IV that the fossil insect remains were studied. Environmentally and historically speaking, this site covers a significant period, from which very few bioarchaeological investigations and especially insect assemblages are available for study (cf. Kenward 2004). The record from Newmarket is therefore especially important within this context.
The features investigated were interpreted as fills of a range of different pits, including a dairy storage pit and other pits which were used at least at some stage of their life as privies. Some of the insect and plant assemblages were derived from faecal material, providing an insight into diets, but this was by no means the sole component of the fills, with considerable amounts of other material also having been deposited into the features. Such material included floor sweepings, straw and fuel waste, allowing the investigators an insight into living conditions. Much of the fauna suggests living circumstances which were not salubrious and bears remarkable similarities with other assemblages of Medieval date from Dublin (e.g. Reilly 2003) and Post-Medieval material from elsewhere (e.g. Jacques et al. 2004).
Other highlights included the presence of two ‘pest’ alien species–the bedbug, Cimex lectularius L. and the oriental cockroach Blatta orientalis L.–both first fossil records for Ireland. Both records came from very specific deposits and the insects did not appear to have been widespread across the site. B. orientalis was recovered from a small pit lined with wooden staves from a bucket, sunk into the floor of a storage cellar. The pit was probably used for storage of dairy products, most likely butter. This was an important product at the time and was exported as far as the North American colonies and Caribbean (B. Frazer 2006, pers. comm.). The material probably dates to between 1711 and 1725 AD. From an entomological perspective its recovery is especially interesting, as modern entomologists have regarded the introduction of the cockroach as being recent–within the last few centuries–although its recovery in archaeological deposits from late fourth century AD Roman deposits in Lincoln (Dobney et al. 1998) indicates perhaps an earlier introduction. Two other records attest to its presence in recent centuries, with one possible specimen from mid-seventeenth century York (Hall et al. 1993) and confirmed identification of at least two individuals from late eighteenth to late nineteenth century deposits from Chester (Jacques et al. 2004). The records from Newmarket fall within a similar period. The bedbugs came from later deposits and are interesting as they only originated from privy pits located in an area known as Hass’ Gate; no other samples from the same phase included these ectoparasites (B. Frazer 2006 pers. comm.). The same samples also included internal parasites–whipworm (Ascaris sp.) and roundworm (Trichuris sp.). Contemporary historical accounts highlight the state of shocking overcrowding and dirt in this area which had degenerated into a slum area (B. Frazer 2006 pers. comm.). It is perhaps, therefore, no surprise that the insect fauna indicates that living conditions in this area were far from healthy.
Beyond the biogeographic and archaeological importance of these early records, the presence of both species in Post-Medieval Dublin highlight the effect of foreign trade on the development and movement of the synanthropic insect fauna. The Newmarket material provides a fascinating insight into urban life and it is without doubt an extremely important site as much for its archaeology as bioarchaeology.
In contrast to these investigations from urban deposits, are those of an Early Christian rath site at Deer Park Farms, Co. Antrim (Kenward and Allison 1994; Allison et al. 1999). This site constitutes perhaps the largest and most thorough investigation using insects together with plant-macrofossil remains from an archaeological site in Ireland. This work was undertaken by the York Environmental Archaeology Unit. Extraordinary levels of preservation were present due to waterlogging of the site, but at a degree which is extremely rare on rural occupation sites. Allison et al. (1999, 3) consider the site to be of international significance in terms of providing a wide range of data about rural living conditions and resource exploitation. The insect fauna suggests that foul material was left exposed on the living surfaces of the rath, probably from animals. In the structures themselves, floors and bedding areas consisted of organic material, with plant litter on the floors and brushwood and turf in the bedding areas. Abundant human parasites were found associated with bedding structures, particularly the human louse, Pediaculus humanus L. and human flea, Pulex irritans L. A prominent feature of the site was the abundance of plant material which is likely to have been brought onto the site as raw material for construction or craft activities, including brushwood, bracken, heather, moss and turves. Seaweed also seems to have been brought onto the site, perhaps as manure or animal feed or for industrial purposes. Parasites of sheep, goats, cattle horses and pigs were present in some numbers, suggesting the presence of these animals living in the rath and/or their skins and wool for processing. Perhaps most remarkably, was the unexpected richness of a synanthrope fauna, particularly elements which are usually found in and around long-lived urban sites. This led the authors to suggest that this was an indication either of continuous occupation of the site over a considerable period of time, or that large quantities of material, along with its associated insect fauna, had been imported from existing settlements onto the site (Kenward 1997; Allison et al. 1999, 65). The results from Deer Park Farms suggests there is considerable potential in studying some of these rural settlement sites further and they have much to contribute towards our understanding of the development of such settlements and their wider context.
Recent research associated with the Irish Lake Settlement Project of the Irish Discovery Programme at Lough Kinale has examined the environmental archaeological record associated with Ballywillin Crannog (O’Brien et al. 2005; Selby et al. 2005; Ruiz et al. 2006). The work included, amongst other approaches, the analysis of both fossil beetles and chironomids. The environmental record recovered covers the period from the construction of the crannog, c. cal. AD 640 and possibly up to the eighteenth century. A lake core was taken 10 cm from the outside of the palisade of the crannog and analysed, alongside other proxies, for its chironomid midge fauna. Although the crannog itself was not excavated, the work was able to highlight periods of more versus less intense activity and provided a good indication of the beginning of activity on the crannog. The results showed how levels of activity associated with the crannog caused increased eutrophication of the lake, especially from about cal. AD 1180, but that c. cal. AD 1330 activity became less intense, when the site may have been used for storage (Ruiz et al. 2006). Coleoptera found in plant macrofossil samples from the same core were also analysed. Although not especially numerous, the fossil beetle fauna showed an increase in diversity after cal. AD 620, as a result of deposition of plant and dung material close to the site, interpreted as being associated with crannog construction. After about cal. AD 900, the material included culture-favoured taxa typical of material associated with floor material and vegetable debris, including a common species associated with hay (Aglenus brunneus Gyll.) (O’Brien et al. 2005).
