Egglestone marble was quarried at four sites around Barnard Castle on the banks of the Tees in the later Middle Ages, reaching a peak in usage in the fifteenth century. This comprehensive work looks at its quarrying, usage and distribution across the north-east. Whilst there is no evidence of the stone's use in building work, it was used in a range of other monuments such as cross ledger and incised slabs, tomb chests, fonts, and most importantly as the setting for memorial brasses. Patterns of patronage are noted and the appendices contain a complete list of Egglestone marble pieces with evidence for dating and patronage.

This series of papers arising from a York Conference look at interdisciplinary research, asking what it is, when it is useful, and at some of the drawbacks and pitfalls. The opening three papers, including the keynote address by alex Woolf examine techniques and technicalities noting that for researchers there will always be a trade-off between the need to gain additional specialist skills and the amount of time that can actually be dedicated to the specific research. The remaining six papers showcase examples of interdiscplinary research with topics including Anglo-Saxon wills and burial, textual and iconographic approaches to the study of lordship in Suffolk, perceptions of remoteness and connectedness with regard to the western islands of Ireland, the early cult of teh saints in Britain, and the location of Alcuin's church in York.

In this work the author correlates animal history with the evolution of human society and with ecological transformations in medieval Moldavia, revealing the role played by animals in the life of medieval communities, the exploitation strategies employed, the dynamics of the morphology, and the distribution of various animal species in medieval Moldavia. The objectives in view were: to evaluate the animal resources and the purposes of their use in various medieval settlements in Moldavian; to identify consumer diversity depending on geographical, ethnical and religious factors in the urban or rural environment; to describe the different animal species identified starting from the archaeozoological samples and to establish certain racial types of domestic animals in medieval Moldavia; and to evualuate the ways in which animals were utilized (age, gender, butchering methods, etc.).

In June 2000, a small excavation was carried out by Northamptonshire Archaeology on land on the north bank of Brayford Pool, Lincoln, in the area of medieval Baxtergate. Within the trench, archaeological remains, broadly dating to the 11th and 12th centuries AD, were found beneath a thick layer of modern demolition rubble. The medieval remains comprised features typical of backyard activity, such as cess and general refuse pits, and ditches and gullies which probably functioned as plot boundaries and drains. The tentative remains of a partitioned timber building, possibly used as a latrine and/or an animal byre, were also found. This activity was interspersed with a series of layers, probably associated with attempts to reclaim land along the northern edge of Brayford Pool or placed to protect the bank of the Pool from erosion.

Principally through the use of landscape archaeology, this work explores the medieval landscape of west Wales, particularly the 'cwmwd' of Gwinionydd in the central Teifi valley, Ceredigion. The main focus of the study is to recreate the 'cwmwd-maenor-tref', territorial system administered by a pre-conquest Welsh aristocracy and locate native tenures along with their specific agricultural regimes. A retroactive analysis of estate structures, such as those at Llanfair and Llanllyr, establishes their medieval antecedence and they are considered alongside the monastic granges of Whitland, Strata Florida and Talley abbeys. This project draws upon techniques including field survey, remote sensing, geophysics, mapping and terrain modelling using Geographic Information Systems and Lidar data. These are complemented by excavation to target and clarify the interpretation of the survey results. The work can be viewed as a trans-disciplinary landscape analysis that has implications for future approaches to the study of rural Wales: this successful study of an apparently inscrutable rural landscape is relevant for research and curatorial disciplines alike.

This short monograph surveys the current state of archaeological thinking on the early medieval town, using case studies from northern Italy. Topics under discussion include the extent of de-urbanisation, the continuity or otherwise of trade and commerce, Christianisation and its effect on town layout and the wider landscape, increased fortifications and differences in construction techniques. Overall Gonella concludes that the evidence points very much to an 'age of transition'.

Nine essays use landscape and placename studies, the survival of oral traditions and material culture to examine medieval folklore, ritual practises and the survival of pagan traditions into the Christian era. The book is the result of a conference held in COrk and there is thus a corresponding concentration on Irish evidence, although there are also essays on the medieval functions of prehistoric monuments in Spain, Estonia and Russia.

Despite being a pillar of belief in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the idea of revelation was deeply discredited over the course of the Enlightenment. The post-Enlightenment restoration of revelation among German religious thinkers is a fascinating yet underappreciated moment in modern efforts to navigate between reason and faith. The Rebirth of Revelation compares Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish reflections on revelation from 1750 to 1850 and asserts that a strategic transformation in the term's meaning secured its relevance for the modern age. Tuska Benes argues that "propositional" revelation, understood as the infallible dispensation of doctrine, gave way to revelation as a subjective process of inner transformation or the historical disclosure of divine being in the world. By comparatively approaching the unconventional ways in which Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism have rehabilitated the concept of revelation, The Rebirth of Revelation restores theology to a central place in modern European intellectual history.

