Lights,power and the moral economy of early medieval Europe

By the beginning of the early Middle Ages the convention that each church should have a light burning at all times on the altar was strongly established. This paper examines how elites promulgated this idea and benefitted from their ability to furnish lighting material (oil and wax) when this was becoming scarce and expensive. This seeming generosity helped to give the power of rulers a moral quality, but at the same time their insistence that to provide for the lights was a universal obligation meant that the social base of those who could provide for the lights broadened. It is argued here that growth in the number and types of people giving for the lights diluted the moral power that came from giving, but that it also allowed a much broader section of society to participate in the moral economy.     

The early Byzantine economy in context: aristocratic property and economic growth reconsidered

This article responds to recent primitivist claims with respect to the late antique economy of the early Byzantine period. It examines the archaeological and documentary evidence for economic sophistication in early Byzantine Egypt, and addresses the issue of economic growth in late antiquity as a whole by placing the evidence for early Byzantine economic expansion in a broader medieval context. In particular, the epiphenomena of economic growth in late antiquity are compared to the epiphenomena of statistically demonstrable economic growth in Anglo‐Norman England.     

Archaeological excavations at Bosutswe,Botswana: cultural chronology,paleo-ecology and economy

Excavations at the site of Bosutswe on the eastern edge of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana have uncovered over 4 m of deposit ranging in age from CE 700 to 1700. Our research has produced quantitative and qualitative measures of the material and ecological dimensions that structured the everyday actions and behaviors through which social identities were constituted, maintained, and transformed during the period when the polities of Toutswe, Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Khami rose to power. By examining the material dimensions that underlay shifting relations of production, exchange, and social stratification we are able to contextualize the social judgments that ascribed value to material goods and food ways, while specifying the ways these were used to create and naturalize social relationships and power differentials. Stable isotope analyses, combined with evidence of vitrified dung, further enable us to suggest changes in herd management strategies used by the inhabitants of the site to compensate for ecological changes brought about by long-term occupation, while at the same time enabling them to economically tie subordinates to them as social divisions became more rigidly defined after CE 1300. The cultural and economic changes that took place at Bosutswe thus directly impact our understanding of the social transformations that immediately preceded contemporary configurations of ethnicity in Botswana.     

Coins and trade in early medieval Italy

This paper is an analysis of monetary circulation in early medieval Italy in the period c.600–900. Using a dual comparison – first, of the level of currency use as against ceramics within Italy, and second, of the pattern of Italian coin use, and economic activity more generally, with that north of the Alps – this paper presents examples that shed light on patterns of change and discontinuity.     

Luminescence chronology of the medieval citadel of Termez,Uzbekistan: TL dating of bricks masonries

Among the dating methods in archaeology, thermoluminescence (TL) is widely developed. The present research concerns the construction chronology of the citadel of Termez (Uzbekistan) in the medieval period. On the methodological side along the TL study, we had to take into account two decisive factors that are expected to affect the accuracy: control of anomalous fading on the polymineral fraction (quartz and feldspars) and the effect of thermal treatments on the luminescence properties of the dated material. With regard to the determination of the annual dose, difficulties, associated with the evolution of the radiochemical composition of the dated samples and their environment over time, were overcome.     

Regnal succession in early medieval Ireland

Regnal succession in early medieval Ireland has been the centre of scholarly debate for the past eighty-five years. This paper contributes to the debate with an investigation of the early Irish law texts. It is argued that these law texts, especially the tracts on inheritance, reveal a certain pattern of regnal succession, which can be divided into an early and a later phase. Moreover, they allow us to define necessary criteria for eligibility for Irish kingship. The results of this examination are illustrated in the summary by the historical example of the early Síl nÁedo Sláine.     

Islamic law and the social context of exchange in the medieval middle east

Islamic law purports to be unchanging and valid throughout the Islamic world. Nevertheless, a close examination of the medieval Islamic law of sate shows that the concept of local knowledge plays a considerable part in it On the one hand, the distinction between legitimate exchange and usury depends on the adequacy of the information available to the purchaser of goods or services; on the other hand, this stress on information leads to insistence that transactions must conform to the local custom of the merchants. Local custom thus comes in, as one might say, through a side door as a source of law, without being explicitly recognised as such.     

Ritual and interpretation: the early medieval case

In dealing with early medieval ‘rituals’ (whatever this category may mean), historians have to take into account that they were written about, staged, and participated in by members of a culture that was steeped in interpretation, and especially by the exegetical dialectic between letter and spirit. The consequences for narrative techniques, and therefore for our approach to the sources depicting ‘rituals’ are plural. The narratives can heighten or de‐emphasize the ‘ritualness’ of an event, as well as heighten or hide conflict (or consensus) within the ritual event, regardless of what actually happened. Rituals in texts, therefore, should seldom be taken at face value. Such techniques suggest that often enough the textual rendition (or even imagination) of a solemnity had more political impact than its performance.     