This review of Irish urban and rural archaeological assemblages of Medieval and Post-Medieval data indicates the great value of examining fossil insect faunas associated with organic material from these deposits. However, although several investigations have focused on Dublin, very little is known of other Irish towns and cities and our understanding of what is happening in urban situations is extremely limited. Moreover, we know virtually nothing about the origins of the Irish urban fauna; when do the species which are typical of these environments become important in the archaeological record? What were the impacts of some of the major socio-political changes associated with the arrival of the Vikings and the Anglo-Normans, and with the Plantation? How far can these changes be identified in the fossil insect record and what changes did trading activities cause? Clearly, far more research is required, both of earlier periods (including prehistoric) and later, more recent periods, from a range of sites, of both urban and rural character.
Concluding Remarks
This review has examined the discipline of fossil insects by looking at its use in a range of different applications and explaining some of the logistics behind collecting and analysing fossil insect samples. The Irish record is then reviewed, with regard to three important sub-areas of the discipline–climate change, Holocene environmental change and urban and rural archaeological sites of the Early Christian, Medieval and Post-Medieval periods. Work to date has been extremely useful palaeo-environmentally and archaeologically and thus the potential for further work is undoubted. Attention has been drawn to some of the areas for further investigation. By far the greatest issue at present is the need for a network of sites of different ages from a range of locations and contexts, both from archaeological and palaeoecological locations. We need to investigate sequences which cover the Holocene environmental history so that overall trends may be established, whilst also focusing on high resolution archaeological sites which will add detail to the broad picture. There is a particular need for further investigation of prehistoric settlement sites, which are largely untouched from this perspective. Finally, there is a real need for further practitioners to be trained in the discipline and establish active research groups, working on Irish material, whilst also highlighting the wider context of these records and their archaeological and palaeoenvironmental significance.
Acknowledgements
The author would like especially to thank Prof. Paul Buckland for many useful discussions over the years on the advantages of a fossil insect approach. The author has also benefited from conversations with Stephen Brooks; Russell Coope; Mark Dinnin; Brian Evesham; Bill Frazer; Valerie Hall; Harry Kenward; Finbar McCormick; Eileen Murphy; John O’Neill; Jon Pilcher; Gill Plunkett; Pete Skidmore; David Smith; Eileen Reilly; Mark Robinson; Tessa Roper and Pat Wagner. I would also like to thank Ingelise Stuijs and Christina Fredrengen (Discovery Programme) for access to the Derragh samples and Bill Frazer (Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd.) for access to samples from Newmarket Street and extremely useful contextual data, and to Jenny Watson for photos of chironomid head capsules.
Libby Mulqueeny, Queens University Belfast, is thanked for cartographic assistance. The paper has benefited from the comments of Phil Barratt, whilst Harry Kenward is thanked for his reviewers’ comments.
References
Allison, E., Hall, A. and Kenward, H. 1999. Technical Report. Living Conditions and Resource Exploitation at the Early Christian Rath at Deer Park farms, Co. Antrim, N. Ireland: Evidence from Plants and Invertebrates. Part 1: Text. Reports from the Environmental Archaeology Unit, York 99/8.
Andrieu, V., Huang, C. C., O’Connell, M. and Paus, A. 1993. Late-glacial vegetation in Ireland: first results from four western sites. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 681–705.
Ashworth, A. C. 1972. A late-glacial insect fauna from Red Moss, Lancashire, England. Entomologia Scandinavica 3, 211–24.
Ashworth, A. C. 1973. The climatic significance of a Late Quaternary insect fauna from Rodbaston Hall, Staffordshire, England. Entomologia Scandinavica 4, 191–205.
Atkinson, T. C., Briffa, K. R. and Coope, G. R. 1989. Seasonal temperatures in Britain during the past 22,000 years, reconstructed using beetle remains. Nature 325, 587–92.
Bedford, A., Jones, R. T., Lang, B., Brooks, S. J. and Marshall, J. D. 2004. A late-glacial chironomid record from Howes Water, N.W. England. Journal of Quaternary Science 19, 281–90.
Böcher, J. 1986. Boreal insects in northernmost Greenland: palaeoentomological evidence from the Kap Kobemhavn Formation (Plio-Pleistocene) Peary Land. Fauna Norvegica B36, 37–43.
Böcher, J. 1997. History of the Greenland insect fauna with emphasis on living and fossil beetles. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 35–48.
Birks, H. J. B. 1998. Numerical tools in palaeolimnology–progress, potentialities, and problems. Journal of Palaeolimnology 20, 307–32.
Birks, H. H., Battarbee, R. W. and Birks, H. J. B. with contributions by Bradshaw, E. G., Brooks, S. J., Duigan, C. A., Jones, V. J., Lemdahl, G., Peglar, S. M., Solem, J. O., Solhøy, T. and Stalsberg, M. K. 2000. The development of the aquatic ecosystem at Kråkenes lake, western Norway, during the late-glacial and early-Holocene –a synthesis. Journal of Palaeolimnology 23, 91–114.
Brayshay, B. A. and Dinnin M., 1999. Integrated palaeoecological evidence for biodiversity at the floodplain-forest margin. Journal of Biogeography 26, 115–31.
Brodin, Y. W. 1986. The postglacial history of Lake Flarken, southern Sweden, interpreted from sub-fossil insect remains. Internationale Revue Der Gesamten Hydrobiologie 71, 371–432.
