Medieval archaeology

About: Medieval archaeology is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 340 publications have been published within this topic receiving 3108 citations.

Invisible people and processes : writing gender and childhood into European archaeology

Abstract: Introduction: on the incompleteness of archaeological narratives. Section 1 Theory and review: ambivalent bodies: gender and medieval archaeology a viable past in a pictorial present? the power of gender archaeology re-engendering gender: some theoretical and methodological concerns on a burgeoning archaeological pursuit hearth and home: the timing of maintenance activities at home in the long Iron Age: a dialogue between households and individuals in cultural reproduction commentary. Section 2 Writing gender: skin scrapers and pottery makers? 'invisible' women in prehistory body imagery in the Aegean Neolithic: ideological implications of anthropomorphic figurines engendering domination: a structural and contextual analysis of Minoan Neopalotial bronze figurines changing gender relations in the later prehistory of eastern Hungary death becomes her: the Athenian funeral revisited female into male won't go: gender and early christian ascetism housewives, warriors and slaves? gender in Anglo-Saxon burials commentary. Section 3 Writing children and childhood: invisibility as a symptom of gender categories in archaeology engendering children, engendering archaeology kid Knapping: the missing children in lithic analysis women and children in prehistory: resources sharing and social stratification at the mesolithic-neolithic transition in the Ukraine age, gender and biological reality in the early Bronze Age cemetery at Mokrin commentary. Conclusion: the visibility of the invisible.

Death and Memory in Early Medieval Britain

Abstract: How were the dead remembered in early medieval Britain? Originally published in 2006, this innovative study demonstrates how perceptions of the past and the dead, and hence social identities, were constructed through mortuary practices and commemoration between c. 400–1100 AD. Drawing on archaeological evidence from across Britain, including archaeological discoveries, Howard Williams presents a fresh interpretation of the significance of portable artefacts, the body, structures, monuments and landscapes in early medieval mortuary practices. He argues that materials and spaces were used in ritual performances that served as 'technologies of remembrance', practices that created shared 'social' memories intended to link past, present and future. Through the deployment of material culture, early medieval societies were therefore selectively remembering and forgetting their ancestors and their history. Throwing light on an important aspect of medieval society, this book is essential reading for archaeologists and historians with an interest in the early medieval period.

Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course

Abstract: "An important and timely volumean elegant summary of complex theory, and synthesis of an impressive body of material It will be eagerly read by current and future generations of archaeologists, and will demonstrate the significance of historical archaeology to a much wider scholarly audience" Dr Kate Giles, University of York The aim of this book is to explore how medieval life was actually lived - how people were born and grew old, how they dressed, how they inhabited their homes, the rituals that gave meaning to their lives and how they prepared for death and the afterlife Its fresh and original approach uses archaeological evidence to reconstruct the material practices of medieval life, death and the afterlife Previous historical studies of the medieval "lifecycle" begin with birth and end with death Here, in contrast, the concept of life course theory is developed for the first time in a detailed archaeological case study The author argues that medieval Christian understanding of the "life course" commenced with conception and extended through the entirety of life, to include death and the afterlife Five thematic case studies present the archaeology of medieval England (c1050-1540 CE) in terms of the body, the household, the parish church and cemetery, and the relationship between the lives of people and objects A wide range of sources is critically employed: osteology, costume, material culture, iconography and evidence excavated from houses, churches and cemeteries in the medieval English town and countryside Medieval Life reveals the intimate and everyday relations between age groups, between the living and the dead, and between people and things Roberta Gilchrist is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading

Early Christian Ireland

Abstract: List of maps List of tables List of figures Acknowledgements Abbreviations A note on pronunciation A note on the Chronicle of Ireland Introduction 1. Ireland in the seventh century: a tour 2. Irish society c.700: I. Communities 3. Irish society c.700: II. Social distinctions and moral values 4. Ireland and Rome 5. Conversion to Christianity 6. The organisation of the early Irish church 7. Columba, Iona and Lindisfarne 8. Columbanus and his disciples 9. The Paschal controversy 10. The primatial claims of Armagh, Kildare and Canterbury 11. The origins and rise of Ui Neill 12. The kingship of Tara 13. The powers of kings 14. Conclusion Appendix: genealogies and king-lists Glossary: Irish and Latin Bibliography Index.

Usage and meaning of early medieval textiles. A structural analysis of vestimentary systems in Francia and Anglo-Saxon England

Abstract: This thesis puts under examination the linguistic and non-verbal elements of early medieval clothing on the basis of semiotic systems that pertain to the use and function of early medieval textiles in Francia and Anglo-Saxon England. An attempt is made here to address the possibilities in the research of the diverse messaging systems which reflect social roles and identities communicated visually through dress and dress accessories. In the course of this examination the relationship of early medieval people with dress and their concepts about their bodies is explored. While seeking to establish the most important elements in the structure of early medieval dress, we will also try to explore and deploy the methodologies of corporeal semantics, the criteria of visibility of the vestimentary display and the elements that make up the key focus of the apparel. The empirical evidence is drawn from both Merovingian and Carolingian Frankish and Anglo-Saxon contexts and comprises both texts of diverse genres which set the framework of a historical narrative for the subject in the light of comparative historical analysis. This framework is set against, is compared and challenged by the archaeology from early medieval burial sites and relics. My aims are, first the establishment of a common semiotic plane of interaction and comparison between two types of source material, the historical sources and the archaeology. In order to accomplish this, the disparities between the quality and quantity of textual and artefactual evidence and their inherent limitations are also researched and evaluated. My second aim is to find out ways to extract information about textile and metalwork artefacts from the written sources and organise it so that it will be possible to visualise and understand the structure and the role of dress in early medieval societies in reference to the construction of social and personal identities. This is an interdisciplinary task and the interpretative tools suggested here and the theory of verbal and non-verbal meaning of textiles could also be used as suggestions for further research directions of other types of linguistic and artefactual expression. Moreover, this task - to the point that the above issues and aims are resolved - could form the premise upon which a new system of artefact evaluation of the finds pertaining to dress from early medieval burials, a key feature of early medieval archaeology, could be exploited.