Journal articles on the topic 'Archaeology, Medieval / Europe / Congresses'

This paper was conceived as a keynote lecture for the Medieval Europe Research Congress (MERC) 2012 in Helsinki. The author himself has gone a long way from the more or less exclusively ship-functionalist perspective he presented at the first conference of this kind, Medieval Europe in 1992 in York. The intention here is to inspire other maritime archaeologists who may be stuck in studying ship technologies to apply their knowledge in contextual and cross-disciplinary approaches to ships, landscapes, and the human mind of the Middle Ages. A few examples of possible ways are discussed, albeit admittedly incompletely. These include a number of examples from the author's own research, which were strongly under the influence of a functionalist and techno-practical perspective in the 1990s.

La historiografía sobre fortificaciones medievales en el ámbito medieval cristiano es tan amplia como dispersa. Abundan los estudios de carácter local abordados con metodologías y desde disciplinas diversas, empezando por los clásicos trabajos de Historia del Arte e Historia de la Arquitectura, y, por supuesto, los de contenido estrictamente histórico, planteados desde el estudio de las fuentes escritas y, más recientemente, desde la Arqueología. Faltan, no obstante, estudios de conjunto y aunque se ha abordado el tema de la conceptualización y clasificación tipológica de estas fortalezas, creemos que sigue siendo una asignatura pendiente en el ámbito de la castellología. El presente trabajo pretende pues abordar la problemática sobre la definición y límites del castillo medieval, para pasar después a plantear una clasificación tipológica y funcional de los castillos cristianos peninsulares, para lo cual tendremos en cuenta no sólo la producción historiográfica reciente, sino también nuestras propias investigaciones de base fundamentalmente arqueológica. Palabras clave: Castellología, castillo feudal, tipología castral, reinos cristianos peninsulares, poliorcéticaTopónimos: Península IbéricaPeríodo: siglos VIII-XV ABSTRACTHistoriography on the subject of medieval fortifications in the medieval Christian area is as wide as it is disperse. There is an abundance of local studies undertaken employing different methodologies, starting with the History of Art, the History of Architecture and, of course, those of strictly historical content, based on the study of written sources and, more recently, on Archaeology. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies and, although the problem of the conceptualisation and typological classification of these fortresses has been addressed, I believe that this continues to be an unresolved issue in the field of castellology. This article aims to address the problem of the definition and limits of the medieval castle, and then propose a typological and functional classification of peninsular Christian castles, taking into account not only recent historiographical production but also my own archaeological research. Keywords: castellology, feudal castle, castral typology, peninsular Christian kingdoms, polyorceticPlace names: Iberian PeninsulaPeriod: 8th-15th centuries REFERENCIASAcién Almansa, M. (2002), “De nuevo sobre la fortificación del emirato” en Mil anos de Fortificações na Península Ibérica e no Magreb (500-1500). Actas do simpósio internacional sobre castelos, Lisboa, pp. 59-75.Almedia, C. A. F. de (1991), “Castelos e cercas medievais. 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Medieval seals, traditionally considered from the perspective of their documentary function, may also be studied as archaeological artefacts. Pilgrim badges were seal-shaped, and seal matrices and seal impressions can be found on church bells, in altars, and in burial sites. The context in which matrices are excavated provides valuable information on the practices of sealing and on the values attached to seals. This article also reveals a hitherto undescribed late medieval practice whereby papal and Scandinavian royal correspondents exchanged seal matrices.

Evidence from medieval Europe and modern China suggests that cooperation with strong executives plays a larger role in early legislative development than is generally acknowledged: that under conditions of absolutism (or near-absolutism), acceptance and exploitation of subordination may be a means to organizational development. In this article, the author relies primarily on interview data and Chinese field research to show that early legislative development can occur without significantly increasing conflict with established authorities and without winning autonomy. The author further argues that legislative embeddedness, as measured by clarified and expanded jurisdiction and increased capacity, is a product less of conflict than of executive support and attention, and that support and attention in the early stages of organizational development can be understood in terms of a legislature's presence, its reliability and usefulness, and the political standing of its leaders. The article's conclusion offers a new approach to early legislative development that shifts attention from conventional measures of institutionalization and hinges on understanding the process of embeddedness.

