UCD Archaeology Society International Trip Information

Prague 10th – 15th January

Research done to accommodate a group of 28 people for 6 day/5 night period
For further information or to book a place contact
archaeology.soc@gmail.com


€20 deposit is required when booking a place.

Flights:

*Flights to be booked and paid for by each individual person*

• Dublin to Prague: FR7326
• Departing Dublin at 13:40 - Arriving in Prague at 17:05
• Prague to Dublin: FR7327
• Departing Prague at 17:30 - Arriving in Dublin at 19:10
• Cost without check in baggage: €67.98
• *Flight prices will vary slightly depending on when they are booked. The
• sooner they are booked, the cheaper they will be*
• Source of information: ryanair.com
• Also the option of flying with Aer Lingus for €98 at roughly the same time.
• Check Aer Lingus for details.

Public Transport:

• No Metro to/from the airport, service only by bus.
• Metro runs on 3 different lines (map below) from 4:45
• am to 12:00am at 1 -3 minute intervals. 

Useful Metro Vocab:

• eskalátor - escalator
• linka (A, B, C) - line (A, B, C)
• metro - subway
• estup - transfer
• stanice metra - subway station
• trasa - route
• vstup - entrance
• výstup - exit

Cost: Single 30 minute journey ticket: 24 CZK/ €0.90 – cost of public transport will be covered in the tourist card.

Accommodation: Fusion Hotel:

 Located:

• 50m to the Wenceslaw Square
• 50m from Můstek metro, line A,B,
• 30m to the nearest tram stop
• 850m to the Old Town Square
• 450m to the Main Railway Station
• 10km to the airport.
• From the airport:
• The bus costs cca 60 CZK and it takes
• total cca 30-40 min to get to the hotel.
• Bus AE to main station

Facilities:

• 4 person Flexi Room ensuite (7 rooms) –
• Single Beds
• Breakfast included.
• Private bar and club
• Restaurant
• Ensuite bedrooms
• Free wifi

Cost: €125 per person for the 5 night stay
100% of the payment to be paid 3 weeks before arrival
For more information: http://fusionhotels.com/

Prague Tourist Card:

• A sightseeing pass
• Visit a number of sites including: Prague Castle, world-class Jewish Museum, Old Townhall and Petřín Tower etc
• Entry to 50 different attractions free of charge
• Discounts to 30+ more attractions, restaurants, pubs, etc.
• In addition gives you unlimited access to the City Public Transport
• Saves up to €60 per person

Cost for 4 day card:

• €47 student up to the age of 26
• €65 adult
• Can be purchased at the airport

Other:

• Weather: expected to be between 1 and minus 1 degrees on average so please do bring warm clothes and waterproof walking shoes as snow is expected
• Money: Czech Republic don't use Euro but use Krona. Exchange rate is roughly €1 = 330 czk
• Can be exchanged over there at a special rate with the tourist card, however I would recommend exchanging money before we depart.
• If you plan to use your bank cards, check that there's no bank charges.

Provisional Agenda

Day 1: 10th January 2016: Arrival day
.

1. 13:40: Depart Dublin Terminal 1
2. 17:05: Arrive in Prague Airport
3. 17:20: Gather group in arrivals and head to hotel
4. Check into hotel and allocate rooms.
5. Evening Free

Day 2: 11th January 2016.

1. 10:00: Meeting in Hotel Lobby
2. 10:45: Historical Prague Bus Tour
3. 2 hour bus tour taking in the sites of Old and New Town Prague. Picks up and drops of in Old Town Square.
4. 12:45: Break for Lunch
5. 14:00: Prague Castle Tour B: Circuit B includes Old Royal Palace, St. George’s Basilica, The Golden Lane, The Powder Tower, St. Vitus Cathedral, St. Wenceslas Cathedral. Closes at 16:00 during the Winter
6. 16:00: Return to Hotel
7. Evening Free

Day 3: 12th January 2016.