Brooks, S. J. 2006. Fossil midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) as palaeoclimatic indicators for the Eurasian region. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 1894–1910.
Brooks, S. J. and Birks, H. J. B. 2000. Chironomid-inferred Late Glacial air temperatures at Whitrig Bog, southeast Scotland. Journal of Quaternary Science 15, 759–64.
Brooks, S. J. and Birks, H. J. B. 2001. Chironomid-inferred air temperatures from Late Glacial and Holocene sites in north-west Europe: progress and problems. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 1723–41.
Brooks, S. J., Bennion, H. and Birks, H. J. B. 2001. Tracing lake trophic history with a chironomid-total phosphorus inference model. Freshwater Biology 46, 513–32.
Brooks, S. J., Lowe, J. J. and Mayle, F. E. 1997a. The Late Devensian Late glacial palaeoenvironmental record from Whiting Bog, SE Scotland. 2. Chironomidae (Insecta:Diptera). Boreas 26, 297–308.
Brooks, S. J., Mayle, F. E. and Lowe, J. J. 1997b. Chironomid-based Late glacial climatic reconstruction for southeast Scotland. Journal of Quaternary Science 12, 161–7.
Brown, A. G. 1997. Alluvial Geoarchaeology; Floodplain Archaeology and Environmental Change (Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Buckland, P. C. 1975. Synanthropy and the deathwatch: a discussion. Naturalist (Hull) 100, 37–42.
Buckland, P. C. 1979. Thorne Moors: A Palaeoecological Study of a Bronze Age Site; a Contribution to the History of the British Insect Fauna. Birmingham: Department of Geography, University of Birmingham.
Buckland, P. C. and Coope, G. R. 1991. A Bibliography and Literature of Quaternary Entomology. University of Sheffield: J. R. Collis Publications.
Buckland, P. C. and Dinnin, M. H. 1993. Holocene woodlands, the fossil insect evidence, pp. 6–20 in Kirby, K. J. and Drake, C. M. (eds.), Dead Wood Matters: The Ecology and Conservation of Saproxylic Invertebrates in Britain. Peterborough: English Nature.
Buckland, P. C. and Wagner, P. E. 2001. Is there an insect signal for the ‘Little Ice Age’? Climatic Change 48, 137–49.
Buckland, P. C., Greig, J. R. A. and Kenward, H. K. 1974. York: an Early Medieval Site. Antiquity 48, 25–33.
Buckland, P. I., Yuan Zhuo, D. and Buckland, P. C. 1997. Towards an expert system in palaeoentomology. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 67–78.
Buckland, P. C., McGovern, T. H., Sadler, J. P. and Skidmore, P. 1994. Twig layers, floors and middens: recent palaeoecological Research in the Western settlement, Greenland, pp. 132–43 in Ambrosiani, B. and Clarke, H. (eds.), Developments Around the Baltic and North Sea in the Viking Age. Stockholm: Viking Congress.
Buckland, P. C., Sveinbjarnardottir, G., Savory, D., McGovern, T. H., Skidmore, P. and Andreasen, C. 1983. Norseman at Nipaitsoq, Greenland. A palaeoecological study. Norwegian Archaeological Review 16, 186–9.
Buckland, P. C., Amorosi, T., Barlow, L. K., Dugmore, A. J., Mayewski, P. A., McGovern, T. H., Ogilvie, A. E. J., Sadler, J. P. and Skidmore, P. 1996. Bioarchaeological and climatological evidence for the fate of Norse farmers in medieval Greenland. Antiquity 70, 88–96.
Carrott, J. and Kenward, H. 2001. Species associations among insect remains from urban archaeological deposits and their significance in reconstructing the past human environment. Journal of Archaeological Science 28, 887–905.
Caseldine, C., Gearey, B., Hatton, J., Reilly, E., Stuijts, I. and Casparie, W. 2001. From the wet to the dry: palaeoecological studies at Derryville, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, pp. 99–115 in Raftery, B. and Hickey, J. (eds.), Recent Developments in Wetland Research (Monograph Series Vol. 2 and WARP Occasional Paper 14). Dublin: Department of Archaeology, University College Dublin.
Chowne, P., Girling, M. and Greig, J. 1986. Excavations at an Iron Age defended enclosure at Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 52, 159–88.
Cong, S. and Ashworth, A. 1997. The use of correspondence analysis in the analysis of fossil beetle assemblages. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 79–82.
Coope, G. R. 1970. Interpretations of Quaternary insect fossils. Annual Reviews of Entomology 15, 97–120.
Coope, G. R. 1971. Insecta, pp. 234–8, in Colhoun, E. A. and Mitchell, G. F., Interglacial marine formation and Lateglacial freshwater formation in Shortalstown Townland, Co. Wexford. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 71, 211–45.
Coope, G. R. 1977. Fossil Coleopteran assemblages as sensitive indicators of climatic changes during the Devensian (Last) cold stage. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 280, 313–40.
Coope, G. R. 1981. Report on the Coleoptera from an eleventh-century house at Christ Church Place, Dublin, pp. 51–6 in Bekker-Nielsen, H., Foote, P. and Olsen, O. (eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth Viking Congress. Odense: Odense University Press.
Coope, G. R. 1994. The response of insect faunas to glacial-interglacial climatic fluctuations. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 344, 19–26.
Coope, G. R. and Brophy, J. A. 1972. Late Glacial environmental changes indicated by a coleopteran succession from North Wales. Boreas 1, 97–142.
