Environmental archaeologists work across Ireland in third-level and public institutions, in consultancies and as sole traders. Members of EAI investigate human-environment interactions through the scientific investigation of a wide variety of ancient remains, most often focusing on plants, wood, animals and insects.

Newer approaches include isotope analysis (measuring the ratio of certain isotopes of chemical elements) and organic residue analysis (identification of molecular traces of lipids such as fats, oils and waxes preserved in ceramic vessels and other materials). Multi-disciplinary approaches are increasingly undertaken to enable multi-faceted perspectives on what people and animals ate in the past, how people organised their economies and societies, seasonality and mobility, how people interacted with their local environments and wider landscapes, and how people created their social and material worlds.

Originally established in 2016, EAI has organised several CPD (Continuous Professional Development) courses about environmental archaeology for the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland and for archaeologists working in Transport Infrastructure Ireland. We have also taken part in public events such as Archaeofest to show what environmental archaeologists do in a fun and engaging way. We also advocate for best practice in environmental archaeology, in consultation with regulatory authorities and procurement agencies.

EAI re-launched in 2021, organising a series of online seminars which are still available to view (links are available on our Events page, under “Past events”). In 2023 we organised our first in-person conference since 2016.

We also organise networking sessions where we get together to discuss unusual material that we have retrieved from sites. If you are an environmental archaeologist working on material from Ireland, please get in touch!