1. 9:00: Meeting in Hotel Lobby
2. 9:30: Old Tower Hall and Tower, Astronomical Clock and Tower
3. 11:30: Jewish Museum and Synagogue
4. 12:30: Break for Lunch
5. 13:00: Kinsky Palace and St. Agnes Convent
6. 15:00: Panoramic boat cruise 
7. Evening Free.

Day 4: 13th January 2016.

1. 10:00: Meeting in Hotel Lobby
2. 10:30: National Museum and Prague City Museum
3. 13:00: Break for Lunch
4. 14:00: Troja Chateau and Veletrzni Palace
5. 16:00: Head back to Hotel
6. Evening Free

Day 5: 14th January 2016.

1. Day Trip to Tábor
2. Times to be confirmed

Day 6: 15th January 2016: Departure Day

1. 10:30: Check out of hotel
2. Afternoon free
3. 14:00: Regroup at hotel and head to airport
4. 17:30: Fly out of Prague Airport
5. 19:10: Arrive in Dublin T1
6. And then you’re free.

Breakdown of costs per person (before subsidized):

• Flights (to be booked individually: €68
• Hotel for 5 nights: €125
• Prague tourist card: €47
• Total: €240
• I’ve applied for a grant and hope knock this down to €160 - 180 all inclusive.

Please keep an eye on the emails for updates. Any questions please do
contact archaeology.soc@gmail.com or catriona.baldwin@ucdconnect.ie
Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. I’d be happy to help.
All the best,
Catríona.
(Auditor).

Exam period: UCD Union is here for you !

Dear everyone,

Exam time is upon us ! But before you drop into the abyss of panic attacks, all-nighters, energy drinks overdoses and general despair, read what follows! :) In addition to the 5-star support you will get from your awesome Society (yes, this is us), the UCD Union is also there to help you if you need. Pssst, this includes free transport to the exams! Read on...

• Late Night study areas

We all know you love the library - ah come on, don't lie! - but unfortunately, it will close after 11.30pm. So if you are a night-owl like me, fear not, the Astra Hall in the Old Student Centre will stay open for you until 3am so you can indulge in even more revising!

• Early morning study areas

But the early birds should not feel left out !! The James Joyce library will open early from now until the end of the exam period ! You can check out the opening hours of the various libraries on the library website.

• FREE exam shuttle

The majority of exams will be taking place in the well-renowned and feared RDS. Now if like me you're not originally from Dublin, these three letters might send you in a bit of a frantic search through the Dublin A-Z or Google maps. And if like me too you do not have a clue about bus routes because you are either living on campus or cycling everywhere, just read on an breathe: there is a free bus shuttle to the RDS. More details here.

And if you would still rather cycle, here is the route from UCD.

View Larger Map

• General exam advice

Finally, the Student Union has two education officers you can contact if you have queries concerning exams. Their contact details can be found on the UCD Student Union website.

I hope this helps, and again, best of luck to you all !

Alexandra Guglielmi

Seminar report: "Debating theories of Roman Imperialism" by Dr. Andrew Gardner, UCL

For the penultimate talk in our seminar series, we were given food for thought in the form of a theoretical debate where Dr. Gardner tackled the current issues in the relationship between theory and Roman archaeology, giving us an overview of its evolution within the discipline, and some ideas on how theory can be used . develop our understanding of the Roman Empire.

Contrary to other archaeological disciplines, Roman archaeology has tended to neglect theory, largely as a result of the incredible amount of data available which led to a focus on empirical studies. In 1991, the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (TRAC) was created and one of the first issues it addressed was that of “Romanisation”, a concept over which debates have raged through the following decade. Indeed, some established approaches took Rome as the focal point and viewed the relationship between the Empire and its conquered territories in colonial terms, with the acculturation of the defeated and their conversion to the superior Roman culture. This was complemented to a certain extent by traditional historical explanations and core/periphery model.