Coope, G. R. and Joachim, M. J. 1980. Late Glacial environmental changes interpreted from fossil Coleoptera from St. Bees, Cumbria, N.W. England, pp. 55–68 in Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. and Robinson, J. E. (eds.), Studies in the Late-Glacial of North-West Europe. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Coope, G. R. and Lemdahl, G. 1995. Regional differences in the late glacial climate of northern Europe based on Coleopteran analysis. Journal of Quaternary Science 10, 391–5.
Coope, G. R. and Osborne, P. J. 1968. Report on the Coleopterous fauna of the Roman well at Barsley Park, Gloucestershire. Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 86, 84–7.
Coope, G. R., Shotton, F. W. and Strachan, I. 1961. A Late Pleistocene fauna and flora from Upton Warren, Worcestershire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 244, 379–421.
Coope, G. R., Dickson, J. H., McCutcheon, J. A. and Mitchell, G. F. 1979. The Late-glacial and early postglacial deposit at Drumurcher, Co. Monaghan. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy B79, 63–85.
Coope, G. R., Lemdahl, G., Lowe, J. J. and Walkling, A. 1998. Temperature gradients in northern Europe during the last glacial-Holocene transition (14–914 C kyr BP) interpreted from coleopteran assemblages. Journal of Quaternary Science 13, 419–33.
Cranston, P. S. 1982. A Key to the Larvae of the British Orthocladiinae (Chironomidae). Ambleside: Freshwater Biological Association.
Cwynar, L. C. and Watts, W. A. 1989. Accelerator-mass spectrometer ages for late-glacial events at Ballybetagh, Ireland. Quaternary Research 31, 377–80.
Dansgaard, W., White, J. W. C. and Johnson, S. J. 1989. The abrupt termination of the Younger Dryas climate event. Nature 339, 532–4.
Dajoz, R. 1977. Coléoptéres; Colydiidae et Anommatidae Paléarctiques (Faune de L’Europe et du Bassin Méditerranéan Vol. 8). Paris: Masson.
Dinnin, M. 1997. Holocene beetle assemblages from the Lower Trent floodplain at Bole Ings, Nottinghamshire, U.K. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 83–104.
Dinnin, M. H. and Sadler, J. P. 1999. 10,000 years of change: the Holocene entomofauna of the British Isles. Quaternary Proceedings 7, 545–62.
Dobney, K., Kenward, H. K., Ottaway, P. and Donel, L. 1998. Down, but not out: biological evidence for complex economic organization in Lincoln in the late 4th century. Antiquity 72, 417–24.
English Heritage. 2002. Environmental Archaeology; a Guide to the Theory and Practice of Methods, From Sampling and Recovery to Post-Excavation (Centre for Archaeology Guidelines). Southampton: English Heritage Publications.
Elias, S. A. 1994. Quaternary Insects and Their Environments. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Elias, S. A. 1997. The mutual climatic range method of palaeoclimate reconstruction based on insect fossils: new applications and inter-hemispheric comparisons. Quaternary Science Reviews 16, 1217–25.
Elias, S., Anderson, K. H. and Andrews, J. T. 1996. Late Wisconsin climate in north-eastern USA and southeastern Canada, reconstructed from fossil beetle assemblages. Journal of Quaternary Science 11, 417–21.
Gandouin, E., Maasri, A., Van Vliet-Lanoë, B. and Franquet, E. 2006. Chironomid (Insecta: Diptera) assemblages from a gradient of lotic and lentic water bodies in river floodplains on France: a methodological tool for palaeoecological applications. Journal of Palaeolimnology 35, 149–66.
Girling, M. A. 1976. Fossil Coleoptera from the Somerset Levels: the Abbot’s Way. Somerset Levels Papers 2, 28–33.
Girling, M. A. 1979. The fossil insect assemblage from the Meare Lake village. Somerset Levels Papers 5, 25–32.
Girling, M. A. 1980. The fossil insect assemblage from the Baker site. Somerset Levels Papers 6, 36–42.
Girling, M. A. 1982. Fossil insect faunas from forest sites, pp. 129–46 in Bell, M. and Limbrey, S. (eds.), Archaeological Aspects of Woodland Ecology (BAR International Series 146). Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.
Girling, M. A. 1984. Investigations of a second insect assemblage from the Sweet Track. Somerset Levels Papers 10, 79–91.
Gistl, J. 1829. Enumeratio Coleoptorum Agri Monacensis Monachii. Switzerland: Published privately.
Greenwood, M. and Smith, D. N. 2005. Changing river conditions and landscapes in the Trent Valley: a review of palaeoentomological evidence, pp. 53–67 in Smith, D. N., Brickley, M. B. and Smith, W. (eds.), Fertile Ground; Papers in Honour of Susan Limbrey. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Greenwood, M. T., Agnew, M. D. and Wood, P. J. 2003. The use of caddisfly fauna (Insects: Trichoptera) to characterise the Late glacial River Trent, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 18, 645–61.
Greig, J. 1981. The investigation of a Medieval barrel-latrine from Worcester. Journal of Archaeological Science 8, 265–82.
Jacques, D., Hall, A., Kenward, H. and Carrott, J. 2004. Technical Report: Plant, Invertebrate and Fish Remains from Deposits at 25 Bridge Street, Chester (site code: CHE/25BS01). Palaeoecology Research Services Report 2004/ 46.
Hall, A. and Kenward, H. 1980. An interpretation of biological remains from Highgate, Beverley. Journal of Archaeological Science 7, 33–51.
Hall, A. and Kenward, H. 1990. Environmental Evidence from the Colonia (The Archaeology of York 14/6). London: Council for British Archaeology.
Hall, A. and Kenward, H. 1998. Disentangling dung: pathways to stable manure. Environmental Archaeology 1, 123–6.
