This volume is the definitive account of the excavation which led to the discovery of the magnificent hoard of 28 pieces of Pictish silverware on St Ninian s Isle, Shetland in 1958. It includes a reassessment of the original archives and finds, including an ogham stone found on the site in 1876 and a fantastic collection of glass beads, as well as several new small-scale excavations on the site of the chapel and its burial ground. Taken together, this work reveals a long sequence of settlement beginning in the Iron Age. The first church was built on the site in the 8th century, and accompanied by a long cist cemetery with cross-incised stones and shrine sculpture. The church may have continued in use into the 9th or 10th centuries, and the recent work has confirmed that the famous hoard was buried into its floor. There was a degree of continuity between the pre-Christian and Christian burials, with evidence that the site was a special place for burial before the advent of Christianity. The report describes these burials in detail, ending the story sometime between the 11th and end of the 12th centuries, when an adult male who had died a violent death was moved to be buried on the site. Thereafter the site was inundated with wind-blown sand. A new chapel with an accompanying long cist cemetery was then built above the earlier church, and a chancel was added later. The associated graveyard continued in use until around 1840, long after the building was demolished."

The Medieval Chantry in England is a special themed issue of Volume 164 of the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. Subscribers to the journal will receive a paperback version of the issue as part of their subscription. The subject is one that has attracted considerable attention from archaeologists and historians of art, architecture and music over the last two decades, though relatively little has been published. Chantries were religious institutions endowed with land, goods and money. At their heart was the performance of a daily mass for the spiritual benefit of their founders, and the souls of all faithful dead. To Church reformers, they exemplified some of medieval Catholicism s most egregious errors; but to the orthodox they offered opportunities to influence what occurred in an unknowable afterlife. The eleven essays presented here lead the reader through the earliest manifestations of the chantry, the origins and development of stone-cage chapels, royal patronage of commemorative art and architecture, the chantry in the late medieval parish, the provision of music and textiles, and a series of specific chantries created for William of Wykeham, Edmund Audley, Thomas Spring and Abbot Islip, to the eventual history and the cultural consequences of their suppression in the mid-16th century."

The British Archaeological Association's 2007 conference celebrated the material culture of medieval Coventry, the fourth wealthiest English city of the later middle ages. The nineteen papers collected in this volume set out to remedy the relative neglect in modern scholarship of the city's art, architecture and archaeology, as well as to encompass recent research on monuments in the vicinity. The scene is set by two papers on archaeological excavations in the historic city centre, especially since the 1970s, and a paper investigating the relationships between Coventry's building boom and economic conditions in the city in the later middle ages. Three papers on the Cathedral Priory of St Mary bring together new insights into the Romanesque cathedral church, the monastic buildings and the post-Dissolution history of the precinct, derived mainly from the results of the Phoenix Initiative excavations (19992003). Three more papers provide new architectural histories of the spectacular former parish church of St Michael, the fine Guildhall of St Mary and the remarkable surviving west range of the Coventry Charterhouse. The high-quality monumental art of the later medieval city is represented by papers on wall-painting (featuring the recently conserved Doom in Holy Trinity church), on the little-known Crucifixion mural at the Charterhouse, and on a reassessment of the working practices of the famous master-glazier, John Thornton. Two papers on a guild seal and on the glazing at Stanford on Avon parish church consider the evidence for Coventry as a regional workshop centre for high quality metalwork and glass-painting. Beyond the city, three papers deal with the development of Combe Abbey from Cistercian monastery to country house, with the Beauchamp family's hermitage at Guy's Cliffe, and with a newly identified stonemasons' workshop in the 'barn' at Kenilworth Abbey. Two further papers concern the architectural patronage of the earls and dukes of Lancaster in the 14th century at Kenilworth Castle and in the Newarke at Leicester Castle.

