This week we were delighted to welcome Newstalk's Henry McKean of Under the Covers fame to one of our ongoing excavations in Galway. Henry was on site to get a clearer understanding of what archaeologists do and was keen to talk to everyone involved.

Some of the Rubicon crew dive 'Under the Covers'

The excavation was split into two distinct areas and Henry was first drawn to the excavation of human remains in a newly discovered cemetery. He interviewed the on-site osteoarchaeologist about recording and recovery, spoke with members of the excavation team and met faunal remains specialist Claudia Tommasino Suárez, who explained the analysis of animal bone and what it could reveal about activity on the site.

Later our metallurgical specialist showed Henry a number of the interesting small finds recovered during the excavation.

Henry McKean tries out some licensed metal detection

Henry was unable to dig because of health and safety considerations, but under supervision we let him try licensed metal detecting on the soil heap. During two minutes with the detector an iron nail was found and added to the site archive.

All the Rubicon archaeologists enjoyed their time 'under the covers' with Henry and hoped he enjoyed his foray into Irish field archaeology.