However, the rise of post-colonial discourse – e.g. Said, Babha... - meant that the focus was shifted and more weight was given to the “others”, the non-Romans and a more “nativist” point of view was adopted. This perspective was variously influenced by Marxism, feminism and post-structuralism. It paid attention to evidence for resistance in the conquered provinces, and concepts such as discrepant identities and hybritidity were developed in the 1990s (see works by Van Dommelen, Mattingly below). In this way, the theoretical discourse in Roman archaeology went beyond the simplistic Roman/native dichotomy. However, this reversal of focus also resulted in some problems, notably the overemphasis laid on the literary sources, and the lack of attention paid to issues of power and violence: the multicultural nature of the Empire got highlighted, but the violence inherent to the processes of conquest and imperial rule has been minimised.

Globalisation theories have stressed the connectivity and communication aspects of the Empire, highlighting the role of material culture and consumption. Within this framework, concepts such as hybridity/hybridisation and “glocalisation” – the idea that within a global network of exchange, artefacts take on a local meaning in different parts of the network – have been developed to address satisfactorily the huge variety of interactions present within the Roman Empire and its provinces. Some argue however, that globalization is   a Western post-mediaeval phenomenon and cannot be applied to the study of past societies. The different is one of scale and intensity of communication though, for it can be shown that the different part of the ancient world were connected by trading and diplomatic links, even prior to the emergence of the Roman Empire.

Post-colonial theories stress a marginal – bottom-up - approach, globalisation theories on the other hand stress a systemic –top-down- perspective: the distinctive features of institutional articulation of power, identity and Empire are thus lost in the middle. For this reason, Dr. Gardner argued for the adoption of an “institutional archaeology” to gain a better understanding of cultural change in the past. By studying traditions and innovations in practice, we can understand the relationship between communities and institutions and the nesting of identities within power-flows, inside an overarching spatial and temporal reality.  Dr. Gardner used to case-studies to illustrate his argument: the bathhouse in the military fortress at Caerleon, Wales,  and the rural settlement of Cotswold community.

At Caerleon, the fortress was built according to the standards of military architecture, with a strict hierarchy of space, e.g. a large house for the centurion, smaller rooms for the legionaries. In addition to the living quarters, other buildings in the fortress served regimental practices, such as the bathhouse. Bathing played an important unifying role within the soldier community – a community composed of men coming from various provinces of the Empire. But at Caerleong, in the 4^th century, we see a change in the use of space: the pool of the bathhouse goes out of use and is used as a rubbish dump. This in turn tells us something about changes in practices within the unit: bathing as a social activity went into disuse: what can this tell us about different dynamics within the military community? This interaction of actors and institutional structures is rather easy to see in the case of the military because we know what the standard situation would be, but Gardner’s study of the rural settlement at Cotswold community showed how this could be applied to a different scenario. There, it is the analysis of artefact distribution across the site which could inform the archaeologist about changing practices over time. And with changing practices come changing relationships, and changes in identity construction.

To conclude, practice theories have proven their worth in illuminating the material, social and temporal aspects of life in the past. It is a useful theoretical framework to address issues of cultural change and identity studies. Post-colonial studies in Roman archaeology are quite different than in other disciplines: no other empire has been studied in this way, probably because of the role Rome took as an example for modern nations’ own colonialism in the 19^th century. The study of the Roman Empire is thus not just that of a past civilisation, it is intertwined with our understanding of our present society.

On behalf of UCD School of Archaeology and the Archaeology Society, I would like to thank Dr. Gardner for such an interesting talk. The argument he presented to us can be found in his latest paper published in Britannia (see below for references).

By Alexandra Guglielmi

Some references for further reading:

Gardner, A. (2012). Time and empire in the Roman world. Journal of Social Archaeology, 12.2, 145-166.

