Time and tide: five millenia of environmental change and human activity on the banks of the Suir

Talking about his dark 1970 Korean War comedy M*A*S*H, the late Hollywood filmmaker Robert Altman said that he did not direct the film—it just escaped. Looking back on the six months my crew and I spent excavating Site 34, Newrath, Co. Kilkenny (Illus. 1), I know exactly what he meant. Affectionately known by our team as ‘The Bog’, this wetland archaeology site was excavated by Headland …