Towards realising the full archaeoenvironmental potential of raised (ombrotrophic) mires in the British Isles

Raised mires represent a unique resource for the study of past peoples within their changing landscape context. However, present palaeoecological and archaeological approaches to these landscapes within the British Isles have followed largely separate agendas. Palaeoecological study has generally been focused on themes of climate change, using a range of techniques to derive information relating to changes in surface wetness of raised mires over time. In contrast, archaeological study has been broadly limited to themes of preservation and site recovery. This paper argues that the integration of the methods employed within both disciplines can enable an investigation of context unattainable for the majority of archaeological sites. A case study illustrates the recursive nature of human-ennvironment relations in a raised mire system in Ireland.