Coastal heritage and archaeological sites are part of a complex system of socioenvironmental processes whose conditions are placed at risk from increasing climate-change pressures and impacts. Cultural-heritage managers are working to increase understanding of these pressures and create ways to assess, mitigate, and/or adapt to change. Coastal-zone assessments (CZA) are a recognized methodology in several national management plans to gather detailed data in order to provide an informed assessment of current resources and any associated hazards and risks. A collaborative and innovative partnership is seeking to expand on current CZA models by integrating social, historical, and geomorphological criteria into archaeological site assessment, with aims toward the development of a resource-priority index for coastal-heritage managers in Ireland.

Promontory forts are an understudied but distinctive maritime archaeological feature from the Iron Age to the early medieval period from northern Spain to Scotland. Their coastal location renders them susceptible to erosion and loss to history, a situation exacerbated by increased storm frequency and sea level rise. Reconstruction of their original form is important to determine their role in the society of the time. This paper concentrates on a particularly notable group of promontory forts along the Copper Coast of Co. Waterford, where traces of up to 32 remain today within a 24 km stretch of coastline. The methodology has involved using oral tradition, historical records and field survey. This has been enhanced by aerial survey using drones and light aircraft. This paper models the data to estimate areas eroded and show how forts were once significantly larger and dominated coastal resources with an economy of farming, fishing, mining and trading. This paper calculates a likely erosion rate of 4–5 cm/yr and anticipates the last remains to be lost in 350 years, perhaps sooner with climate change.

As a partner in the EU co-funded 3D-ICONS project, the Discovery Programme undertook the 3D documentation of some of the most iconic cultural heritage sites in Ireland. This pan-European project aimed to establish a complete pipeline for the production of 3D replicas of archaeological monuments and historic buildings, and to publish the content to Europeana for public access. The list of Irish icons range from wider cultural landscapes to smaller ornately carved stones and includes a wide range of chronological periods: from Neolithic rock art from 2500 BC to Derry's 17th-century fortifications. The primary digitisation methods include airborne laser scanning (ALS), phase-based terrestrial laser scanning (Faro Focus 3D) and close range structured light scanning (Artec EVA). These are now mainstream approaches for surveying historic landscapes, structures and objects, generating precise, high-resolution point cloud data, primarily for viewing and interaction in proprietary software applications. The challenge was to convert these complex high-volume datasets into textured 3D models, retaining the geometric integrity of the original data. The article highlights the development of a pipeline to produce a lightweight 3D model that enables the public to interact with a photorealistic model based upon accurate survey and texture data. 3D-ICONS ended in January 2015, but a new website 3dicons.ie was launched to offer continued access to the Irish 3D models and associated content and media generated during the project. The article will consider the impact of this online content, particularly how it has been used as a teaching aid in secondary schools and how this may be extended in the future. It will also demonstrate how content from the project has been remodelled to develop an interactive and immersive experience for the great mound at Knowth, a development in partnership with the operators of the Brú na Bóinne visitor centre.

a partner in the EU co-funded 3D-ICONS project, the Discovery Programme has surveyed a wide range of the iconic cultural heritage sites in Ireland. This project aimed to establish a complete pipeline for the production of 3D replicas of archaeological monuments and historic buildings, and to publish the content to Europeana for public access. Challenges discussed include: making such high resolution data sets available to the public to enable online interaction and via the web, creating suitable and representative metadata and IPR frameworks for 3D cultural heritage data.

The ancestors were more relaxed than some when sitting for their portraits, given that the painter was their son, presumably performing gratis. In their Sunday best, they peer shrewdly from their his-and-hers twin ovals now exactly as they’ve done for something like a century-and-a-half. His formal white cravat, the filmy bands depending from her lace cap set off healthy complexions, features glowing with composure, hair brushed to a sheen; in short, the earmarks of prosperous middle age. A bead of white glimmering from each pupil works to bring their eyes to life. When I first pondered them, flanking my grandparents’ fireplace, they did not seem approachable by children— too venerable, even though their brows were mostly free of wrinkles. Now I find I’ve not only approached them but outpaced them, drawn past their age that day they gave their son his chance to practice on familiar subjects.