Hall, A. R., Kenward, H. K. and Robertson, A. 1993. Investigation of Medieval and Post-Medieval Plant and Invertebrate Remains from Area II of the Excavations in The Bedern (north-east), York (YAT/Yorkshire Museum site code 1973–81.14 II). Ancient Monuments Unpublished Laboratory Report 58/93, York.
Hall, A., Jaques, D., Kenward, H., Carrott, J. and Johnson, K. 2004. Assessment of Biological Remains from Excavation at 14–16 and 48–50 Newmarket Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland (site code: 02E1692). Palaeoecology Research Services Report 2004/23.
Hall, A., Whitehouse, N., Rogers, K., Carrott, J. and Gardner, S. 2005. Technical Report: Plant, Insect and Parasites (with brief notes on other biological remains) from Excavations at 14–16 and 48–50 Newmarket Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland (site code: 02E1692). Palaeoecology Research Services Report 2005/006 prepared for Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd.
Hieri, O. and Lotter, A. 2001. Effect of low count sums on quantitative environmental reconstructions: an example using subfossil chironomids. Journal of Palaeolimnology 26, 343–50.
Hofmann, W. 1971. Zur Taxonomie und Palökologie subfossiler Chironomiden (Dip.) in Seesedimenten. Ergebnisse der Limnologie, Archiv für Hydrobiologie Beiheft (International Vereinigung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie, Stuttgart) 6, 1–50.
Hofmann, W. 1986. Chironomid analysis, pp. 715–27 in Berglund, B. E. (ed.), Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydrology. Chichester: J. Wiley and Sons.
Horion, A. 1960. Faunistik der Mitteleuropäischen Käfer, 7. Clavicornia, Sphaeritidae–Phalacridae. Uberlingen-Bodensee.
Howard, A. J., Bateman, M., Garton, D., Green, F. M. L., Wagner, P. and Priest, V. 1999. Evidence for Late Devensian and early Flandrian processes and environments in the Idle Valley at Tiln, North Nottinghamshire. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 52, 383–93.
Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland. 2006. Environmental Sampling: Guidelines for Archaeologists (draft). Dublin: Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland.
Jaques, D., Hall, A., Kenward, H. and Carrott, J. 2004. Technical Report: Plant, Invertebrate and Fish remains from Deposits at 25 Bridge Street, Chester (site code: CHE/25BS01). Palaeoecology Research Services Report 2004/ 46.
Johnsen, S. J., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N., Steffessen, J. P., Clausen, H. B., Masson-Delmote, V., Sveinbjörnsdottir, A. E. and White, J. 2001. Oxygen isotope and palaeotemperature records from six Greenland ice-core stations, Camp Century, Dye-3, GRIP, GISP2, Renland and NorthGRIP. Journal of Quaternary Science 16, 299–307.
Kaila, L., Martikainen, P. and Puttila, P. 1997. Dead trees left in clear-cuts benefit saproxylic Coleoptera adapted to natural disturbances in boreal forest. Biodiversity and Conservation 6, 1–18.
Karppinen, E. and Koponen, M. 1973. The subfossil oribatid fauna of Piilonsuo, a bog in southern Finland. Annales Entomologici Fennici 39, 22–32.
Karppinen, E. and Koponen, M. 1974. Further observations on subfossil remains of oribatid (Acar., Oribatei) and insects in Piilonsuo, a bog in southern Finland. Annales Entomologici Fennici 40, 172–5.
Kenward, H. K. 1975. Pitfalls in the environmental interpretation of insect death assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science 2, 85–94.
Kenward, H. K. 1976. Reconstructing ancient ecological conditions from insect remains; some problems and an experimental approach. Ecological Entomology 1, 7–17.
Kenward, H. K. 1978. The Analysis of Archaeological Insect Assemblages: A New Approach (Vol. 19, Fascicule I). York: York Archaeological Trust.
Kenward, H. K. 1985. Outdoors–Indoors? The indoor component of archaeological insect assemblages, pp. 97–104 in Fieller, N. R. J., Gilbertson, D. D. and Ralph, N. G. A. (eds.), Palaeobotanical Investigations; Research Design, Methods and Data Analysis. (BAR International Series 266). Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.
Kenward, H. K. 1992. Rapid recording of archaeological insect remains–a reconsideration. Circaea 9, 81–8.
Kenward, H. K. 1997. Synanthropic decomposer insects and the size, remoteness and longevity of archaeological occupation sites: applying concepts from biogeography to past ‘islands’ of human occupation. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 135–52.
Kenward, H. 1999. Pubic lice (Pthirus pubis L.) were present in Roman and Medieval Britain. Antiquity 73, 911–5.
Kenward, H. K. 2004. Do insect remains from historic-period archaeological occupation sites track climate change in Northern England. Environmental Archaeology 9, 47–59.
Kenward, H. K. and Allison, E. P. 1994. A preliminary view of the insect assemblages from the early Christian rath site at Deer Park Farms, Northern Ireland, pp. 89–107 in Rackham, D. J. (ed.), Environment and Economy in Anglo-Saxon England (CBA Research Report 89). York: Council for British Archaeology.
Kenward, H. K. and Carrott, J. 2006. Insect species associations characterise past occupation sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 33, 1452–73.
Kenward, H. K. and Hall, A. R. 1995. Biological evidence from Anglo-Scandinavian deposits at 16–22 Coppergate (The archaeology of York, Vol. 14: The Past Environment of York). York: Council for British Archaeology.
Kenward, H. and Hall, A. 1997. Enhancing bioarchaeological interpretation using indicator groups: stable manure as a paradigm. Journal of Archaeological Science 24, 663–73.
Kenward, H. and Large, F. 1998. Recording the preservation condition of archaeological insect fossils. Environmental Archaeology 2, 49–60.