Medieval archaeology in Ireland has been described twice in the last 30 years as ‘in its infancy’, by Delaney (1977: 46) andby Barry (1987: 1). Neither was strictly correct. Ireland played a full part in the general English interest in medieval castles and churches around 1900, with Champneys, Orpen and Westropp in particular listing and describing them and relating to their historical and European context. In Ulster the medieval period had occupied a central place in archaeological research and excavation, rcmarkable within Europe and unique within the British Isles, from 1950 (Tope 1966).

The archaeological study of assembly practices in the medieval west is often met with scepticism. The reliance on late documentary records and place-names, and the difficulties inherent in defining what actually constituted an ‘assembly’, are just some of the issues that face researchers. This paper brings together some of the first collated and excavated evidence by the HERA TAP project 1, and offers a cross-European perspective, drawing attention to the great variety of systems and types of structure created for the purpose of assembly in the late prehistoric and medieval eras. Selected case studies emphasize the chronological variations in the inception and life-span of assembly places and underline the diverse relationships of designated assembly sites to pre-existing landscapes, resource patterns, and social structures. Connections between the ‘architecture’ and location of these sites, and their role in the creation, maintenance, and signalling of collective identities are suggested.

Animals from distant lands fired the imaginations of people living in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. This is attested by a considerable wealth of iconographic and written material which has been explored from many perspectives, providing valuable insights into medieval western conceptualizations of the fringes of the known world and the otherness of exotica. However, the physical remains of non-indigenous species – both those recovered from archaeological contexts and extant in private collections – have generally been examined in isolation and rarely incorporated into a broader framework exploring the reception and utility of exotica. This article offers a new perspective on the topic by focusing on the zoological identity of non-indigenous animal body parts as ‘material culture’.

This contribution intends to present, very briefly, one of the facets of medieval archaeology in Bohemia, a land which to this day bears the marks of having belonged to ‘the other Europe’. I will focus on a short phase of Bohemian history and within it, I will take out just a small portion that is accessible via the archaeological evidence. In spite of all the material limitations, I want to show that in this theme Bohemian archaeology documents one of the components of the gradual emergence of Europe, a continent so varied and yet so internally coherent.

How useful is archaeology to historians? Do they use it in their work? If so how? Catherine Hills considers a number of mighty histories of early medieval Europe that have recently appeared and examines how far the extremely productive archaeology of the last two decades has affected them – or failed to.

Abstract Scanning electron microscopy with X-ray microanalyses (SEM-EDX) was used for a technological study of silver jewellery from three hoards found in Poland. The assemblage consists of 26 artefacts from the period of formation of the first Polish state (900–1039 AD) and can be divided into three groups: West Slavic, post-Moravian and Scandinavian. Research results provide information concerning techniques used for granulation ornament and the provenance of raw silver. Elemental composition changes are manifested mainly by different Cu contents. A higher Cu content was found in solder. The higher Cu content in relation to the morphology of the joining region with visibly spilled granulation demonstrates that the West Slavic beads were produced with the use of metallic soldering. On the other hand, other studied jewelleries are characterised by Cu, Sn, Sb and Zn enrichments in oxidised soldering regions, which implies that they were manufactured with the use of non-metallic soldering. In addition, studies on the provenance of the raw material were made based on the analysis of lead isotopic ratios. For this purpose, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used, and the obtained lead isotopic ratios were processed using linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The isotope study demonstrates that all examined artefacts were made using re-melted metal from multiple sources. The most probable sources of silver were ores from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Freiberg (Germany).

