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The Adoption of Agriculture in Ireland: Perceptions of Key Research Challenges

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Abstract

This paper outlines the results of a project carried out 2007–2008 providing oversight of key challenges in the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Ireland as understood by those researching the period. The project involved interviews with practitioners from a variety of fields in order to obtain qualitative data. The resulting synthesis is not a ‘consensus’ statement of priorities, but a reflection of a very diverse research field. Given that the project took place at a time of considerable change in Irish archaeology, the strengths and weaknesses of research into the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition are of broader relevance.

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Acknowledgments

The project was executed during a 1-year UCD President’s Research Fellowship, for which I am very grateful. The Humanities Institute of Ireland provided office facilities and the UCD School of Archaeology support in kind during the year. The facilities for the May 17th forum were courtesy of Brian Jackson and the Global Ireland Institute. The reception was sponsored by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. This project has been wholly dependent on the kindness of others in providing their time to answer my questions. Many thanks, therefore, to all of those interviewed as part of this project and involved in broader discussions (see “Appendix”). I would also like to thank Danny Hind for discussion of methodologies for consensus building exercises. Nicki Whitehouse, Leendert Louwe Kooijmans, Alison Sheridan and Alasdair Whittle acted as discussants at the seminar and offered valuable critique and comment. Gabriel Cooney, Thomas Kador and Kim Rice have commented on drafts of reports. I am also grateful to the referees of this paper for encouraging me to consider the wider implications of the data presented herein. None of these individuals or institutions is responsible for the inevitable errors of fact and judgement in the discussions above.

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    Graeme Warren

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Warren, G. The Adoption of Agriculture in Ireland: Perceptions of Key Research Challenges. J Archaeol Method Theory 20, 525–551 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-012-9129-4

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