Al-Andalus, the Iberian Islamic civilization centred on Cordoba in the tenth and eleventh centuries, has been a 'lost' civilization in several respects. Its history suppressed or denied for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was regarded as a kind of 'historical parenthesis' with no lasting influence. Over the past twenty-five years, however, the history and archaeology of the Islamic period in the Iberian peninsula has undergone a complete transformation. Lost Civilization presents an introduction to this debate as it has played out in archaeology, taking a comparative civilizations approach that puts the formation of al-Andalus in context with corresponding developments elsewhere in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

This volume celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Society for Medieval Archaeology (established in 1957), presenting reflections on the history, development and future prospects of the discipline. The papers are drawn from a series of conferences and workshops that took place in 2007-2008, in addition to a number of contributions that were commissioned especially for the volume. They range from personal commentaries on the history of the Society and the growth of the subject, to historiographical, regional and thematic overviews of major trends in the evolution and current practice of medieval archaeology in Britain. Critical overviews are presented of the archaeology of medieval landscapes, buildings and material culture; new developments in the scientific study of medieval health, diet and materials; and, innovations in social approaches to medieval archaeology. A series of papers on southern Europe provide a comparative perspective, featuring overviews on medieval archaeology in Italy, Spain and southeastern Europe.

The papers in this collection explore the medieval art, architecture, and archaeology of the city of Mainz and of the middle Rhine valley. They were delivered in 2003, at the first annual conference the Association held in Germany. The contributors embrace a wide range of subjects. Some consider the architecture and archaeology of the early medieval and Romanesque period, including the Carolingian monastery of Lorsch and the cathedrals of Mainz, Speyer, and Worms. Other authors look at high and late Gothic architecture in the region, such as the collegiate church at Oppenheim and the Wernerkapelle at Bacherach. There are, moreover, papers on castle architecture, sculpture, panel painting, liturgical furnishings, and medieval inscriptions. At the centre of discussion stand questions of cult, patronage, iconography, and style. New light is shed particularly on the relationship between the art and architecture in the Rhine valley and France. This collection brings together British, German, and French scholars to discuss the art and architecture of this major centre of artistic creation in medieval Europe and will hopefully be of lasting value to scholarship.

Excavations at Dryslwyn between 1980 and 1995 uncovered a masonry castle, founded in the late 1220s by Rhys Gryg for his son Maredudd ap Rhys, the first Lord of Dryslwyn. The first castle was a simple round tower and polygonal walled enclosure, within which were constructed a kitchen, prison and wood-framed, clay-floored great chamber beside a great hall. In the mid 13th century a second ward was added and the great chamber rebuilt in stone. This castle was greatly expanded in the period 1283-87 by Rhys ap Maredudd, the second and final Lord of Dryslwyn, who built an Outer Ward and gatehouse. He also rebuilt much of the Inner Ward, adding an extra storey to the great hall and great chamber, apartments and a chapel. At the end of the 13th century a large three-ward castle stretched along the eastern and southern edge of the hill while the rest of the hilltop was occupied by a settlement defended by a wall and substantial ditch with access through a gatehouse. This castle and its associated settlement were besieged and captured in 1287 by an English royal army of over 11,000 men following damage inflicted by a trebuchet and mining of the walls. Throughout the 14th century the English Crown garrisoned and repaired the castle, supervised by an appointed constable, before it was surrendered to Owain Glyn Dwr in 1403. During the early to mid 15th century the castle was deliberately walled up to deny its use to a potential enemy and it was subsequently looted and demolished. By the late 13th century, the castle had a white rendered and lime-washed appearance, creating a very dramatic and highly visible symbol of lordship. Internally, the lord's and guest apartments had decorative wall paintings and glazed windows. Evidence from charred beams still in situ, the sizes, shapes and distribution of nails, sheet lead, slates and postholes recovered during excavation has enabled some of the wooden as well as masonry buildings to be reconstructed. Waterlogged deposits had preserAt just 132 hectares (325 acres) the parish of Caldecote is one of the smallest parishes in Hertfordshire. Today the settlement comprises the manor house, until recently surrounded by a range of traditional farm buildings, together with six labourer's cottages and the church. To the north lies the site of the old rectory and the earthworks of a medieval settlement. In 1973 the Department of Environment and the Deserted Medieval Village Research Group arranged a rescue excavation to examine the earthworks of the medieval village before they were levelled and ploughed. Five crofts, the old rectory site and much of the moated enclosure were investigated in one of the largest excavations ever conducted on a later medieval rural site in Britain. Though the excavations did recover a Bronze Age beaker burial and small quantities of Roman and Iron Age pottery, the medieval settlement at Caldecote was probably founded in the 10th century, and by the time of the Domesday Survey there was a church, a priest and nine villeins. A moated site was added in the 13th century. A century later, Caldecote was granted to the abbots of the Benedictine monastery in St Albans, at a time when there were seventeen householders. Early in the second half of the 14th century, the estate and demesne were subdivided into six farms, each complete with a hall-house and two or more barns. Following the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, the manor was again held by an absentee lord and the farms continued to prosper. However, the late 16th and early 17th centuries, for which there are several surviving wills and inventories, saw their gradual abandonment.After the desertion of Caldecote Marish in 1698, Caldecote was farmed as a single unit until 1970, when the estate was attached to that adjoining the manor of Newnham. Of particular importance from Caldecote is the archaeological evidence for medieval peasant structures, the development of the later medieval domestic plan and the structural tra