AbstractSeveral types of mineral beads can be found among the 11th–12th-century grave assemblages of the Carpathian Basin. This paper examines the distribution of fluorite beads representing one type in Central and Eastern Europe. The distribution patterns have enabled the identification of the source of the raw material and they also outline the period’s main trade routes

In the wake of the Black Death in i 1350 Europe saw demographic disaster, economic decline, and social and political breakdown. Thousands of farms were deserted. This is the Medieval Agrarian Crisis. The latest decadesof outland archaeology, primarily within the frames of rescue archaeology, have made it possible to outline the course of the crisis in the forested parts of middle Scandinavia. The 14th and 15th centuries were a time of economic change rather than economic decline. However, various areas changed in different ways. When taking outland production into account the medieval crisis has to be conceptualised in another way; it was not solely an agrarian crisis. It was also early industrial expansion and change towards extensive farming.

Lake Lednica, Greater Poland, is one of Poland’s most important and longest-studied underwater archaeological sites. The residential centre established on an island was one of the central points in the state of the first Piasts. Previous research located two bridges to the island and discovered the largest collection of early medieval military objects in Central Europe in the lake. In the 2017 season, a third bridge was discovered on Lake Lednica leading to the small island called Ledniczka on which the layers of an early medieval settlement and clear remnants of a motte-type medieval structure are found. Three seasons of research on relics of the crossing suggest that it may have functioned in two periods: in the tenth century and at the turn of the fourteenth century. During the research, a number of military items, pottery, objects made of organic materials and fishing tools were found.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and, subsequently, of communism in Europe had profound consequences for the social and political environment of many European countries, including Italy. In this paper I discuss the impact that these, now historical, events and the new socio-political arena that emerged in their aftermath had upon Italian Early Medieval Archaeology from two interconnected perspectives. On the one hand I consider the history of a discipline that, although strongly characterised by a Marxist approach at its birth, appears not to have been subject to significant changes in its theoretical outlook as a consequence. On the other, through a consideration of the changing character of major exhibitions on the Lombard period, I explore the role that archaeology has played in the construction of a trans-national European narrative in a post-communist Europe while maintaining a central role in the negotiation of local identities. The ultimate aim of this paper is to re-evaluate the latest developments in Italian archaeology from a fresh perspective, considering the impact that major contemporary events can have on our perception, interpretation and narration of the past.

Wooden vessels were in widespread use in British households after the tenth century. Most were turned, both inside and out, and bear witness to highly developed lathe techniques. This paper considers the preceding period with a view to finding links with woodworking techniques developed either in antiquity or in the early medieval period. The quest is hampered by the limited quantity of material, as wood does not normally survive in the archaeological record. On the other hand, by taking the largest possible sample (in this case from the whole of western Europe), a scenario for the origin of medieval vessel turning can be proposed.

Between the sixth and eighth centuries ad, the practice of furnished burial was widely abandoned in favour of a much more standardized, unfurnished rite. This article examines that transition by considering the personhood and agency of the corpse, the different ways bonds of possession can form between people and objects, and what happens to those bonds at death. By analysing changing grave good use across western Europe, combined with an in-depth analysis of the Alamannic cemetery of Pleidelsheim, and historical evidence for perceptions of the corpse, the author argues that the change in grave good use marks a fundamental change in the perception of corpses.

The study focuses on the early medieval large glass beads from the area of Poland, i.e. specimens whose diameter equals at least 1.5 cm but usually ca. 2 cm or more. The main aim of this study is to define their function, considering precise context of discovery of particular specimens, metric data and microscopic analyses. Another important task of the study is to determine whether large beads were local products or imports, and from which region and in what social circumstances they reached the studied area. Alongside macroscopic and stylistic features, chemical composition of glass that was used for production of the beads can be conclusive in this situation. In our opinion, it is a special category of finds that appeared in this part of Europe during the time of cultural and political transformation in the 11th–13th centuries.