Gardner, A. 2013. Thinking about Roman Imperialism: Postcolonialism, Globalization and Beyond? Britannia 44, 1-25

Gosden, C. 2001. Postcolonial archaeology. Issues of culture, identity, and knowledge, in I. Hodder (ed.) Archaeological Theory Today. Cambridge: Polity Press, 241-261

Hingley, R. 2010. Cultural diversity and unity: Empire and Rome, in S. Hales and T. Hodos (eds) Material Culture and Social Identities in the Ancient World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 54-75

Mattingly, D. 2010. Imperialism, Power and Identity: Experiencing the Roman Empire, Princeton University Press

Van Dommelen, P. 2005. “Colonial interactions and hybrid practices: Phoenician and Carthaginian settlement in the ancient Mediterranean” in G. Stein (ed.) The Archaeology of Colonial Encounters: Comparative Perspectives. Oxford: School of American Research

Woolf, G. 1997, “Beyond Romans and natives” World Archaeology 28(3), 339-350

Seminar: "Debating theories of Roman imperialism"

Dear everyone, 

What a week awaits us! After the Relay for Life this Wednesday and Thursday, we will welcome Dr. Andrew Gardner from UCL (London) to give us a talk entitled "Debating theories of Roman Imperialism". 

The seminar will take place 

Thursday 10th April 

5:30pm 

Newman building, Room A109. 

This promises to be an extremely interesting seminar, which will address theoretical concepts widely applicable to archaeology, not just the Roman period.
Don't miss out !

Small Societies Masquerade Ball 2014

Source

Due to the success of the Halloween Party, a number of small societies have gotten together again to organise another event for their members. The Archaeology Society are proud to announce their collaboration with other small societies in hosting a Masquerade Ball on the 30th of January, 2014

Thursday 6th March

7pm

Arlington Hotel, O'Connell Bridge

The Masquerade Ball will be held in the Arlington Hotel on Bachelors Walk (beside O'Connell Bridge). Tickets are €35 and can be purchased from the Archaeology Society.

The price includes:
- A wine reception
- 3 course meal
- Wine with Dinner
- A prize for best masked
- Live band
- DJ until 2.30 am
- Late Bar

Tickets purchases are limited to two tickets per transaction. Valid student numbers are required to book, however if you are purchasing a ticket for a non student, a phone number and email address will be required.

Any further questions or to register your interest, please let us know via this email address.

Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist: The 2014 Bob Chapple Archaeological Essay Prize in...

Copyrights Bob Chapple

Dear Everyone,

You will all know about Robert Chapple's archaeology blog: it is really a must-read for any archaeology student out there! Now, Robert Chapple is launching an essay prize in honour of his late father. You can read his full post on his blog (see below), and here are the rules to enter the competition (taken from the article linked below):

Provisional Rules:

Eligibility:

1. At time of submission: any registered student (full time/part time/mature student etc.) at any third level institution (University, Institute, etc.).
2. Carrying out original research on any aspect of Irish archaeology of any period.
3. Research is part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree/diploma (BA, BSc, MA, MSc, MPhil, PhD etc.).

Format of entry:

1. Essay in English of not more than 5000 words describing the research being undertaken, highlighting its importance and (where applicable) outlining results etc.
2. To be published on this blog.
3. Reading level to be directed towards a professional archaeologist/interested non-professional level, but non-specialist in the specific research area.
4. Accompanied by at least one photograph/appropriate image.
5. Entry to be accompanied by brief resume about the entrant for publication, including third level institution and course being attended.

Submission:

1. By email to rmchapple[at]hotmail.com
2. Text in MSWord (or compatible format), single spaced with ‘don’t add space between paragraphs’ box checked. Images in .jpg format, preferably in ‘web-friendly’ sizes.

Competition:

1. 2014 competition open from December 6th 2013 to November 1st 2014.
2. Winner to be decided & announced by January 2015. Winner will be notified by email.

Prize:
 One prize of a €60 voucher from Wordwell Books Ltd. (there will be no cash alternative)  for redemption against their stock along with the title ‘2014 Bob Chapple Archaeological Essay Prize Winner’.

Judging:

1. Winner will be determined by a panel of judges, convened by myself.
2. In the event of a tied decision, I will hold a casting vote.
3. All decisions final.
4. No additional correspondence entered into & no purchase necessary etc.

Read the full article below:

Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist: The 2014 Bob Chapple Archaeological Essay Prize in...: Had my dad (Robert F ‘Bob’ Chapple) still been with us, he’d have been 72 today ( 6th  of December 2013 ). I think he'd have had quite...