Hulton Abbey was a minor Cistercian monastery in north Staffordshire (England), founded in 1219 and finally dissolved in 1538. This is the final report on the archaeological excavations undertaken there between 1987 and 1994. In particular, the chapter house was uncovered and re-assessed and the eastern part of the church and north aisle were completely excavated, together with the eastern half of the nave. The excavations are described by area and chronological phase with detailed specialist reports including architectural stonework and decorated floor tiles. An extensive programme of sampling and analysis of pollen remains from burials was also completed. The remains of 91 individuals, mainly men but also women and children, are reported on in detail, with sections on abnormalities and pathology as well as medieval burial goods such as a wax chalice and wooden wands. Comparisons with other published monastic sites in the region help to place Hulton into a wider context. An important element of the project was education and community involvement and today the site lies in a small urban park in Stoke-on-Trent.

The excavation of settlements has in recent years transformed our understanding of north-west Europe in the early Middle Ages. We can for the first time begin to answer fundamental questions such as: what did houses look like and how were they furnished? how did villages and individual farmsteads develop? how and when did agrarian production become intensified and how did this affect village communities? what role did craft production and trade play in the rural economy? In a period for which written sources are scarce, archaeology is of central importance in understanding the 'small worlds' of early medieval communities. Helena Hamerow's extensively illustrated and accessible study offers the first overview and synthesis of the large and rapidly growing body of evidence for early medieval settlements in north-west Europe, as well as a consideration of the implications of this evidence for Anglo-Saxon England. SERIES DESCRIPTION The aim of the series is to reflect the creative dialogue that is developing between the disciplines of medieval history and archaeology. It will integrate archaeological and historical approaches to aspects of medieval society, economy, and culture. A range of archaeological evidence will be presented and interpreted in ways accessible to historians, while providing a historical perspective and context for those studying the material culture of the period.

This volume describes the most extensive modern excavations undertaken at any Scottish cathedral. These investigations revealed traces of two 12th century cathedrals which preceded the present gothic structure. Too little was exposed of the first cathedral to allow it to be reconstructed with any confidence, but there was more evidence of the second cathedral which was begun in the late 12th century. Though never completed, this building was intended to house the translated remains of St Kentigern (Mungo), and the recovery of a number of brightly painted stones allows us to appreciate the rich decoration of the cathedral interior for the first time. Medieval wall paintings from Scotland are rare, so these discoveries are of particular significance for the study of 12th century Scottish architecture. Considerable evidence relating to the 13th and 14th century construction of the cathedral and its post-medieval remodelling has also been assembled. The report provides an historical context for the various periods of activity examined and acts as a powerful reminder of Scotland's lost ecclesiastical glory.

The excavations at South Witham in Lincolnshire produced the most complete archaeological plan of the preceptory of the Military Orders so far seen in Britain. Before 1965 there had been only limited investigation of Knights Templar houses and evidence for day-to-day activities was almost non-existent. Never before had the different components of a preceptory been examined in detail using modern archaeological techniques. This monograph presents the final publication of results, beginning with separate chapters dedicated to the three main phases of occupation.Land in South Witham was first acquired by the Templars between 1137 and 1185 and thereafter a series of buildings was constructed throughout the late 12th and 13th centuries. The preceptory may already have been in decline before the final arrest and dissolution of the Order in the early 14th century. All the well-preserved buildings are described in detail by the excavation director, including the barns, blacksmith's forge, brewhouse, chapel, gateshouse, granaries, Great Hall, kitchen ranges, watermill and workshops.The text is enriched by many photomosaics and aerial photographs. This archaeological evidence then provides the basis for a well-illustrated discussion of architectural reconstructions by John Smith while the documentary background is summarised by Eileen Gooder. Among the finds discussed by a range of specialists are coins (Rigold), metalwork (Goodall), a prehistoric flat axe (Davey), objects of bone and antler (MacGregor), pottery (Johnson), architectural fragments (Gee) and painted wall plaster (Rouse). Environmental and industrial evidence are also considered, including animal bone (Harcourt), metal-working residues (Morgan) and human skeletal remains (Manchester).

