Editorial

Abstract

Editorial Thearchaeological content ofSectionC inthetwenty-first century is farremoved initssubject understanding from theearliest papersthat appeared intheAcademy's Transactions of 1787and 1788andthoseinthefirst volumeoftheProceedings of theRoyalIrishAcademy published in 1836.Theadvancesmadeingeneral methodologies ,specialist analyses, dating methods, environmental archaeology, theoretical approaches andIT applications haveprovided thediscipline witha firm scientific basisthat emphasises theprecedence ofprimary dataintheformation ofnarratives aboutthepast. Yetwith all ofthisprogress initsfavour, archaeology inIreland hashadto facethedifficult taskofconfronting thecritical problems that besetthediscipline in this age.InSeptember 2006theRoyalIrish Academy hosted a forum todiscussboth thecurrent stateofand future prospects forarchaeological research, thefindings ofwhichweresubsequently published inArchaeology inIreland:a vision forthe future. Keyrecommendations from theRoyalIrish Academy forum 14-15September 2006.One ofthemainissuesidentified intheforum wasthat, despite thedramatic increase inarchaeological activity, therateofpublication nowis muchthesameas itwasa decadeago. Thisdisparity between activity andoutput hasnotemerged as a result ofa scarcity ofpublication options. Itisthedirect result ofthehighly pressurised circumstances inwhich thediscipline functions inallofitssectors and,despite thefact that under theterms ofthe Valletta Convention andtheNational Monuments Actsarchaeologists arerequired topublish their work, the main target andfinal destination ofarchaeological reports very much remains thestate archive. Inorder toencourage bestpractice inthecompilation ofarchival reports andtopromote consistency andstandardisation tofacilitate theeventual electronic (Web-enabled) dissemination ofexcavation reports, the National Monuments Service oftheDepartment oftheEnvironment, Heritage and Local Government inco-operation with theConsultative GrouponDevelopment-led Archaeology, established under theaegisoftheRoyalIrish Academy Committee for Archaeology, hasrecently published Guidelines forauthors ofreports onarchaeological excavations (2006).Thisrecommends a format for preliminary reports, final reports andoutlines theformat that should beusedfor the publication ofa concisereport onan archaeological excavation intheExcavations bulletin. Oncetheprofessional archaeologist files her/his complete excavation report andsitearchive with thestate, whether that material derives from a research ordevelopment-led excavation, itis rareindeed that thereport is revisited andtransformed intoa scholarly paperofhuman interest. All licensedexcavations arerequired tobe published inminimal summary form in theExcavations bulletin andsomearchaeologists choosetopublish brief accounts of their excavations inArchaeology Ireland andintherecently arrived magazine Seanda published bytheNational RoadsAuthority. Nevertheless, thestepfrom archival report toa comprehensive published paper isapparently toogreat a leapfor many professionals ,despite thefact that several reputable local,national andinternational journals are willing topublish theresults ofexcavations. Still, there aresomesmallsignsthat this situation isbeginning tochange andthat theself-reflection towhich theprofession has willingly subjected itself willultimately havea positive outcome. Proceedings oftheRoyalIrish Academy Vol.107C© 2007RoyalIrish Academy Editorial Theinitial response ofSectionC totheneedtoincrease therateandespeciallythequality ofarchaeological publication hasbeentoprovide newguidelines for prospective contributors with respect tothepublication ofarchaeological excavationsandsurvey reports inthis journal, andtoencourage thecommercial sector to write upsignificant archaeological excavations andsurveys specifically for publicationinthis journal.Oneofthedifficulties common toalmostallpapersonexcavations ,andto a lesserextent surveys, thatcomeinforconsideration to SectionC, is that they areessentially archival reports. SectionC is notanarchive forarchaeologicaldata ;it is a mediumforthediscussionof ideas,hypotheses and realities arising from careful analysis ofprimary data.As expressed byHoward Clarkeinthe lasteditorial, 'Excellenceinscholarship isachievable onlyata cost - ofapplication, commitment andtime'. Howthen ina discipline that hascometoconcern itself morewith thepracticalities ofexcavation andsurvey, recording methodologies anddataretrieval, is a leadenarchival report transformed into aninteresting pieceofwriting that edifies our common humanity? Inthemanner ofJeanJacques Rousseauwriting inEmileoron Education (1762),'I willonly note that for thelongest time there hasbeennothing but a cry against theestablished practice without anyone taking ituponhimself topropose a better one'.Inthefirst instance there arefour things that arefrequently absent from excavation reports submitted toSectionC andtheaddition ofwhichwouldgreatly improve thestructure ofthepaperandmoreimportantly broaden thereader's understanding ofthesubject matter. Tediouspedantry nodoubt, buttheseare:(a) a brief overview orhistoriography oftheparticular subject areatowhich thepapercontributes ;(b) a thorough exposition ofthelandscapecontext oftheexcavated sitewith respect totopography, aspect, geology andlanduse; (c) a relevant antique geography orhistorical geography forthesiteexcavated and;(d) a comprehensive discussion abouttheextent towhich theexcavation results haveconfirmed oraltered received opinion ona monument type, a landscape, a settlement, ormaterial culture ofa particular period. Discussion andconclusion ought toconstitute atleastone-third ofthe paperandnot, as is frequently thecase,a hurried andunacceptably short afterword. Accounts ofexcavations submitted to SectionC are often considerably in excessoftherequired word count (maximum of15,000words), thereason beingthat they aregenerally ladenwith datatables, catalogues andappendices that dominate the text. Section C alsooffers a solution tothis - theon-line publication ofthepaper complete with tables andallappendices, followed bytheprint version without unnecessary tablesandappendices - obviously ifa tableunderscores animportant point madeby theauthor itwillremain intheprinted text. Inthisway, readers whowishtoreview theunencumbered findings ofanexcavation maydoso inprint, whilethereader who wants toconsult a specific entry ina supplementary datatableorappendix maydo so with easeon-line. Changethat improves theaccessibility ofarchaeological knowledgecanonlybring withita greater appreciation ofthediscipline andbroaden the readership ofarchaeology inIreland. A Scottish colleaguerecently commented that thewayinwhichIrisharchaeologists document their excavations is 'veryold-fashioned'. Thisprescient remark hadtheeditor combing early excavation reports andcurrent excavation reports only tofind that savefor theuseofcontext numbers...