Clair Richardson

Thesis title - Society and the Dead: Geospatial and Statistical Analysis of Complex Cemeteries in Early Medieval Ireland

The primary focus of my research includes the analysis of cemetery sites and associated activities of the early medieval period (5^th – 11^th centuries AD) taking into consideration the funerary strategies of the late Iron-Age/early medieval transition period (1^st - 6^th centuries AD) and thanks to an ever-burgeoning collection of radiocarbon dates, analysis into this area can be studied more effectively.  Much of what we know about Ireland in prehistory and the early medieval period is through the study of cemetery sites and burial monuments and the wider context. However, a comprehensive and holistic study including societal, individual and geospatial analysis of burial rites and the funerary landscape has yet to be conducted. Since the turn of the century, many large-scale excavations have taken place across Ireland due to nation-wide infrastructure programmes, which has amplified the archaeological and historical databases from the prehistoric to the post-medieval period. The study aims to focus on the mortuary geography, including statistical and spatial dynamics of early medieval cemeteries and not be constrained by the static religious and event-centred paradigms in early medieval Irish mortuary literature i.e., the advent of Christianity in the 5^th century.

BSc (Hons) Forensic Anthropology 1st Class, 2012-2015,  Liverpool John Moores University

Master of Philosophy in bioarchaeology, 2015-2018, Liverpool John Moores University