Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Prof. McPhail and his associates have applied their process to over 150 gatherings,
including the March for Life; the National Organization for Women; and the Promise
Keepers Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men event at the National Mall in
Washington, D.C. in 1997. In the latter case, operatives recorded 55 observation
minutes between 10am and 7pm, which included two hours before and after the event.
Recording at this level of granularity allows quantitate estimates of the proportions of
persons in a gathering participating in one or more EFCA over time and hence a
window into the dynamics of collective actions within gatherings. McPhail argues
that, although there are a number of caveats, the idea of unanimity is an illusion within
group dynamics everyone is not always doing the same thing and there is no
mutually inclusive form of participation. He ended with a call for further research to
produce a more general theory of purposeful action.
The geophysical investigation at Portumna, on the northern shores of Lough Derg, Co.
Galway, was commissioned by the Office of Public Works. The site includes a 13th
century Cistercian Abbey, a Medieval castle, a post-Medieval icehouse, and assorted
late buildings. The geophysical methods used here included magnetometer surveys,
along with ground penetrating radar, and earth resistance. The Portumna data also
returned a similar pattern of material remains, suggested by increased background
noise in the data. This is interpreted as evidence of the August 1985 Scout Jamboree
that attracted 10,000 scouts and their leaders from around the world. This was my
personal contribution to the paper, having been one of the Scouts attending the event
I was a member of Kestrel Patrol in the 4th Galway, Craughwell, Troop and could
contribute personal reminiscences of the event. For the first time in my life, I have
been less the archaeologist, and more the archaeology! The surveyed area covered the
Grainne Staff Camp and part of the open area in front of the stage. One difference
between the two datasets was the lack of burning evidence at Portumna, which may be
explained by the camp requirement of having a raised-hearth, so no dug fire-pits were
excavated. Again, the communal area around the stage was kept clear, which was
reflected in the geophysical data. Bonsalls point in all this is that we have here two
relatively well documented gatherings that have left no surface trace, but yet may be
recovered through geophysical survey. Consequently, there are implications that other
gatherings, much further back in time, could be identified through careful analysis of
the data from future surveys. With regard to these festival sites in particular, Bonsall
asked if they could be considered archaeological sites in their own right? As the current
Irish legislation is framed to only include post-1700 AD sites, this is not an option.
However, the UK 50 year rule will mean that the site of the first Stonehenge Free
Festival in 1972 will officially become archaeology in 2022. Some commentators have
suggested that the ferrous signals should be investigated, with a view to
decontaminating the Stonehenge area. Bonsall argued that this would lead to large-
scale test-pitting across the landscape that would be needlessly destructive to the
ancient sites. He also pointed out that the presence of the festival can be interpreted
from the aggregation of the ferrous responses, but that not all are certainly of modern
origin. My own feeling in this is that these festivals are part of the story of these sites
and that archaeological record should be left in place.
With the conclusion of a brief question and answer session with the speakers, we all
ambled out into the light for fresh air and coffee.