Showing papers on "Medieval archaeology published in 1996"

Regional archaeological projects: Trends and traditions in Mediterranean Europe

Abstract: Explicitly regional projects have been a comparatively recent phenomenon in Mediterranean archaeology. Classical archaeology is by far the strongest discipline in the university, museum and antiquities services career structures within the Mediterranean countries. It has always been dominated by the ‘Great Tradition’ of classical art and architecture: even today, a university course on ‘ancient topography’ in many departments of classical archaeology will usually deal predominantly with the layout of the major imperial cities and the details of their monumental architecture. The strength of the tradition is scarcely surprising in the face of the overwhelming wealth of the standing remains of the Greek and Roman cities in every Mediterranean country. There has been very little integration with prehistory: early prehistory is still frequently taught within a geology degree, and later prehistory is still invariably dominated by the culture-history approach. Prehistory in many traditional textbooks in the north Mediterranean countries remains a succession of invasions and migrations, first of Palaeolithic peoples from North Africa and the Levant, then of neolithic farmers, then metal-using elites from the East Mediterranean, followed in an increasingly rapid succession by Urnfielders, Dorians and Celts from the North, to say nothing of Sea Peoples (from who knows where?!). For the post-Roman period, church archaeology has a long history, but medieval archaeology in the sense of dirt archaeology is a comparatively recent discipline: until the 1960s in Italy, for example, ‘medieval archaeology’ meant the study of the medieval buildings of the historic cities, a topic outside the responsibility of the State Archaeological Service (the Superintendency of Antiquities) and within that of the parallel ‘Superintendencies’ for monuments, libraries, archives and art galleries.

Post-medieval dress accessories from recent urban excavations in Scotland

Abstract: This paper presents a discussion of some of the small, everyday artefacts of post-medieval life which have been recovered from a number of recent excavations in urban Scotland. In some of these excavations, the medieval archaeology has been of primary importance; hence the artefactual evidence of the past three or four centuries has sometimes received relatively less attention in necessarily selective publication reports. The dress accessories discussed here have both archaeological and socio-historical significance. Each type of accessory has gone through a process of evolution, influenced by changing economic needs, fashions, social values and manufacturing technologies. The post-medieval development of these artefacts provides an evolutionary and technological link between their medieval predecessors and their present day equivalents. The artefacts discussed specifically are all from excavations carried out by the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust between 1983 and 1995, in Elgin, Paisley, Perth and St Andrews.

Late Saxon and Medieval Archaeology at Ramsey Abbey, Cambridgeshire: An Archaeological Evaluation

Abstract: An archaeological evaluation within the grounds of Ramsey Abbey School, Cambridgeshire (TL29258515) was undertaken between the 19th and 23rd of August 1996, by the Archaeological Field Unit (AFU) of Cambridgeshire County Council on behalf of the Property Management Services of Cambridgeshire County Council. The evaluation proved conclusively that archaeological remains dating to the late Saxon and medieval periods survive within the proposed development area. Ten test pits we opened, six contained the remains of archaeology, while three could not be investigated due to the presence of modern service pipes/cables. It is worth noting that service trenches were recorded at depths ranging from 0.3m-0.7m. Archaeological deposits, in particular from the late Saxon period survive beneath these modern 20th century deposits. This was located adjacent to the present day tennis courts and was found to contain fen peat depositions. The foundations of two walls were revealed (test pits 2 & 8), these had been partially robbed and were sealed by a demolition layer dating to the 16th century and perhaps to the Dissolution. These walls are thus likely to be part of the medieval Abbey complex. In addition a fully robbed wall/ditch (test pit 1) was also excavated, and again this contained demolitions material consistent with a Dissolution period date(16th C). This ditch contained a fragment of a floor tile likely to have been produced on-site in the Abbey's own tile kilns. Further to the north, medieval demolition and sealed deposits were recorded in test pits 3, 9 and 10. Finally, the remains of a late Saxon pit, infilled with building debris and a ditch were recorded in test pit 10. These features were sealed beneath the medieval/late Saxon layer recorded in test pits 3,9 and 10. The evidence from the test pits shows that archaeological remains contemporary to the medieval Abbey survive and that earlier medieval/late Saxon deposits are present within the proposed development area and are likely to need consideration before the site is developed.

Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1995

Abstract: (1996). Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1995. Medieval Archaeology: Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 234-318.