This volume is the tenth in a series begun in 2003, which publishes each annual seminar on roads archaeology in the year following the event. An arrangement which is enviable and exemplary - as is the fact that the National Roads Authority in Ireland has published fourteen (at time of writing) scheme specific monographs since 2007, an annual magazine, Seanda, and other publications such as research agendas and popular publications. For further details see http://www.nra.ie/archaeology/. Unlike the other volumes in the series, this is not a random collection of articles about sites and objects discovered along the way of new roads. The seminar on which it was based was part of the Dublin City of Science 2012 programme and it has a focus on the techniques being used and as such is a beast of a different kidney.
There are eleven chapters, which cover geophysical survey, airborne laser survey (aka LiDAR), 3-D printing of a unique archaeological find, best practice in conservation of prehistoric pottery, the identification of pain in human remains, isotope analysis of human remains, radiocarbon dating, optically stimulated luminescence dating, dendrochronology, environmental and finally geoarchaeological analyses. There are also two appendices, the first listing C14 dates for the fieldwork contained in the volume (which were partly taken to corroborate or disprove the OSL dates) and the second being a comprehensive listing of dendrochronological dates which have resulted from the last ten years of archaeological work on Ireland's road network. The volume suffers from the lack of an index (and perhaps a glossary), and there is inconsistency in indicating whether a reference in Seanda is available online (they all are), but it is otherwise produced to a very high standard. The images are all clear, with the exception of the twelve plots in image eight of the first chapter, which are reproduced at too small a scale.
Two images in the volume are particularly striking, firstly the scale and extent of ten years of geophysical survey on Irish road schemes - dramatically shown in an overlay of the country in chapter one and secondly, at the end of chapter five, a reconstruction drawing of the brutal blinding of a woman which has to be one of the most gruesome ever shown in an archaeological publication and would have been at home in a film by Lucio Fulci!
It is a good read, but is a mixed one, as some chapters presuppose a knowledge of the technique used and others are a guide for the unscientifically minded. Many demonstrate innovations and possibilities for the future, including newer techniques, such as Electromagnetics, which measures the apparent magnetic susceptibility and apparent conductivity of the soil simultaneously, and isotopic analysis of human remains, which now hints at being able to identify the sex where the usual indicators such as the pelvis are absent. Another huge plus point is that two of the papers (on geophysics and LiDAR) make the point that coarser (i.e cheaper) data can be used and used well. Although there is an inadequacy in the data available, refreshingly there is no sense of flagellation about this, what is available is utilised to produce the best possible results; an excellent example in a time of recession. Another surprise is the use of OSL dating, with cogent arguments put forward for its wider usage in commercial archaeology, with the wry comment that wider usage could mean that the cost would decrease!
The whole message of the volume is that these approaches are complimentary in attempting to understand the past. For the non-specialist it serves as a refresher into wider techniques and for the UK archaeologist an introduction to wider aspects of Irish archaeology.