Twelve papers from the 1996 conference of the British Archaeological Association at Bristol University. All the contributions focus on Bristol and they include: The medieval defences of Bristol revisited; The rebuilding of St Augustine's Abbey Church; A new approach to the Harrowing of Hell' relief in Bristol Cathedral; Bristol misericords and their sources; Paintings from St Mark's Hospital.

Almost the richest city of all in the country with a harbour for a thousand ships may well be an exaggerated description of Bristol by the writer Gesta Stephani but it sums up the twelfth-century view of the city as second to London in status with an important international port, producing wealth that directly influenced the art and architecture of the city throughout the Middle Ages. Bristol, according to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner 'shortly before 1300suddenly jumped onto the front rank of English and indeed European architecture', with the early eastern arm of the abbey church being 'superior to anything else built in England and indeed Europe at the same time'. The abbey church alone would have been sufficient reason for holding a conference in Bristol, but St Mary Redcliffe and the other parish churches, together with many other aspects of the city's medieval art and archaeology, provided justification for arranging a conference in the city in July 1996. The articles in this volume were delivered as lectures during that conference. These studies explore the international trade of Bristol and its documentary and archaeological evidence, and offer a radical new interpretation for its early development. Architectural studies provide fresh insight into the links between the Elder Lady Chapel of the abbey and Wells Cathedral, a re-evaluation of the eastern arm of the abbey, setting it into a regional context and revising its international importance and prodigy status, and a new study of St Mary Redcliffe, which assesses the contribution of the Canynges family and clarifies the reconstruction of the church in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Other important articles examine the 'Harrowing of Hell' relief, mesericords and the Lady Chapel glass in the cathedral, the monumental effigies of Bristol and the early sixteeth-century paintings in St Mark's hospital. Of additional interest is the first modern appraisal of the Roman mosaic from Newton St Loe, in the care of the City Museum: fragments of the pavement were especially displayed in the Museum for the conference. The volume provides a much needed assessment of Bristol's artistic and architectural status and its historical and archaeological importance.

Contents include: Anglo-Saxon and Later Whitby (Philip Rahtz); Antiquaries and Archaeology in and around Ripon Minster (R. A. Hall); The Early Monastic Church of Lastingham (Richard Gem and Malcolm Thurlby); The Romanesque Church of Selby Abbey (Eric Fernie); Observations on the Romanesque Crossing Tower, Transepts and Nave Aisles of Selby Abbey (Stuart Harrison and Malcolm Thurlby); Some Design Aspects of Kirkstall Abbey (Malcolm Thurlby); The 13th-century Choir and Transepts of Rivaulx Abbey (Lawrence R. Hoey).

Contents: The Contribution of Archaeology to our Understanding of re-Norman London, 1973-1988; Medieval and Tudor Domestic Buildings in the City of London; Shops and Shopping in Medieval London; The Romanesque Architecture of Old St Paul's Cathedral and its late eleventh-century Context.; The First Facade of Old St Paul's Cathedral and its Place in English Thirteenth - Century Architecture; Restorations of the Temple Church, London; 'Liber Horn', 'Liber Custumarum' and Other Manuscripts of the Queen Mary Psalter Workshops; London, Londoners and Opus Anglicanum; Some New Types of Late Medieval Tombs in the London Area.

This volume is a selection of some of the most inspirational papers given at the first three Space and Settlement conferences held annually in Trinity College Dublin. Each contribution represents the 'new frontier' of research in this growing field of academic endeavour, which broadly embraces the disciplines of history, geography and archaeology.