For any question, feel free to contact us.

TROWEL: 25th anniversary edition launch

Ladies and gentlemen, 

The Archaeology Society has been edited its own journal, Trowel since 1988 and will be celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, as well as launching it's 14th edition! 

The 25th anniversary edition of Trowel will be launched this Thursday 5th December in the Humanities Institute (HI) at 5.30pm. The formal launch will be by Professor O'Keeffe, with a wine reception afterwards.

Information on how to find the Humanities Institute can be found HERE. 

For any questions, please contact Bernard Gilhooly at bernard.gilhooly@ucdconnect.ie 

Exams for students with dyslexia and dyspraxia

By Katherine McCormack and Sarah Delaney

Source

Hello guys,
Here are some tips about how to do exams when you, like us, have a learning difficulty.

• Dyslexia

Students with dyslexia often read quite slowly, so when they sit down and see the piles upon piles of " required readings" can see extremely daunting a week before the exam. The best way to tackle this is to create a schedule by assigning a manageable amount of reading to do each day. This ensures you can cover as much reading as needed without feeling like it is a never ending task. 

While reading through books or lecture notes a helpful tip is to write notes on the readings as you go along. As you read through a chapter try to write down the key points, this will ensure you will not have to re-read the whole chapter an hour before your exam but simply look at the concise notes you have created. Some students find that when they read they do not retain the information, within a few minuets they cannot remember what they have just read. Students often find that this can be extremely frustrating and demoralising. However by actively writing notes as you go along it will help you to focus on what you are reading and increase your chances of retaining that information. 

Many students with dyslexia are very visual. They can recall images better than lengthy lines of text. A tip that I have found very helpful is to write notes on coloured sheets of paper or coloured flash cards. The colours make the text more memorable and can help me remember facts in exams. For example it is much easier to remember “what was on the green flash card?” than “what was on page 245 of Landscapes of  Neolithic Ireland?!”

Some people remember better through the use of sound. If you find you remember what people say better than what you read, a tip is to record yourself reading some information. Often people find it awkward to hear our voices on tape. But if you record yourself saying facts like " the battle of Hastings was fought in the year 1066" you can listen to this on the way to the exam hall and increase the chances of you  remembering facts.

• Dyspraxia

Students with dyspraxia, similar with dyslexia, can find it hard to get ideas from brain to paper. What can help is sticking down the random words that are in your head to do with what you are trying to explain.

People with dyspraxia often learn differently and need to study differently too. I have to listen to music or have movie playing in the background while I study, I find that I focus better. I also find I remember more if I watch or listen to a documentary podcast or a piece of visual or audio media on the subject.

Some people with dyspraxia have terrible short term memory, so for final exam preparation the last minute short term memory game doesn’t always work. However maybe an hour or more for the, I have the topics I studied broken down into sections (or sub topics) of 5 and then I will have at 3 or 5 sets of 3 initials or figures within those sections (the brain is more likely to remember in set of threes and fives). For example say the topic is Minoan peak sanctuaries a section within that could be the characteristics of Neopalatial peak sanctuaries and the initial or figures could be PRC, SST, MSL. These would mean Palaces and palatial Regional Centres, Shrine buildings, Stone offering Tables, Metal figurines and blades, Seals and Linear A. The initials would also help jog my memory of information associated with these topics. I normally write each section in different colours because the different colours can help re-enforce the information.

While sitting the exam, you might come up with point that are relevant to the another question. Write it down on the rough work sheet because you might forget it, again the short term memory. But do not stop the question you are on if you have a nice flow and aren’t stuck. If you are stuck go back to the question or go on to the next one and put in that information and that might help you with the one you are stuck on.

Processing skills and speeds are different too, so if you don not understand the phrasing of the question being asked ask your reader. The reader should actually contact the invigilator and who will contact the module co-ordinator but they cannot help you with the answer.