This work explores the contribution of the peoples of the Barbaricum to the shaping of early medieval technology in Europe, with a particular reference to iron-making. Within this general cultural framework, the case of Lombards is analyzed in more detail, tracing the way their iron-making technological heritage developed: first, during their settlement on the Lower Elbe (first centuries AD) characterized by a Western Germanic technical culture, then, in Central Europe (AD 3rd/4th-6th), where they came into contact with a Celtic and provincial Roman substratum, and finally in Italy (second half of AD 6th to 8th). At this stage, Lombard craftsmen, who possessed the full range of technical-artisanal skills of iron-production that were integral to western Germanic culture, would have come into contact with practitioners embodying the technical knowledge of the Mediterranean heritage. This encountering of material cultures seems to have resulted in reshaping of the entire economic structure of the peninsula, with local markets becoming of primary importance.

This volume, the proceedings of a 2005 conference looks at long-distance contacts and exchange and the collapse and creation of international systems during late antiquity. Broadly the papers posit that the decay of the Roman state lead to more not less long distance contact, with the spread of world relgions and new technologies both indicators of, and causes of this process. There is a theoretical paper from Ken Dark, then a series of more specialised studies which look at trade with China, Ethiopia and India and at the use of bracteates and pottery ampullae as evidence of long-distance exchange.

This study brings a variety of approaches to bear on problems realting to fish eating, its prevalence and economic and cultural significance in classical Greece. Archaeological work is used to determine how widespread fishing was, and in which regions fishing was particularly intensive. Although the scale of fishing appears highly variable there appears to be little link between this and environmental factors. Accordingly, much of the book is given over to literary and anthropological research to determine the reasons for fish consumption, looking at the ancient classification of fish, their use in cultic practices, processes of distribution and marketing, and the relationship between fish consumption and social class.

This study, a revisiting of the author's PhD thesis, looks at Royal landholding in the Wessex shires of Hampshire and Dorset in the later Anglo-Saxon period. It analyses the techniques used for estate management across the different categories of landholding and examines the role of role agents. Of primary importance is evidence from Domesday Book backed up with other charters and wills. Ultimately conclusions are drawn about the nature of Royal power and the development of the Anglo-Saxon state.

'For weeks after his Christian baptism and confirmation into the Church of England Martin presented a vivid sight as he walked briskly along the Oxford streets. Dressed in white trousers and white open neck shirt (no jersey or jacket in even the coldest weather) and long white hair, it was a striking statement of a new life that would easily have been recognised by those early Christians who were clothed in white robes after their baptism in font or riverMartin is especially well placed, by virtue of his long-standing academic interests and his personal convictions, to build a picture of Christianity in Roman Britain. He has, after all, written about many of the crucial pieces of evidence. He can give us a clear and comprehensive survey of art in the age of Constantine. He can also identify and trace the difference that Christianity made to that art. Religion in the Roman world was highly diverse, but there were elements within it which lent themselves to a later, Christian interpretation, such as the myth of Bellerophon and the Chimera. There was also an implicit longing as expressed in Sol Invictus, which found its fulfillment in Christ the unconquered victor over sin and death, the sun which will never set. The classical heritage of myth and story was part of the education of a Roman gentlemen, the paidea, even when the empire became Christian, but a Christian could see in at least some of it a pointer and foreshadowing of Christ. Martin is able to see it in this way too. There are some in the modern world who like to stress the great gulf, the sharp difference between Christianity and other faiths. Martin shows that for the church in the fourth century the continuities and fulfillments were just as important. The 44-page bibliography of his writings is substantial evidence to the range and depth of Martin's work: a scholar's scholar indeed. So I feel specially honoured to have been invited to write this short preface to these essays honouring him.' (Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford). Contents: R. Bradley: Roman Interpretations of the Prehistoric Past; M. Aldhouse-Green: Monsters on the Rocks: Iconography of Transformation at Camonica Valley; E. Sauer: Native deities in southern Germany in the Roman period; C. Clay: Before there were Angles, Saxons and Jutes: an epigraphic study of the Germanic social, religious and linguistic relations on Hadrian's Wall; A. B. Marsden: Some sing of Alexander and some of Hercules: artistic echoes of Hercules and Alexander the Great on coins and medallions, A.D. 260-269; J. Boardman: Roman Gems: Problems of Date and Identity; J. Bagnall Smith: Four Miniature Swords from Harlow and others known from Roman Britain; V. Platt Burning Butterflies: Seals, Symbols and the Soul in Antiquity; L. Gilmour: The Face of an Angel; M. Darling: A Depiction of the Organ from Roman Britain; C. Johns; The Wroxeter Isis gem: an update; C. Thomas A curious piece of Granite; D. M. Bailey: A Collar for a God: an Egyptianising scene on a fragment of Roman cameo glass; C. Sparey-Green: Foot Impressions on a House Floor in Dorchester: a Divine Presence in Durnovaria?; K. Sutton and S. Worrell: Roman religious objects recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Oxfordshire and elsewhere; A. Cruse: Dioscorides of Anazarbus (fl . A.D. 70): from Mithridates to the Middle Ages; R. Isserlin: Some leaves from the invisible archive; G. Seidmann: Greville Chester? - Who was he?; D. Howlett: Continuities from Roman Britain; M. Biddle and B. Kjbye-Biddle: Winchester: from Venta to Wintancaestir; J. Onians: The Romsey roods: Christ, rods, and the geography of religion; J. Bertram From Duccius to Daubernoun: Ancient Antecedents of Monumental Brass Design: B. Gilmour Sub-Roman or Saxon, Pagan or Christian: who was buried in the early cemetery at St. Paul-in-the-Bail, Lincoln?; M. J. Florence: 'Le Conte du Graal' by Chretien de Troyes; G. Soffe: The Romanesque Font at Portchester; J. Blair: The 13th-century seal-matrix of Henley rural deanery; S. Watney: The Lily-Crucifi xion in Late Medieval English Art; K. Heard: Image and Identity in English Episcopal Seals, 1450-1550; M. Vickers: Saints Martin of Tours and Thomas of Canterbury in Urbino; L. Keen: Christ Crucified, Christ Risen: medieval ceramic tiles; L. Golden: A fantasia of Pagan myth in the Villa Farnesina: Agostino Chigi's homage to his lover, Imperia; A. MacGregor: The Cult of Master John Shorne; M. Campbell: An eagle lectern of the Gothic Revival at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford; J. Munby: Two Oxford Engravings: Archaeology and the University in the 18th century; N. Ramsay: An English Monastic Profession-Vow; J. M. Steane: Chests, Cupboards and Boxes: a study of some of the methods used by Magdalen College, Oxford to store and retrieve information in the Late Medieval Period; C. Finn A Roman Pilgrimage.