This 10th volume of proceedings of the annual Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium contains reports on recent archaeological excavations: Sinead Phelan found evidence for Hiberno-Norse activity on Hammond Lane * Giles Dawkes discusses his excavations at Church Street and May Lane * Alan Hayden relays his findings from a dig on the site of a late medieval mill in St. Augustine's Street * Edmund O'Donovan's excavation at St. Nahi's church in Dundrum revealed a series of fortified enclosures around the early monastic foundation. Other papers include: Stephen Harrison's fresh look at a furnished Viking grave discovered in Bride Street in the 19th century * Historical perspectives on the medieval city and county are provided by Aine Foley's essay on crime in the royal manors of medieval Dublin (Crumlin, Esker, Saggart, and Newcastle Lyons) in the early 14th century * Sparky Booker identifies a perhaps surprising level of Gaelicization in 15th-century Dublin * Clare Downham focuses on historical records relating to Viking bases in 9th-century Ireland, including the longphort of Dublin * A hitherto unpublished essay by the late Professor A.J. Otway-Ruthven on the town in medieval Ireland

This eleventh volume of proceedings of the annual "Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium" has two important reviews of our state of knowledge on the archaeology of medieval Dublin: Linzi Simpson updates her groundbreaking 'Forty years a digging' study of archaeological digs in Dublin City (published in vol. I of the series) to take in the ten 'Celtic Tiger' years; while Lorcan Harney, Jonathan Kinsella and Aidan O'Sullivan of the Early Medieval Archaeology Project (EMAP) present the findings of their research on the results of excavations in Co. Dublin from 1930 to 2005. The volume also contains reports on archaeological excavations: Teresa Bolger discusses excavations at Ormond Quay Upper, that provide evidence about the original topography of 'the Pill' at the confluence of the rivers Liffey and Bradogue; Rosanne Meenan reports on her excavations at 23-27 Stephen Street Lower, in the vicinity of the medieval St Peter's church; Edmund O'Donovan's excavation at St Nahi's church in Dundrum revealed a series of fortified enclosures around the early monastic foundation; while Colm Moriarty's dig at Portmarnock found evidence of occupation from an early medieval enclosure to the remains of its late medieval vill.

This eleventh volume of proceedings of the annual "Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium" has two important reviews of our state of knowledge on the archaeology of medieval Dublin: Linzi Simpson updates her groundbreaking 'Forty years a digging' study of archaeological digs in Dublin City (published in vol. I of the series) to take in the ten 'Celtic Tiger' years; while Lorcan Harney, Jonathan Kinsella and Aidan O'Sullivan of the Early Medieval Archaeology Project (EMAP) present the findings of their research on the results of excavations in Co. Dublin from 1930 to 2005. The volume also contains reports on archaeological excavations: Teresa Bolger discusses excavations at Ormond Quay Upper, that provide evidence about the original topography of 'the Pill' at the confluence of the rivers Liffey and Bradogue; Rosanne Meenan reports on her excavations at 23-27 Stephen Street Lower, in the vicinity of the medieval St Peter's church; Edmund O'Donovan's excavation at St Nahi's church in Dundrum revealed a series of fortified enclosures around the early monastic foundation; while Colm Moriarty's dig at Portmarnock found evidence of occupation from an early medieval enclosure to the remains of its late medieval vill.

This, the twelfth volume of proceedings of the annual Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium, contains reports on recent archaeological excavations in and around Dublin city. Claire Walsh found for the first time evidence of a Hiberno-Norse community living outside the walled city in the Coombe, and Alan Hayden traces the later archaeology of the area in excavations along the route of the Coombe Bypass. The Liberties was also the location of Judith Carroll's excavations of medieval industrial activity at Thomas Street and Vicar Street, while Rosanne Meenan reports on her excavations in the vicinity of the medieval St. Peter's Church at Stephen Street Lower. Edmund O'Donovan discusses excavations at St. Nathi's Church in Dundrum, which revealed a series of fortified enclosures around the early monastic foundation, and Geraldine Stout attempts to reconstruct the precincts of the great Cistercian abbey of St. Mary. Historical studies include Grace O'Keeffe's examination of the connection between Dublin and Bristol in the Middle Ages, Colm Lennon's study of the medieval manor of Clontarf, and Aine Foley's investigation of the sheriffs who administered the medieval county of Dublin. Another highlight is Ellen O'Flaherty's report on the manuscript materials for the history of medieval Dublin preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. (Series: Medieval Dublin)