• Exams

Once you have prepared for the exam the next step is getting their. If you are registered with the DSS you will probably be sitting your exams in UCD. When you arrive to UCD go to room D106 there you will find your name on one of the boards and will see what room you will be taking your exam in. You should try to arrive at UCD thirty minutes before your exam is due to start. Here is a list of things you must bring to each of your exams: 

1. Your student number 
2. A copy of your exam supports from SIS web
3. Your blue stickers that are to be placed on the inside cover of your exam booklet. 
4. Pens, pencils and a highlighter.

While sitting the exam the best tip is to try to relax. When answering an exam question it is very important to understand what the question is asking you. To ensure you do not misread the key words in the question use a highlighter to mark those words. This will allow you to look back at the question as you write to make sure you answering without misunderstanding the question. Many students with dyslexia find structuring their work very difficult. In the pressure of exams it becomes very common for students to just reproduce everything they have learned, sometimes without even adding paragraphs or punctuation. To help, use the rough work page provided to quickly write down the key points you want to talk about giving each point a paragraph. Another tip is to try to write legibly this can be hard when you’re frantically writing against the clock but if the lecturer can’t read it they can’t give you marks. Overall just try to do your best; exams are difficult for everyone regardless if you have or do not have dyslexia. However by understand how best to study and how to answer an exam question there is nothing stopping us from getting just as good grades as everyone else.

We hope helps!
Best of luck with your revision and don't hesitate to send us an email if you have any questions, 

All the best, 

Katherine & Sarah

Inaugural lecture: The emergence of cave art in Palaeolithic Europe

    For this week’s lecture, we were pleased to welcome Prof. Paul Pettitt of Durham University. The title of the lecture was ‘The emergence of cave art in Palaeolithic Europe, new research, new hypotheses’ and this made for a treat, with Prof. Pettitt's excellent synopsis of Palaeolithic cave art as he saw it, captivating the imagination of the audience and making this year’s inaugural lecture that extra bit special.

What Prof. Pettitt first highlighted is that there appears to be problem with the way in which Palaeolithic cave art is interpreted. When one thinks of, or is presented with the cave art of this period, it tends to be very generalised. We tend to see images from a select few sites, which are then used to try and decipher the phenomenon of Palaeolithic cave art as a whole, even though a lot of these images are dated thousands of years apart. Prof. Pettitt believes that this phenomenon of cave art occurred sporadically across its time span, with what he referred to as ‘flashes of inspiration’ popping up here and there only for brief periods of time. With this in mind, he suggested that one must take more of a regional approach when looking at Palaeolithic cave art. From the get go, Prof. Pettitt stated that he believes that even before this period there were examples of art, in relation to tattooing and that of decorating oneself, for example, beaded necklaces etc. and that these were the earliest form of art activity. Another main aspect of cave art, which seemed to have been mentioned numerous times, was the ‘synecdoche’ of the art. This word was being used in relation to the fragmentary engravings, which appear in the cave art, with 95% of them being fragmentary, for example, different parts of animals, but as long as we can see what is being depicted, there is no need to create the full representation. The act of art is more important.

Prof. Pettitt would argue that the earliest figurative art does occur in Europe, with simple outlines of animals occurring around 36000 years ago at regional levels, for example, in parts of Germany. It is only due to recent developments in dating and we can really only now show chronological developments in the art. Prof. Pettitt discussed the technique of dating stalactite growth over pieces of cave art and also uranium-series dating in order to more accurately date the art.

The lecture progressed into talking about the handprints which feature predominantly in the upper Palaeolithic cave art. The main discussion, which seems to surround these handprints, is whether they are of male or female, or of the indications of missing fingers evident from the handprints, which he describes as being evident at only a small number of sites. More importantly, what needs to be assessed of these handprints is there location and positioning within the caves. A large majority of the handprints appear to be located on natural forms in the rock or within tightly compact spaces, and there are even those that are set across fractures within the rock. Even attempting to reach some of these handprints is challenging, with a lot of them being placed in hard to reach places either high up or close to the ground, and the dexterity and skill required to produce this art must indicate the significance of its symbolic meaning. Is this yet again this ‘synecdoche’ described by Prof. Pettitt, showing the earliest representations of the human form?