This book examines archaeological and historical evidence for the socio-economic organization of the kingdom of East Kent, England, as a territorial and social system during the Early to Middle Anglo-Saxon period (AD 400-900). Explicit archaeological and theoretical frameworks are considered to propose a hierarchical model of the spatial organization of communities as a way of providing a micro-economic casestudy of state formation.

The idea of organised mass travel is one that does not really come about until the High Middle Ages, and this study looks at the mechanics of travel before then. It asks questions such as who travelled and why and examines the principle routes between England and Rome and the problems experienced by travellers over land during this period. The appendices contain lists of the known travellers to Rome and their routes, and a documentary appendix of sources which describe such travel.

Subtitled "Hungarian noble residences and their social context from the thirteenth through to the sixteenth century: an outline for methodology." This work aims to set up a research agenda to show how archaeology can contribute to an interdisciplinary study of society in the later Middle Ages, in this case in terms of a survey of the possibilities of using archaeology to study Hungarian nobility from the point of view of their living conditions and the functions of their residences. The author, drawn to this theme through an excavation in Pomaz (west of Budapest) in 1995, investigates the co-existence of various settlement types from the point of view of manorial buildings.

This work describes the organization of an agricultural homestead and its equipment and function and the ensuing research contributes towards an understanding of aspects of the social and economical status of peasants during the High and Late Middle Ages. Looking at homesteads, courtyards and villages, the author mainly focuses on the period between the 13th 15th centuries in the region of the present-day Czech Republic, as well as in other parts of Central Europe, extending the current knowledge base, with the intention of bringing more information on the development of the inner structure of the mediaeval village.

Investigation of social and economic change has always been central to archaeology. As part of this, population movements have frequently been emphasised as instigators of transition. This is particularly the case in British archaeology where, as an island, migration episodes tend to be viewed as highly significant. The Norman Conquest was the last and perhaps most famous of Britains invasions, resulting in the almost complete replacement of the Saxon elite, both lay and ecclesiastical. Because the events surrounding the Conquest are so well documented, 1066 has come to be held as a significant watershed. This book sets out to undertake a detailed zooarchaeological analysis of the Norman Conquest, whereby data are considered by site-type to detect subtle temporal variations, if present, in human-animal relationships. The aim of this book is to show that zooarchaeological and historical data can be used together profitably to provide a new perspective on the Normans and their conquest of England. In order to accomplish this, the Norman Conquest is examined at the macro, meso and micro scale, which can be translated as the Norman Empire, Saxo-Norman England and specific Saxo-Norman sites, respectively. Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: The French Dataset; Chapter 3: The Animal Economy: Continuity or Change?; Chapter 4: New Norman Breeds? Studies in Animal Size and Conformation; Chapter 5: The Norman Impact on Wild Resource Exploitation; Chapter 6: Deer Hunting: Methods and Rituals; Chapter 7: Biogeography of the Anglo-Norman Transition; Chapter 8: Cooking, Class and Cultural Identity; Chapter 9: The Invisible Conquest.

