A dynamic human socioecology of prehistoric and protohistoric Ulster

Remains of past human activity in Northern Ireland's Bronze Age, Iron Age, Medieval, and Early Modern eras are normally invisible under continuous pasture cover. By combining scientific indicators, archaeological methods, and historical documents, we suggest new ways of understanding "invisible" change throughout this period. Political activity at "royal" sites correlates with increased farming seen in lake core pollen, while soil geochemical mapping reveals normally unseen, undiscovered farming settlements. Such multidisciplinary data indicate that climate and environmental conditions influenced high-level political outcomes in a variety of critical ways, while challenging farmers with unusually difficult livelihood choices.