Recent Excavations in the Keep of Farnham Castle,Surrey

Abstract

Several alternative schemes for the dating if Pictish relief sculpture have been advanced during the last century. Representations if artifacts which can be dated archaeologically, decorative devices associated with the Viking Period and details if animal ornament are used to provide new date-ranges for some stones usually dated earlier. The early dating often advanced for some low-relief sculptures is accordingly questioned, and a tentative scheme for the dating if Pictish relief sculpture proposed.     

Special Studies: The Pre-Chavín Stone Sculpture of Casma and Pacopampa

Abstract

In a recent article, “Early Carving From Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, Casma Valley, Peru,” Thomas Pozorski and Shelia Pozorski (Journal of Field Archaeology 15 [1988] 114–119) describe an important stone sculpture discovered in their 1987 excavations of Huaca A at Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, Casma Valley, Peru. They argued that it was the oldest securely-dated sculpture in Peru based on a radiocarbon date of 1565 b.c. (unrecalibrated), and deemed it unique on the basis of comparisons with the corpus of early stone sculptures from Peru. The dual purpose of this short contribution is to: 1) suggest that on the basis of radiocarbon measurements available it cannot be demonstrated that the Huaca A sculpture is older than the hundreds of stone sculptures from Cerro Sechin in Casma; and 2) draw attention to some intriguing similarities between the Huaca A sculpture and a stone carving from Pacopampa in the Chotano Valley of the Peruvian highlands. These two points highlight the inadequacy of our understanding of the origins of stone sculpture in Peru.     

Whose Heritage? The Problem of Shobdon Arches

Abstract

The parish church of St John the Evangelist at Shobdon (Herefordshire) was built by Oliver de Merlimond around 1130, and represents the earliest appearance of the Herefordshire School of sculpture; one of the most important and dramatic schools of sculpture in 12th-century England. In 1752 the Romanesque building was pulled down and replaced with a new church in the fashionable Gothick style associated with Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill, and the richly carved doorways and chancel arch of the old church were salvaged and incorporated into a striking folly on a nearby hill. Over the last 250 years the actions of weather and vandals have taken their toll on the folly, so that some sculpture is lost and much of it is practically unreadable. As a romantic ruin, however, it grows ever more attractive. In this paper I will introduce some of the issues involved in conserving this conflicted structure.     

On the Uniformity of Design and Purpose,in the Works and Customs of the Earliest Settlers in Britain,Evidenced by Comparative Archaeology

Abstract

Within the building and grounds of the Bell Inn, Alveley (Shropshire) there is preserved a group of sculptures, the style of which is unmistakably that of the Herefordshire School. Thought to derive from a 12th-century church in Alveley, the group is the product of at least two hands and includes zoomorphic interlace and other interlace, together with figural scenes of ‘Samson and the Lion’, ‘St Michael and a Serpent’, and a ‘Man in Foliage’. The sculpture is indicative of a lavish decorative scheme at Alveley, in a style that was vigorous, striking and readily associated with the needs of seigneurial patronage.

The sculpture may be dated to the period 1155-early 1160s, a chronology determined not only by stylistic comparisons, but also independently by a detailed examination of the patronage context. In the discussion of the patronage, Guy Lestrange, sheriff of Shropshire, is identified as the likely patron, and as being fairly typical of the kind of patron who generally supported the work of the School. It is further argued that the role of aristocratic affinities in artistic patronage has been over-emphasised and that, as in other aspects of aristocratic activity, neighbourhood was a more influential factor.     

From Langford to South Cerney: The Rood in Anglo-Norman England

Abstract

Two fragments of a figure of Christ crucified from South Cerney parish church comprise the sole survivor of a Romanesque wooden Rood with an English provenance. This paper argues that it is an example of a Triumphkreuz originally located at the chancel arch of South Cerney church and seeks to establish its relationship to both pre-Conquest monumental stone Rood sculpture and wooden Triumphkreuze in northern Europe and Scandinavia. The Triumphkreuz appears to have been a standard feature of the greater churches of Norman England, but how common it was in post-Conquest parish churches is less clear. While church dedications suggest that devotion to the Holy Cross was particularly strong in south-west England, late-11th- and 12th-century mural painting and sculpture of chancel arches in parish churches over a wide area exhibit a close connection with the Rood.     

