Palaeolimnological impacts of early prehistoric farming at Lough Dargan,County Sligo,Ireland

This study provides a unique method of inquiry for archaeological investigation with an aim to assess the intensity and effects of Neolithic and Bronze Age farming practices at Lough Dargan, northwest Ireland, through a multi-proxy analysis of a lake sediment core. Chironomid (non-biting midge fly) subfossils and lake sediment geochemistry (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and C:N ratios) were used to assess changes in limnological conditions through time. The limnological data were compared with macroscopic charcoal concentration and pollen data to examine the potential influence that early farmers had on a freshwater lake system within a prehistorically active catchment. Results from the chironomid analysis show that the first substantial period of agricultural activity in the early Neolithic (c. 3730–3190 BC) resulted in a temporary shift to more eutrophic lake conditions. There is evidence of animal husbandry with substantial levels of animal waste reaching the lake, leaving an imprint in the geochemical record of increased δ¹⁵N values and decreased δ¹³C values and C:N ratios during this time. The chironomid community reverted back to its pre-impacted state c. 3190 BC in response to a period of reduced farming (c. 3390–3000 BC) which eventually led to a distinct lull in activity, with possible cessation of farming from 3000 to 2700 BC. A return to eutrophic conditions coincided with the gradual return of agriculture, with more permanently altered lake conditions dominating from 2400 BC, even during a 250-year period of reduced human activity commencing at c. 1440 BC. Increased sedimentation rate, along with increases in δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and C:N, the presence of chironomid taxa indicative of erosion, more eutrophic lake conditions and high concentrations of macroscopic charcoal all point to more intensive land use practices during the Bronze Age. Palaeolimnological data exhibited an immediate response to intensified farming during this time, and were especially responsive to pastoral farming due either to scale of activity or proximity to the lakeside. The success of this study demonstrates the effectiveness of palaeolimnological analysis in the investigation of prehistoric farming. This approach will help inform Neolithic and Bronze Age land-use practice and human–environment relations in the region, and highlights the potential for chironomid-based archaeological research.     

Anglo-Saxon charms in the context of a Christian, world view

The following article explores aspects of a Christian world view found in late Anglo-Saxon England, seeking to put such phenomena as magic, miracles and charms in their proper Christian perspective. Previous criticism has had a tendency to accentuate the pagan aspects of the charms and to confuse a modern definition of magic with that of the early medieval Christian view. The view of nature found in Ælfric's sermons, for example, reveals a particular attitude towards magic, miracles and natural remedies such as charms. Magic and miracles are at opposite extremes, while charms are part of an intermediate category of practices not specifically condemned as develish magic, nor fitting into the Christian interpretation of miracles as signs from God.The second part of the article turns to an examination of the charms themselves to demonstrate how they do fit into a Christian view. Charms having to do with elves, as found in the Leechbook, contain large amounts of Christian material. There is an especially strong correlation between these charms and the use of the mass to counteract the influence and effects of elves. Thus the charms, far from being examples of the remnants of paganism, are evidence of the integration of popular material into a Christian view of the world.