In summary, Prof. Pettitt revealed, what he referred to as his ‘falsifiable hypotheses’ at the end of the lecture. He suggested that the first art which appeared was that of body art, which later developed and became more elaborated taking on a more symbolic decoration of the body, and then an extension of this art appears in the form of cave art later down the line. This interpretation in turn does do away with some looming questions, for example, why is it, if the modern human brain developed over 200,000 years ago, why don’t we see it being put to any use until around 50,000 years ago? The answer to this according to Prof. Pettitt is that yes we do, with art being depicted on the body for 150,000 years prior to the cave art of the Palaeolithic that we have come to know.

By Micheál Butler

Study seminar and exam preparation session

This article is about the study seminar the Society organised in week 12.
For exam-related practical information, please read that article.

Extra help and advice for students with dyslexia and dyspraxia here 

On Thursday 28th November 2013, the UCD Archaeology Society organised a study seminar and exam preparation session. Prof. Tadhg O'Keefe kindly accepted to give the students attending the seminar a little speech with advice on how to tackle an exam paper and how to write the answer that will give you an A.

Prof. Tadhg O'Keefe

For those who could not make it to the seminar, here is a summary of what was said, as well as the handout that was given to the students present. Past exam papers can be found via SIS web. (More information here)

Tips on how to do well in your exam:

• Revise all the topics: there is no "pattern" in the questions coming up each year. Or in the words of Prof. O'Keefe "we just forget what we asked last year and we just write new questions. So if something came up for the past five years, it is very probable that it will come up this year too!"

• Always answer all the questions. If the paper says "answer 2 questions" from a choice of, e.g., 8, you need to answer two. No matter how good your first answer is, it will only count 50% of the final mark. 

• Never come with a prepared answer. The marker will just sniff it after barely 2-3 sentences and will know you did not pay attention to what is actually asked, you just have a prepared answer on the general theme. 

• There is a time limit to how much you can write so be clever in terms of the amount of information you want to include in your essay. 

• STRUCTURE  is everything. Spend at least 5 minutes reading the paper thoroughly , give each question 30seconds to figure out exactly what is asked. This will save you a lot of trouble and give you extra marks. Avoid word-spotting. If a question contains the words "megalithic tombs", do not just jump to it and recite all you know about megalithic tombs. Analyse each and every word in the question (see handout). Make a PLAN on the rough work: list the points you are going to address in the right order, list case-studies you are going to use, prepare a sequence of analysis. ... And stick to it ! A written plan or outline of what your essay will be about will prevent you from panicking and just throwing in about everything you can think of on the topic. 

•  Be extra careful of the wording of the sentence. These words are chosen carefully and each of them is important so you need to think about each word and definite it before starting answering the question. 

Examples:
 - "outline" : asks you to sketch the principle points on a topic. A discussion of these points is also presumed but the importance is on sketching: the lecturer wants you to be able to present a general picture in a short time and word count.

- "compare and contrast" : make an evaluation after weighing what the two things have in common and what is different.

- "review": Present what you know and then compare and contrast, critically evaluate.

- "describe" also implies "discuss"

• Don't be afraid to say "I": it is your essay, so just say it! When announced the plan for your answer for instance, you can say "in this essay, I will analyse the role of megalithic tombs in prehistoric Ireland bla bla bla".

• What makes the difference in the end? Writing quality. Knowledge is one thing, delivering it is another. What will make an exam essay stand out is the quality of the writing: don't be afraid to be a bit poetic, make it something nice to read. 

For those who missed the seminar (or lost the handout), here is a scan of it ! Click on the image to have it in full scale and save it. 