An Early Stone Carving from Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke,Casma Valley,Peru

Abstract

Excavations in 1987 at Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, one of the Earliest planned cities in the New World, uncovered a unique stone carving of a double-bodied snake and a human hand. It is likely that the carving was once part of a small altar associated with a large repository and redistribution center within the site. With an associated radiocarbon date of 1565 ± 70 B.C., the stone carping is the earliest securely-dated stone sculpture in Peru.     

Grimspound

Abstract

During the summer meeting held at Hereford in 1990, the Association visited Shobdon. General concern was voiced as to the deteriorating condition of the ‘arches’, not least by our vice-president, Professor George Zarnecki.

The first publication of the Association, issued in 1844, volume 1 of the Archaeological Journal, contained a paper by Thomas Wright on the Romanesque sculpture of Shobdon, and when the decision was made to adopt one of the illustrations from this article as the new cover device to celebrate our 150th Anniversary (see Fig. I), it was thought highly appropriate to ask Professor Zarnecki to comment on the importance of the ‘arches’ and their present state.     

Forty-Fourth Annual Congress,Liverpool, 1887

Abstract

The limestone quarried on Ham Hill near Yeovil in Somerset is very distinctive and readily identifiable. It was used extensively throughout the medieval period for a great variety of purposes. Whole buildings were constructed using it from floor to roof and it was also employed for decorative work and sculpture. A large group of church monuments was carved in Ham Hill stone, especially effigies and cross slabs. Monument production can be appreciated in the context of a much larger industry and analysis of the figures has revealed that the clients were predominantly the local gentry. Consequently, there are significantly more male civilian and female effigies than are typically found elsewhere, such as in Devon and Yorkshire. There is evidence of an awareness of the products from other stone centres in the south-west, which the carvers of Ham Hill stone were willing to imitate in order to satisfy customer requirements.     

Mapping the symbol of the statue in Ritsos’ short poems

Abstract

A first attempt is made here to map the presence of the symbol of the statue in Ritsos’ short poems. Starting from his early work and reaching the years of the military dictatorship, the main line of the argument is that references to sculpture become significant in Ritsos’ poetry after the 1960s and culminate in the period of the Junta. This is attributed to Ritsos’ subtle reaction to the regime and its use and abuse of the cultural heritage of ancient Greece in a context of propaganda and oppression. This response makes Ritsos’ use of the symbol of the statue utterly distinctive.     

The British Archaeological Association Honorary Secretary’s Report For 1939

Abstract

In the Lady chapel at the east end of the north aisle of the church at Pucklechurch (Gloucestershire) are two effigial monuments, which have received little scholarly attention. The monuments are attributed to William de Cheltenham (d. between 1371 and 1374) and his wife Eleanor, and were set up in his lifetime within the chantry chapel dedicated to St Mary which William received licence to establish at Pucklechurch in 1337. Little remains of the chapel except an exquisite altar frontal. During the 19th century the two effigies were transposed. Various aspects of the conception and design of the Pucklechurch monuments reflect developments in monumental sculpture in Herefordshire.     

Roger,Bishop of salisbury,Chancellor and Justiciar of England,1102-113

Abstract

The discovery of several sections of a trefoiled arcade of 14th-century date at Coverham abbey is a major addition to sculpture from the English Premonstratensian houses. Discovered in a robber trench whilst resurfacing a courtyard, they can be linked to a panel reused in the gable of the Georgian house. When reconstructed, they show a trefoiled arcade with sculpted spandrels in the form of human figures. Positive identification of the figures is difficult, and they could be of Christ or apostles. While the arcade looks to have been part of a cloister arcade, there is the possibility that it formed part of the abbey laver, flanking the refectory doorway.     

