I've just been playing around with ChatGPT the new artificial intelligence OpenAI chatbot. After a bit of figuring out how it worked, I asked a nice, reasonably basic archaeological question to see what sort of response I'd get. I was a bit surprised. According to ChatGPT, there are no henge monuments in Ireland, they're a… Continue reading I taught Artificial Intelligence to believe in Irish Henges.
Author: drjamesbonsall
Publication: Finding Mesolithic lithics in my garden during COVID-19
Late Mesolithic distally-trimmed blade (2021C2:1). Photograph by James Connolly. I'm a co-author on a new publication, led by Cian Hogan. ‘A prehistoric chert assemblage with a Late Mesolithic component from Castlegal, Cope’s Mountain, Sligo’, has just been published in the Sligo Field Club Journal, Vol. 8. The assemblage is from my garden. Marion Dowd (ATU… Continue reading Publication: Finding Mesolithic lithics in my garden during COVID-19
Book Launch: The Six – The Lives and Memorialisation of Sligo’s Noble Six
We held a book launch for The Six - The Lives and Memorialisation of Sligo’s Noble Six on the 20th September 2022, 100 years to the day that the Noble Six were killed.
New Book: The Six – The Lives and Memorialisation of Sligo’s Noble Six
Project: The Six - The Lives and Memorialisation of Sligo’s Noble Six Directors: Dr. James Bonsall, Dr. Marion Dowd and Robert Mulraney Location: Sligo Year: 2022 Funding: Fourth Dimension Prospection, Caves of Ireland, Sligo County Council Museum Service Book cover for The Six. My latest book is called The Six - The Lives and Memorialisation of… Continue reading New Book: The Six – The Lives and Memorialisation of Sligo’s Noble Six
Excavation of a Civil War IRA hideout
Project: Tormore Cave 1922 Civil War IRA Hideout Directors: Dr. Marion Dowd, Dr. James Bonsall, Robert Mulraney Location: Tormore townland, Glencar, County Sligo Year: 2022 Funding: Atlantic Technological University (ATU Sligo) I'm part of an exciting new project that has excavated a cave used during the Civil War as an anti-Treaty IRA hideout. The project, funded by Atlantic Technological University… Continue reading Excavation of a Civil War IRA hideout
Publication: Recreating an Antiquarian excavation in GIS using a legacy data archive
I'm a co-author on a new publication, led by Dr Marion Dowd. '‘Revisiting Alice and Gwendoline Cave, Co. Clare: new light on the 1902 excavations’, has just been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 121C. Alice and Gwendoline Cave, Co. Clare, produced the first evidence for human occupation on the island of… Continue reading Publication: Recreating an Antiquarian excavation in GIS using a legacy data archive
Publication: Excavation at the Neolithic Carrowmore Passage Tomb Complex
The results of an excavation at the Carrowmore passage tomb complex were published in the Volume XXX of the Journal of Irish Archaeology. I’ve been carrying out geophysical surveys across the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery since 2011 and in 2019, Dr Marion Dowd and I began excavating one of the most enigmatic sites in the Neolithic… Continue reading Publication: Excavation at the Neolithic Carrowmore Passage Tomb Complex
Publication: Vinegar Hill: The Last Stand of the Wexford Rebels of 1798
‘Vinegar Hill: The Last Stand of the Wexford Rebels of 1798’, edited by Ronan O’Flaherty and Jacqui Hynes, has just been published by Four Courts Press. I’m a co-author on two of the chapters in this new publication which represents the work of The Longest Day Project, a multi-disciplinary research programme involving archaeologists, historians, folklorists,… Continue reading Publication: Vinegar Hill: The Last Stand of the Wexford Rebels of 1798
Publication: Neolithic Excarnation in an Irish Upland Boulder Chamber
I'm a co-author on a new publication, led by Dr Marion Dowd. 'Neolithic engagements with the dead: mortuary processing on Bengorm Mountain in the NW of Ireland', has just been published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology. The fascinating upland site at Bengorm Mountain, near Newport, Co. Mayo, was discovered in 2016 when a local… Continue reading Publication: Neolithic Excarnation in an Irish Upland Boulder Chamber
Hundreds of Prehistoric Tools discovered during lakeshore picnic
Press Release: Hundreds of Prehistoric Tools discovered during lakeshore picnic, Sligo 13 August 2020 Main Points Friends discover prehistoric site on shore of Glencar Lake while having a picnic 930 pieces of worked chert discovered The discovery indicates that prehistoric people were visiting Glencar Lake, at least 4,000 years ago and possibly up to 6,000… Continue reading Hundreds of Prehistoric Tools discovered during lakeshore picnic
Dr James Bonsall 