Although the INSPIRE Directive provides a roadmap and technical specifications for providing interoperability of spatial information created and held by public bodies across Europe, its relevance to archaeological and built heritage information is unclear. Whilst there is a clear need for access to information about the historic environment by a range of audiences actively engaged in the management of Europe's rich heritage, delivery of relevant services is restricted to a narrow interpretation of the Annex I Protected Sites theme that focuses on statutory designations. This paper explores business reasons for adopting a more expansive interpretation of what information should be considered as and distributed as part of the Protected Sites theme in order to support policies and activities that impact upon the wider historic environment. The paper also considers the range and potential of information created through investigation and recording of the historic environment, often at public expense or interest. The potential for data reuse generating savings, inspiring smarter working practices, and developing sustainable datasets is explored through case studies from Scotland and Ireland and proposals to establish a thematic geo-portal, web services and applications through the EU Culture funded project Archaeo Landscapes Europe (ArcLand), are discussed.

In Ireland the Discovery Programme has been pioneering the use of high resolution LiDAR data as a mapping and modelling resource for archaeological landscapes, working on a number of sites as part of its 3D modelling research interests. In general, the results have been well received, with the derived DTMs, DSMs and associated hillshade models having an instant 'wow' factor. As a result of this a number of government agencies have followed our lead, commissioning further archaeology specific LiDAR projects, and in some cases 're-discovering' data sets sidelined due to a lack of processing expertise. The paper will use examples from Ireland to show the exceptional quality of models available from high resolution LiDAR data sets, how they compare with 'normal' LiDAR models, and how they are enhancing our understanding of landscapes. However the paper will also consider the problems of data management and access to LiDAR data which are seriously inhibiting the ability of agencies to fully exploit their investment. This could result in reluctance to commission future projects. The paper will consider whether the development of spatial data infrastructures (SDI) for cultural heritage data could play an important part in resolving this problem, and ensure that the opportunity exists for such valuable LiDAR data to be consumed by as wide a user community as possible.

Over the past 16 years, the Discovery Programme, an Irish archaeological research organisation, has strived to produce accurate high resolution 3-dimensional models of earthwork monuments and their archaeological landscapes. Initially, this was achieved by the use of terrestrial-based survey technologies including total stations and RTK GPS. However, this is a slow, labour intensive way to build such models, and often the final archaeological models were devoid of their landscape context. In 2003, the Discovery Programme implemented, to great effect, the use of digital aerial stereo photogrammetry in the creation of landscape and monument 3-dimensional models and associated orthoimages. However, problems including the occlusion of features due to vegetation cover, and the great effort and expertise needed to process the data were evident. Since the development of fixed wing Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and its ability to rapidly produce landscapes Digital Terrain Models (DTM) even beneath vegetation, the Discovery Programme has monitored its application to the recording of archaeological features. Although impressive results have been seen from many examples of landscape modelling, the resolution and accuracy of the sensor devices (0.5m and 15cm respectively) often falls short to effectively record the subtle details and relationships of complex archaeological features. Since 2007, the Discovery Programme has employed the use of a new aerial LiDAR system: FLI-MAP 400 from BKS Surveys Ltd. (UK) and Fugaro Ltd. (Netherlands). This technology has the advantage in that it is helicopter mounted, allowing for relatively slow air speeds and low altitude flight paths which result in the collection of extremely high resolution height data (10cm). The FLI-MAP 400 system is equipped with three 150Khz laser scanners (forward – nadir – aft), that have a range accuracy of 1cm (1 sigma) and several imaging devices including high resolution mapping camera and three video cameras accompanying each laser scanner. This technology has been successfully implemented on three archaeological sites: Newtown Jerpoint abandoned medieval settlement, Dún Ailinne prehistoric hillfort and the Hill of Tara archaeological complex. This paper illustrates the results of these surveys, and the high level of terrain and monument detail recorded. Discussion includes the processing required to produce the final models and the level of vegetation removal that can be achieved from the multiple return signals of the LiDAR pulse. Examples are employed where the resulting terrain models are interpreted with additional field inspection to further the understanding of the archaeological features and structures. Subsequent interpretations are then used in conjunction with the high resolution models to enable the realistic visualisation of monument and landscape features. Finally, there is an evaluation of this methodology against alternative LiDAR and ground-based approaches.