Lagoonscapes

The Venice Journal of Environmental Humanities

Preservation by Record of Ireland’s Shell Middens: Citizen Science Practice and Pedagogy

crossmark logo

Abstract

PRISM (Preservation by Record of Ireland’s Shell Middens) was a citizen science pilot in Ireland that mobilised volunteers to record vulnerable coastal shell middens through a digital reporting platform. The project enabled rapid documentation, targeted rescue sampling, and new radiocarbon determinations, while serving as a field-based teaching laboratory that tested place-based, co-productive approaches to at-risk heritage. By bringing deep-time archaeological archives into dialogue with contemporary climate hazards, PRISM, and similar projects, can advance environmental humanities practice and inform alternative climate adaptation strategies.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Presentato: 20 Ottobre 2025 | Accettato: 17 Novembre 2025 | Pubblicato 18 Dicembre 2025 | Lingua: en

Keywords Shell MiddensCitizen scienceCoastal archaeologyPlace-based learningClimate adaptation