 

By Alexandra Guglielmi
Social Media Coordinator

Study seminar and exam preparation

Last year semester 2 seminar, with a talk by Prof. Tadhg O'Keefe
Photograph by Cian Corrigan

As the end of semester is approaching fast, our focus of attention will soon be turning to exams. Building on the success of last year’s study seminar we will be holding our Semester 1 study session on  28th November from 3-5pminrooms 5, 6 and 7 in theNew Students Centre. This event is run by students, for students and is open to all our members. We will be discussing everything associated with the upcoming exams such as, study tips, how to approach exam questions and exam advice from certain lectures from the School of Archaeology. Prof. Tadhg O'Keeffe has kindly agreed to participate in the study session and will give a talk on how to prepare and approach exam questions. If you are attending the seminar, please bring a copy of previous exam papers from any archaeology modules that you are concerned about and we will be able to discuss any issues or concerns you may have. This will be an informal event and you will have the opportunity to talk with other students that have approached the exams that you will be doing this December. Also, free tea and biscuits... sure you can’t go wrong.

Seminar series, lecture 8: Assembly places and hunting grouns in Mediaeval Ireland

Next week seminar will be the last for this first semester of 2013-2014. It will be given by Professor Elizabeth Fitzpatrick from NUI Galway with the title "Assembly places and hunting grounds in Mediaeval Gaelic Ireland". 


Thursday 28th November
5.30pm
Room A109, Newman Building

All welcome !

Small Societies table quiz !!

Thomas Kinkade, "Memories of Christmas"
Source

Due to the success of the Halloween Ball, the Archaeological Society and other small societies are getting together to host a Winter Ball before the start of the second semester (January).

However, we want to wet your appetite a little so we are all hosting a

TABLE QUIZ

in

Kiely's of Mount Merrion

on

Tuesday 26th November

The quiz starts at 7pm but get there before 6pm so you can secure a table and team. Teams will consist of 4-5 people and will cost 5€ per person.

The venue is the same as for the Halloween Ball, so if you missed the latter, here is a plan:

Kiely's of Mount Merrion: Website 

Full address: 68 Deerpark road, Mount Merrion

Directions from UCD with Google Map: click HERE. 

Bus routes: 145, 46A (pretty much anything going up the N11)

Historic walking tour of Dublin

Historic walking tour of Dublin, a set on Flickr. Photographs by Claire Pryet.

On Saturday 16th November, the Society organised a walking tour of historic Dublin, led by Dr. Franc Myles from the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland. Here is a small report by Emmet Fennelly, our trip officer.

"A group of us met up with Franc Myles outside the GPO in the morning. The first half of the tour was on the 1916 Easter Rising. Franc Began by telling us about the historical background and significance of the Rising focusing on the GPO. We then went around the corner and onto Moore's Street. There, Franc told us in great detail about an attempted sortie out of the GPO. Using archaeological methods Franc was able to determine the pathway taken by the insurgents through the buildings on Moore Street as they attempted to flee the GPO. This was a fascinating story rarely told in the history books.

Franc went on to discuss the archaeological significance of the buildings on Moore's Street and the lack of preservation of these buildings. He explained that there are plans to construct a new shopping center on the site and mentioned the pros and cons of allowing this to occur.

We eventually move on to Smithfield for the second part of the tour. This shorter tour was about the site of Smithfield during the Medieval and Early Modern periods. Franc detailed the archaeological sites found in the area, including one of the first markets in Dublin during the early Medieval period, the unmarked burials of executed people and the remains of a prestigious glass manufacturer during the Industrial Age. After saying goodbye to Franc we made our way down to the NMI event just in time to hear the talks being given by the students there."

And here are the words of Claire Pryet, a French Erasmus student currently studying at UCD and a member of the Archaeology Society.

"....despite the little crowd we were and the cool air, we had a wonderful time with  Frank Myles. We learnt so much about contemporary Dublin and the two main spots we visited: around the GPO about the 1916 Easter rising, and Smithfield about the history of this place (1660 onwards).
But what was very nice as well is that discussions come up about how archaeologists could be involved in developing contemporary landscapes/ city urban planning, and about preservation/conservation. Frank Miles is very passionate about his job and he had us discover more about the job of an archaeologist working on "contemporary" and modern period."

A huge thank you to Dr. Franc Myles for giving this tour !