Kenward, H. K., Engelman, C., Robertson, A. and Large, F. 1986. Rapid scanning of urban archaeological deposits for insect remains. Circaea 3, 163–72.
Langdon, P. G., Barber, K. E. and Lomas-Clarke, S. H. 2004. Reconstructing climate and environmental change in northern England through chironomid and pollen analyses, evidence from Talkin Tarn, Cumbria. Journal of Palaeolimnology 32, 197–213.
Logue, P. 2003. Excavations at Thornhill, Co. Londonderry, pp. 149–55 in Armit, I., Murphy, E., Nelis, E. and Simpson, D. (eds.), Neolithic Settlement in Ireland and Western Britain. Oxford: Oxbow.
Lowe, J. J. and Walker, M. J. C. 1997. Temperature variations in NW Europe during the last Glacial-interglacial transition (14–9 C14 ka BP) based upon the analysis of Coleopteran assemblages–the contribution of Professor G. R. Coope. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 165–75.
Lowe, J. J., Walker, M. J. C., Scott, E. M., Harkness, D. D., Bryant, C. L. and Davies, S. M. 2004. A coherent high-precision radiocarbon chronology of the Late-glacial sequence at Sluggan Bog, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Journal of Quaternary Science 19, 147–58.
Lowe, J. J., Birks, H. H., Brooks, S. J., Coope, G. R., Harkness, D. D., Mayle, F. E., Sheldrick, C., Turney, C. S. M. and Walker, M. J. C. 1999. The chronology of palaeoenvironmental changes during the Last Glacial-Holocene transition: towards an event stratigraphy for the British Isles. Journal of the Geological Society, London 156, 397–410.
Lucht, W. H. 1987. Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Katalog. Krefeld: Goeke and Evers.
Marra, M. J., Smith, E. G. C., Schulmeister, J. and Leschen, R. 2004. Late Quaternary climate change in the Awatere Valley, south Island, New Zealand using a sine model with a maximum likelihood envelope on fossil beetle data. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, 1637–50.
Marshall, J. D., Jones, R. T., Crowley, S. F., Nash, S. and Bedford, A. 2002. A high resolution late glacial isotopic record from Howes Water, NW England. Climatic oscillations: calibration and comparison of palaeotemperature proxies. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 185, 25–40.
Matthews, J. V. Jr. 1970. Two new species of Micropeplus from the Micropeplinae of western Alaska with remarks on the evolution of Coleoptera: Staphylinidae. Canadian Journal of Zoology 48, 779–88.
McCabe, A. M. 1987. Quaternary deposits and glacial stratigraphy in Ireland. Quaternary Science Reviews 6, 259–99.
McErlean, T., McConkey, M. and Forsythe, W. 2002. Strangford Lough: An Archaeological Survey of the Maritime Cultural Landscape. Belfast: Environment and Heritage Service, DOE: NI.
Morgan, A. V. and Morgan, A. 1987. Palaeoentomology–towards the next decade. Episodes 10, 38–40.
Morrison, M. E. S. and Stephens, N. 1965. A submerged late Quaternary deposit at Roddans Port on the north-east coast of Ireland. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 249, 212–25.
O’Brien, C., Selby, K., Ruiz, Z., Brown, A., Dinnin, M., Caseldine, C., Langdon, P. and Stuijts, I. 2005. A sediment-based multi-proxy palaeoecological approach to the environmental archaeology of lake dwellings (crannogs), central Ireland. The Holocene 15, 707–19.
Ó Néill, J., Plunkett, G. and Whitehouse, N. J. submitted. Archaeological and palaeoecological investigations of a middle Bronze Age settlement at Ballyarnet Lake, Co. Derry. Ulster Journal of Archaeology.
Ó Néill, J., Schulting, R., Whitehouse, N. J., Adams, K. and Kerr, T. 2003. Investigations at Ballyarnet (Occupation Site), Co. Londonderry (AE/02/71). Unpublished data structure Report No. 5, on behalf of Environment and Heritage Service. Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast.
Osborne, P. J. 1965. The effect of forest clearance on the distribution of the British insect fauna. Proceedings XII International Congress of Entomology, 456–7.
Osborne, P. J. 1969. An insect fauna of Late Bronze Age date from Wilsford, Wiltshire. Journal of Ecology 38, 555–66.
Osborne, P. J. 1971. An insect fauna from the Roman site at Alcester, Warwickshire. Britannia 2, 156–65.
Osborne, P. J. 1972. Insect faunas of Late Devensian and Flandrian age from Church Stretton, Shropshire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 263, 327–67.
Osborne, P. J. 1974. An insect assemblage of early Flandrian age from Lea Marston, Warwickshire, and its bearing on the contemporary climate and ecology. Quaternary Research 4, 471–86.
Osborne, P. J. 1976. Evidence from the insects of climatic variation during the Flandrian period: a preliminary note. World Archaeology 8, 150–8.
Osborne, P. J. 1980. The late Devensian-Flandrian transition depicted by serial insect faunas from West Bromich, Staffordshire, England. Boreas 9, 139–47.
Osborne, P. J. 1982. Some British later prehistoric insect faunas and their climatic implications, pp. 68–74 in Harding, A. (ed.), Climatic Change in Later Prehistory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Osborne, P. J. 1988. A Late Bronze Age insect fauna from the River Avon, Warwickshire, England: its implications for the terrestrial and fluvial environment and for climate. Journal of Archaeological Science 15, 715–27.
Osborne, P. J. 1997. Insects, man and climate in the British Holocene. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 193–8.
Palm, T. 1959. Die Holz und Rindenkäfer der sud- und mittelschwedischen Laubbäume (Opuscula Entomologica Supplementum 16). Lund: Entomologiska Sallskapet.
