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June 9-21, 2007 with Peter Bogucki, archaeologist and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Enjoy Princeton fellowship in the pubs in Ireland after a day of exploration.

The Irish landscape of mountains, fields, bogs, pastures, glens, rocks, and coastlines has been shaped by both natural processes and human activity. People have transformed the Irish landscape, first by cutting the forests, then by erecting large monuments, and finally by cultivation and grazing. The result is the picturesque terrain we see today. Since much of this activity took place either before written records or at the dawn of history, archaeology and environmental sciences provide the main ways of tracing the development of the Irish landscape and civilization.

Join Princeton June 9-21, 2007 for Ireland: The Building of Civilization to explore the country’s rich heritage by looking at the landscape through the eyes of an archaeologist. Through visits to key sites—often in the most picturesque parts of Ireland—and through the examination of finds in museums, learn what it was like to live in prehistoric Ireland and how Irish society developed from the earliest hunter-gatherers to the kingdoms of the Middle Ages.

For first-time visitors to Ireland, this will be a superb way to see some of the most beautiful Irish scenery and to get a taste of Irish life along the way. For those who have visited Ireland previously, the program will include some locations not normally on the tourist routes and point out monuments and sites that may have been bypassed before. Participants return home with a new appreciation for the antiquity of Irish society and the role that prehistoric peoples played in shaping the Irish landscape. And although this program will focus on the past, it will not neglect the present. Ireland now has comfortable hotels, fine restaurants, and attractive shops, all figuring prominently in the visit.

About the Study Leader
Peter Bogucki (pronounced bow-good'-ski) is associate dean for undergraduate affairs of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and an archaeologist who specializes in European prehistory. Since the mid-1970s, he has conducted archaeological research on early farming settlements in Poland and has traveled widely in Europe visiting sites and museums. He is the author of Forest Farmers and Stockherders: Early Agriculture and its Consequences in North Central Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1988) and The Origins of Human Society (Blackwell Publishers, 1999) along with many scholarly and popular articles. His most recent major publication is Ancient Europe: an Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World, 8000 BC - AD1000, jointly edited with Pam J. Crabtree (Charles Scribners' Sons, 2004). He is currently writing a book on European prehistory for Princeton University Press.

Dr. Bogucki has traveled to Ireland several times to visit archaeological sites and museums, most recently in 2002, 2003, and 2004. In addition, he has taught a freshman writing seminar, Mysterious Megaliths, in which Irish sites figured prominently. His daughter, Caroline, spent her junior year at Trinity College in Dublin.

To make reservations, fill out the form in the brochure or contact Princeton Journeys at (609) 258-8686 or journeys@princeton.edu.

View photos of the trip.