Honorary Secretary’s Report For 1966

Abstract

Wooden Madonna tabernacles from c.1150–c.1350 are today scarce, and it is therefore difficult to get a complete understanding of their original appearance and variations. Nevertheless there are still preserved at least fifteen Madonna tabernacles, or substantial fragments of them, in Scandinavia, which can give us a picture of the variety of appearance and form these large tabernacles had in this period. The surviving Scandinavian Madonna tabernacles have, like the southern European ones, quite a lot of variation in types and appearance, both in their closed and open positions. The largest group consisted of niches with relief-figures on the interior when open, but the scenes could also be painted, or painting and sculpture combined on the same surface. A neglected aspect of these tabernacles is their appearance in the closed position. Often the wings of the tabernacles have their original painting preserved on the exterior, even if the reverse has been overpainted or the wings have been restructured. Many of these original surfaces had non-figural decoration, such as foliage, monochrome surfaces in red or green, or a combination of simple patterns of red and green.     

Paros,Report II: The 1973 Campaign

Abstract

Paros is one of the most important islands of the Aegean sea, known best because of its white translucent marble. The island developed a very important school of sculpture from the Archaic to Roman times. An investigation of the island started in 1969, with the support of the Greek Archaeological Service, is centered on the ancient capital of Paros, which survives in the ruins of its ancient walls and an Archaic Ionic temple, and in the northern part of the island, where recent surveys and excavations have brought to light a significant number of sites, some of which go back to the Bronze and the Dark Ages of Greece.     

Compton Castle

Abstract

One of the perennial problems in the study of medieval architectural sculpture is the lack of identifiable patrons. At the church of St Michael, Horwood (North Devon), however, the north aisle and chapel of c. 1400 can be firmly associated with the patronage of the Pollard family, in particular John Pollard and his wife Emma. This includes the north arcade of five bays with its four freestanding and two engaged columns, all of which bear carved capitals. It is likely that the building of this extension was intended to establish the Pollard family at Horwood as well as to commemorate the patrons. Thus the work carries a funereal/monumental air that is reflected in the choice of sculptural imagery which includes a skull, angels and hybrid monsters. This context provides new insight into the ways in which architectural images were perceived and used in the later Middle Ages, particularly with regards to the image of the mermaid.     

The Church of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes in the Eleventh Century

Abstract

One bay of the choir, the transepts and most of the nave survive from the eleventh-century church of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes. Construction probably began in the first quarter of the century with the choir and transepts and proceeded, with a change of style, through a remodelling of the transepts to the nave. Completion might have been delayed until the third quarter of the century. The architecture and sculpture betray a transition from early medieval to Romanesque forms, the former in the choir and the latter in the nave. Early Romanesque Corinthian capitals and ornate archivolts exist alongside archaising block capitals, and all reveal new combinations of traditional forms, leading to Romanesque innovations.     

Normanising the North: The Evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian Sculpture

Abstract

This Study Probes the destruction of material culture to illuminate the introduction of Norman political authority into northern England. A brief overview of Norman destruction of churches provides the background to a review of the potential relationship of Anglo-Saxon monuments with memory and identity, in the context of recent discussions of monument reuse. Durham and York, the Anglo-Saxon monastic sites at Wearmouth/Jarrow, Lindisfarne and Jedburgh, and a selection of local churchyards provide case studies. It argues that some monuments seem to have been deliberately targeted, but a wider range of factors, all ultimately derived from changing political circumstances, can be identified that explain why sculpture was removed and reused. The paper serves as a platform for further debate about the significance of monuments in the Middle Ages, and as a contribution to the broader discourse within archaeology about their social meanings.     

Temporary site protection for earthen walls and murals at Çata1höyük,Turkey

Abstract

The exposure of earthen architecture at archaeological sites presents tremendous difficulties both during and after excavation. While it is the intent of most reburial programmes to stabilize exposed structures against the long-term effects of loss of pressure and fluctuations in moisture, relative humidity and temperature, reburial does not easily afford practical protection against immediate damage caused during excavation. At the Neolithic site of Çata1höyük in Anatolia, Turkey, a phased programme to integrate the excavation and conservation of the site was developed. This included emergency stabilization and protection of the mud brick walls, plasters, mural paintings and relief sculpture, both during and between excavation seasons. One component of this programme included the development of a temporary perlite-vermiculite protection system.