Panagiotakopulu, E. 2004. Dipterous remains and archaeological interpretation. Journal of Archaeological Science 31, 1675–84.
Perry, D. W. 1987. Cluster analysis of the insect remains from beneath the ‘Raft’, pp. 176–82 in McGrail, S. (ed.), The Brigg ‘Raft’ and Her Prehistoric Environment (BAR British Series 89). Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.
Perry, D. W., Buckland, P. C. and Snæsdóttir, M. 1985. The application of numerical techniques to insect assemblages from the site of Stóraborg, Iceland. Journal of Archaeological Science 12, 335–45.
Pilcher, J. R., Baillie, M. G. L., Brown, D. M., McCormac, F. G., MacSweeney, P. B. and McLawrence, A. S. 1995. Dendrochronology of sub-fossil pine in the north of Ireland. Journal of Ecology 83, 665–71.
Plunkett, G. and Whitehouse, N. J. 2004. Palaeoenvironmental Investigations at Ballyarnet Occupation Site, Co. Derry. Unpublished Report to the Environment and Heritage Service: Built Heritage, Queen’s University Belfast.
Plunkett, G. M., Hall, V. A. and Whitehouse, N. J. 2003. Palaeoecological Investigations at Toome By-pass: Final Report. Unpublished Report to Environment and Heritage Service: Natural Heritage, Queen’s University Belfast.
Plunkett, G. M., Whitehouse, N. J., Hall, V. A., Brown, D. and Baillie, M. 2004. A precisely-dated lake level rise marked by diatomite formation in northeastern Ireland. Journal of Quaternary Science 19, 1–5.
Porta, A. 1929. Fauna Coleoptorum Italica, Vol. III–Diversicornia. Piacenza: Tipografico Piacentino.
Possingham, H. P., Andelman, S. J., Burgman, M. A., Medellin, R. A., Master, L. L. and Keith, D. A. 2002. Limits to the use of threatened species. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17, 503–7.
Quinlan, R. and Smol, J. 2001. Setting minimum head capsule abundance and taxa deletion criteria in chironomid-based inference models. Journal of Palaeolimnology 26, 327–42.
Raftery, B. (ed.) 1996. Trackway Excavations in the Mountdillon Bogs, Co. Longford, 1985–1991 (Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit Transactions 3). Dublin: Crannóg Publications.
Reilly, E. 1996. The insect fauna (Coleoptera) from the Neolithic trackways Corlea 9 and 10: the environmental implications, pp. 403–10 in Raftery, B. (ed.), Trackway excavations in the Mountdillon Bogs, Co. Longford, 1985–1991 (Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit Transactions 3). Dublin: Crannóg Publications.
Reilly, E. 2003. The contribution of insect remains to an understanding of the environment of Viking-age and medieval Dublin, pp. 40–62 in Duffy, S. (ed.), Medieval Dublin IV (Proceedings of the Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium 2002). Dublin: Four Courts Press.
Rieradevall, M. and Brooks, S. J. 2001. An identification guide to subfossil Tanypodinae larvae (Insecta: Diptera: Chironomidae) based on cephalic setation. Journal of Palaeolimnology 25, 81–99.
Robinson, M. A. 1991. The Neolithic and Late Bronze Age insect assemblages, pp. 277–325 in Needham S., Excavation and Salvage at Runnymede Bridge, 1978: The Late Bronze Age Waterfront Site. London: British Museum.
Robinson, M. 1993. The Iron Age environmental evidence, pp. 101–20 in Allen, T. G. and Robinson, M. A. (eds.), The Prehistoric Landscape and Iron Age Enclosed Settlement at Mingies Ditch, Hardwick-with-Yelford, Oxon (Thames Valley Landscapes: The Windrush Valley Volume 2). Oxford: Oxford Archaeological Unit.
Robinson, M. A. 2000. Middle Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age insect assemblages and an Early Neolithic assemblage of waterlogged macroscopic plant remains, pp. 146–67 in Needham, S. P. (ed.), The passage of the Thames; Holocene Environment and Settlement at Runnymede (Runnymede Bridge Research Excavations, Volume 1). London: The British Museums Press.
Rogers, K. 2004. An Environmental Reconstruction of Strangford Lough in the Early Holocene: A Fossil Insect Perspective. Unpublished B.Sc. dissertation, Queen’s University Belfast.
Roper, T. 1996. Fossil insect evidence for the development of raised mire at Thorne Moors, near Doncaster. Biodiversity and Conservation 5, 503–21.
Roper, T. and Whitehouse, N. J. 1997. Beetle remains, pp. 238–45 in Parker-Pearson M. and Sydes, R. E., Iron Age enclosures and prehistoric landscape of Sutton Common, south Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 63, 221–60.
Ruiz, Z., Brown, A. G. and Langdon, P. G. 2006. The potential of chironomid (Insecta: Diptera) larvae in archaeological investigations of floodplain and lake settlements. Journal of Archaeological Science 33, 14–33.
Sadler, J. P. and Jones, J. C. 1997. Chironomids as indicators of Holocene environmental change in the British Isles. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 219–32.
Sadler, J. P., Buckland, P. C. and Raines, M. J. 1992. BUGS: an entomological database. Antenna 16, 158–66.
Schelvis, J. 1987. Some aspects of research on mites (Acari) in archaeological sites. Palaeohistoria 29, 211–18.
Schelvis, J. 1997. Mites in the background: use and origin of remains of mites (Acari) in Quaternary deposits. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 233–6.
Schwert, D. P. 1996. Effect of Euro-American settlement on an insect fauna: palaeontological analysis of the recent chitin record of Beetles (Coleoptera) from Northeastern Iowa. Ecology and Population Biology 89, 53–63.
