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Dún Ailinne, Ireland Excavation Records
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]3260 South Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104-6324
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Bernard Wailes was born April 2, 1934 in St. Mawgan, Cornwall, England. He attended St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, and graduated with a B.A. (with honors) in 1957. Wailes accomplished field work in archaeology between 1957 and 1961 earning an M.A. in 1961. He also instructed in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and became an assistant for the Mediterranean Section of the University Museum beginning in 1961, and a Research Associate for the Applied Science Center of Archaeology beginning in 1962. In addition, Wailes was a member of the Prehistoric Society, the Royal Archaeological Institute (London University), Cornwall Archaeological Society, Society for Medieval Archaeology, Philadelphia Anthropological Society, and the Archaeological Institute of America.
Wailes conducted field work in the British Isles (Mesolithic to Medieval) between 1952 and 1955. He was the director of excavations in the British Isles for sites from the Bronze Age to the Dark Age between 1955 and 1960, and conducted excavations in Great Britain and Field Research in France during the summer of 1963. Wailes work in the early 1960s included a directorship at the two year dig in Castle an-Dinas, St. Columb Major, a royal site in Cornwall. In the later 1960s, he assisted Charles Thomas at Sperry Quoit and worked at the twenty-year project at Gwithian. He received his Ph.D. from Cambridge in 1964 and then began his excavation at Dún Ailinne, a royal site in Ireland for the University Museum.
Wailes was the former editor of the Museum Mosaic Magazine and Expedition Magazine. In addition to his work in Great Britain and France, Wailes participated in other excavations in India (1992) with Gregory Possehl and Thailand (1992) at Non Pa Wai with Vincent Pigott. Wailed retired in 1999 and became a Curator Emeritus, European Archaeology Section, and a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology. Before his retirement, he served as the Graduate Chair of Anthropology, Classical Archaeology, Ancient History, and Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Dun Ailinne, Ireland Excavation Records include correspondence, permits, budgets, field notebooks, maps and drawings, site plans, artifact drawings, artifact analysis (including radiocarbon dating), progress reports, publications, find inventories, and newspaper clippings from between 1967 and 2005 housed in five boxes and in Print Cabinet P-11 and Map Case M-10. In addition, the collection includes color and black/white 35mm slides, color and black/white 35mm safety negatives, black/white 2x2 negatives, and black/white 8x10 negatives, as well as color and black/white photographic prints taken between 1968 and 1975 in Ireland. Subjects are predominantly site features and excavation landscapes, but also include portraits and everyday life of the excavation team, local Irish residents, Bernard Wailes himself, and their trips off-site, particularly to Skellig Island. Wailes work at other sites such as Gwithian, Castle an-Dinas, Emain Macha, Navan and Sperris are represented in the slide collection. All holdings in the Dun Ailinne, Ireland Excavations Records were donated by Bernard Wailes by 2007 after the publication of the book,
Dun Ailinne: Excavations at an Irish Royal Site, 1968-1975, by Susan A. Johnston and Bernard Wailes, published by the University of Pennyslvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Many of the artifact drawings can be found in this publication.People
Subject
- Anthropological museums and collections
- Archaeological expeditions
- Archaeology--Burials
- Excavations (Archaeology)
Place
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Allyson Glazier/ Jody Rodgers
- Finding Aid Date
- 2010
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open to qualified researchers. Portions of the collection that have been photocopied or microfilmed will be brought to the researcher in that format; microfilm can be made available through Interlibrary Loan.
Photocopying will be undertaken by staff only, and is limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days. On-site researchers may print out unlimited copies from microfilm reader-printer machines at a per-exposure rate; see guidelines in the reading room for details.
- Use Restrictions
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Although many items from the archives are in the public domain, copyright may be retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. The user is fully responsible for compliance with relevant copyright law. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Permission to reproduce or quote text from this collection in a publication must be requested from and granted in writing by the Senior Archivist, University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Collection Inventory
The Correspondence Series of the Collection includes Permits and Export Licenses for archaeological artifacts found at the site, and correspondence between Bernard Wailes and the National Museum of Ireland, the University Museum, among other persons and organizations and is housed in three folders.
The Field Notes series of the Collection includes Site Books, "Finds" Registers, Staff Notebooks, General Notes & Logs (Features and Photos) and is housed in 41 folders.
The Financial Records series of the collection includes budget proposals, grant applications, fund requests, and student applications for traineeships with Wailes and are housed in two folders.
The Maps and Drawings series of the Collection includes Site Plans (Reproductions), Sections and Plans, Metal artifacts, artifact sketches, and other miscellaneous materials and is housed in seven folders.
The Artifact Analysis Series of the collection includes notes and letters about the analysis of glass and iron found at the excavation site, as well as information about their conservation and the use of radiocarbon dating to verify their ages. It is housed in five folders.
The Reports and Publications series of the Collection includes progress reports, work plans, published articles about findings, and newspaper clippings and is housed in 17 folders.
The Photographs series of the collection includes photographic prints from the excavation between 1968 and 1975 as well as from off-site trips (particularly to Skellig Island) taken by Bernard Wailes and the excavation team. It includes aerial photographs taken by Cambridge University by plane, photographic contact sheets (negatives can be located in the Photographic Archives), and photographs of the excavation team. It is housed in nine folders.