The presence of unusual, grotesque and rude carvings on ecclesiastical buildings have been explained in a number of ways, from reflecting the warped sense of humour of the masons, to a purely ornamental or marginal function. However, in this study of medieval sculpture from southern England, Alex Woodcock suggests that imagery should be seen in the same way as the buildings themselves, as liminal spaces mediating between the human, mortal world and the sacred and unknown. In examining various distorted and foliate heads, grotesques, mythical creatures, beasts and so on, Woodcock argues that these are wholly appropriate images for medieval religious life, reflecting the ambiguous and the unclassifiable in an unknown realm, whilst also having an apotropaic function. Placing emphasis on liminality, the study focuses in particular on heads - severed, foliate and otherwise - and whole figures, humans, animals and hybrids, including detailed studies of the siren and mermaid.

The purpose of castles - their position and their symbolic nature - is the main focus of this study, which takes into account the importance of their context in the medieval world, as part of a many-faceted society. The four south-eastern counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire and their castle buildings are looked at in detail to define the reasons for their locations - not just from a 'military-strategic' point of view, but a social and economic one as well.

This study of post-medieval ceramic production and consumption in the Lower Rhineland is prefaced by a survey of previous work and approaches in the field. With the initiation of large-scale urban excavations in the Lower Rhineland during the 1980s, particularly in the town of Duisburg, an extensive sequence of pottery has been recovered dating from c .1400 to 1800, enabling archaeologists for the first time to re-examine traditional chronologies, attributions and socio-economic interpretations. This survey comprises 95 individual assemblages of pottery from sites excavated in Duisburg and from towns and rural sites in the region. (Studies in Contemporary and Historical Archaeology is a new series of edited and single-authored volumes intended to make available current work on the archaeology of the recent and contemporary past. The series brings together contributions from academic historical archaeologists, professional archaeologists and practitioners from cognate disciplines who are engaged with archaeological material and practices.)

The manuscript which eventually came to be called "Domesday Book" is a product of the enterprise originally known as the "Descriptio totius Angliae," the survey carried out in 1086, twenty years after the Norman Conquest, by order of King William I. This manuscript does not stand alone. It is the latest of four successive versions of the written record of the survey. Intrinsically the least valuable, it has gained in value over time, as the earlier versions have dropped out of existence. But they have not disappeared completely. Part of the immediately preceding version survives as the companion volume to "Domesday Book"; part of the version preceding that survives, for some unknown reason, in the library of Exeter Cathedral, even though it was, without any doubt, written in the king's treasury at Winchester. The earliest version of all - the only version in which the data were recorded cadastrally, county by county, hundred by hundred, village by village, manor by manor - has been entirely lost in the original; yet for most of one county a copy survives, in a late twelfth-century manuscript from Ely. This book begins with a sequence of chapters which analyse some aspects of the manuscript evidence, from a new angle, or in closer detail than before, working backwards from the latest version towards the earliest. The last two chapters reassemble the evidence to create a new picture of the conduct of the survey, in both its fieldwork and its post-fieldwork phases.

This book provides an account of the archaeology of medieval monastic houses throughout Great Britain and Ireland. The application of a wide range of archaeological techniques, allied to historical investigation, has awakened interest in monasteries. Important new sources of information have transformed knowledge of monastic life. As well as discussing many of the advances made by research over the last two decades, innovative methods of archaeological investigation are described, and examples of good practice in the preservation of sites and their interpretation to visitors are provided. Suggestions for further research, examples of outstanding monastic sites to visit, a glossary of terms, a comprehensive bibliography and an index are also included.

Many hundred of bone and antler combs have been uncovered during half a century of excavation at the medieval settlement of Novgorod in Russia. Recovered from sites across the city, and spanning its entire medieval history, the combs reveal much about the changes in comb-making during the transition from the Viking to medieval period, while their archaeological provenance contributes to our understanding of the cultural and economic development of Novgorod. At the heart of the study is a detailed, illustrated typology of combs, along with analyses of their distribution, their decoration, the bone material, the location of possible industrial centres and chronological changes in design. Additional data is presented on a CD.