Within Without – The Archaeology of Partitions
Almost all archaeological sites and monuments include a ditch, a wall, a fence or a bank—something that divides space physically and sometimes symbolically. The space on either side of these dividing features, whether enclosed or separated, can have its own significance or meaning. Conceptual divisions like inclusion and exclusion, privacy or social standing can be more challenging to identify but are no less significant. Using archaeology to examine socially and physically constructed partitions, and the spaces they divide, can help to give us insight into how spaces were used and what they meant to the people who used them.
8th Annual National Monuments Service
Archaeology Conference organised on behalf
of the National Monuments Service by
Wordwell | Archaeology Ireland.
Edmund Burke Theatre, Trinity College, Dublin, 18 October 2025