Selby, K. A., O’Brien, C. E., Brown, A. G. and Stuijs, I. 2005. A multi-proxy study of Holocene lake development, lake settlement and vegetation history in Central Ireland. Journal of Quaternary Science 20, 147–68.
Sepponen, P. 1989. Pisavaaran luonnonpuiston metsäpalotutkimus (Study on the forest fire in the Pisavaara Nature Reserve). Folia Forestalia 189, 80–5.
Skidmore, P. 1995. A Dipterological perspective on the Holocene History of the North Atlantic Area. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Sheffield.
Smith, A. G. and Goddard, I. C. 1991. A 12,500 yr record of vegetational history of Sluggan Bog, Co. Antrim, N. Ireland. New Phytologist 118, 167–87.
Smith, D. N. 2001. Disappearance of elmid ‘riffle beetles’ from lowland river systems–the impact of alluviation, pp. 75–80 in O’Connor, T. and Nicholson, R. (eds.), People as Agents of Environmental Change. Oxford: Oxbow.
Smith, D. N. and Howard, A. J. 2004. Identifying changing fluvial conditions in low gradient alluvial archaeological landscapes: can Coleoptera provide insights into changing discharge rates and floodplain evolution? Journal of Archaeological Science 31, 109–20.
Smith, D. and Whitehouse, N. J. 2005. Not seeing the woods for the trees; a palaeoentomological perspective on woodland decline, pp. 136–61 in Brickley, M., Smith, W. and Smith, D. N. (eds.), ‘The Fertile Ground’; Papers in Honour of Susan Limbrey. Oxford: Oxbow.
Smith, D. N., Osborne, P. J. and Barrett, J. 1997. Preliminary palaeoentomological research at the Iron Age sites at Goldcliff, Gwent, Wales, 1991–1993. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 255–67.
Stace, C. 1991. New Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Turney, C. S. M. 1998. Extraction of rhyolitic component Vedde microtephra from minerogenic lake sediments. Journal of Palaeolimnology 19, 199–206.
Turney, C. S. M., Coope, G. R., Harkness, D. D., Lowe, J. J. and Walker, M. J. C. 2000. Implications for the dating of Wisconsian (Weichselian) Late-Glacial events of systematic radiocarbon age differences between terrestrial plant macrofossils from a site in SW Ireland. Quaternary Research 53, 114–21.
Turney, C. S. M., van den Burg, K., Wastegård, S., Davies, S. M., Whitehouse N. J., Pilcher J. R. and Callaghan, C. 2006. North European last glacial-interglacial transitions (LGIT; 15–9 ka) tephrochronology: extended limits and new events. Journal of Quaternary Science 21, 335–45.
Vandenberghe, J., Coope, R. and Kasse, K. 1998. Quantitative reconstructions of palaeoclimates during the last interglacial-glacial in western and central Europe: an introduction. Journal of Quaternary Science 13, 361–6.
Vogt, H. 1967. Familie: Ostomidae, pp. 14–18 in Freude, H., Harde, K. W. and Lohse, G.A. (eds.), Die Käfer Mitteleuropas; Clavicornia (Band 7). Krefeld: Goecke and Evers.
Wagner, P. 1997. Human impact or cooling climate? The ‘Little Ice Age’ and the beetle fauna of the British Isles. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 269–76.
Walker, I. R. 2001. Midges: Chironomidae and related Diptera, pp. 43–66 in Smol, J. P., Birks, H. J. B. and Last, W. M. (eds.), Zoological Indicators, Tracking Environmental Changes using Lake Sediments (Volume 4). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Walker, I. R., Smol, J. P., Engstrom, D. R. and Birks, H. J. B. 1991. An assessment of Chironomidae as quantitative indicators of past climate change. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 48, 975–87.
Walker, M. J. C., Coope, G. R. and Lowe, J. J. 1993. The Devensian (Weichselian) Lateglacial palaeoenvironmental record from Gransmoor, East Yorkshire, England. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 659–80.
Walkling, A. P. and Coope, G. R. 1996. Climatic reconstructions from the Eemian/Early Weichselian transition in Central Europe based on the coleopteran record from Gröbern, Germany. Boreas 25, 145–59.
Warren, M. S. and Key R. S. 1991. Woodlands: past, present and potential for insects, pp. 155–211 in Collins, N. M. and Thomas, J. A. (eds.), The Conservation of Insects and Their Habitats (15th Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 14–15 September 1989). London: Academic Press.
Whitehead, P. F. 1992. Some notable records of Coleoptera. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 128, 184.
Whitehouse, N. J. 1997. Insect faunas associated with Pinus sylvestris L. from the mid-Holocene of the Humberhead Levels, Yorkshire, U.K. Quaternary Proceedings 5, 293–303.
Whitehouse, N. J. 1998. The Evolution of the Holocene Wetland Landscape of the Humberhead Levels from a Fossil Insect Perspective. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Sheffield.
Whitehouse N. J. 2004. Mire ontogeny, environmental and climate change inferred from fossil beetle successions from Hatfield Moors, eastern England. The Holocene 14, 79–93.
Whitehouse, N. J. 2006. The Holocene British and Irish ancient woodland fossil beetle fauna: implications for woodland history, biodiversity and faunal colonisation. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 1755–89.
Wiederholm, T. (ed.) 1983. Chironomidae of the Holoartic region. Part 1, Larvae. Entomologica Scandinavia Supplimentum 19, 1–457.
Wilkinson, B. J. 1984. Interpretation of past environments from sub-fossil Caddis Larvae, pp. 447–52 in Morse, J. C. (ed.), Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Trichoptera (Series Entomologicae 30). The Hague: W. Junk.