Pope Leo of Bourges,clerical immunity and the early medieval secular

This article investigates the early medieval secular through the lens of clerical immunity – that is, the legal exemption of clerics from courts labelled as secular. It focusses on a short text, eventually attributed to Pope Leo, which was written in fifth-century Gaul to define this immunity. By pursuing this text’s fate as it was revised and put to use into the eleventh century, the article demonstrates how the early medieval secular was a religious category employed for different purposes at different times.     

Historical context and chronology of Bronze Age land enclosure on Dartmoor,UK

The upland of Dartmoor, southwest England, is one of the flagship prehistoric landscapes within Britain owing to the excellent survival of extensive prehistoric coaxial field systems. Archaeological surveys and rescue excavations during the 1970s and 1980s did much to further the understanding of this landscape; however, much remains to be explored, in particular the chronology of enclosure, the nature of the pre-enclosure landscape and the relationship between Bronze Age communities and their environment. Reconsideration of this landscape is important, given the place it holds in our understanding of subdivision of the landscape across northwest Europe during prehistory. This paper presents new palaeoecological data recovered as part of an integrated archaeological and palaeoecological project on northeast Dartmoor. The sequences detailed here include the first dated Neolithic period palaeoenvironmental data from within the prehistoric enclosed land on the moor, providing a longer-term context for enclosure. Neolithic groups are implicated in the first establishment of heathland in the study area at around 3630–3370 cal BC. During the early Bronze Age, reestablishment of hazel scrub in the study area implies reduced use of the upland, although it is not clear whether this is local or indicative of the wider landscape. A combination of pollen and fungal spore data indicates a substantial shift to species-rich grassland with grazing animals at c.1480 cal BC in a phase that lasted 400 years. The later Bronze Age and early Iron Age are characterised by low intensity use of the upland. These data provide new chronological data for land cover change on Dartmoor and whilst they broadly confirm existing models of upland land use in later prehistory, their proximity to the standing archaeology affords a more nuanced interpretation of local change.     

A bipartite patella in a juvenile from a medieval context

One hundred and thirty six well‐preserved medieval skeletons were excavated in advance of re‐development in Norwich. The right patella of a 13–15 year old skeleton (SK 65) displays a ‘fracture line’ running through the supero‐lateral pole. This represents the fusion of a secondary ossification centre, a condition known as bipartite patella. It should not be confused with other anatomical variants or with pathological processes. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The chronology and sources of the early Irish annals

Chronological divergence between the different early Irish annals has hampered the use of their many unique records of events in Ireland, Britain and the European continent as historical sources. This paper reviews recent work which has demonstrated that their original chronological apparatus consisted of a kalend (Kł) followed, until at least the mid-seventh century, by the ferial of 1 January, and from this a consistent chronology has been restored for the annals over the years AD 1–722. In addition, critical examination of their regnal and episcopal successions has established that the 'world history' section of these annals and Bede's Chronica maiora are not mutually dependent, but rather share a common source which has been identified as a kalend-plus-ferial chronicle composed by Rufinus of Aquileia in the early fifth century.     

Gardens and gardening in early medieval Spain and Portugal

This is an overview of the range of gardens, garden plants and garden work in early medieval Spain and Portugal, and of the kinds of relevant source material available. There were different kinds of garden, from the architectural gardens of Andalusī rulers and officials to peasant plots in the countryside. Fine gardens were closely associated with an elite and were southern rather than northern. Productive gardens could be found all over the peninsula; vegetables were clearly grown in them, with the emphasis on pulses, but they constituted a small proportion of produce. Fruits were exceptionally important as a source of vitamins, sugar and mineral salts.     

Multiple myeloma in an early medieval skeleton

Detailed studies on neoplasms in prehistoric populations are rare. Each well-documented case can therefore add to our knowledge. In former times, palaeopathology could present only tentative diagnoses in the case of tumours. Today, modern diagnostic methods and a comparison with established cases make exact evaluations and their verification possible. During our study it became obvious that criteria for the diagnosis of recent tumours can be used as a guide. In this paper we present the most important findings of a malignant primary bone tumour (multiple myeloma) in an early medieval skeleton and its differential diagnoses. Even in the absence of histological findings, the remaining criteria (X-ray, age, localization, macroscopic features) permit the diagnosis of multiple myeloma to be made with some certainty.     

Bede, Æthelberht,and the ‘examples of the Romans’ in early medieval England

In Book II, Chapter 5 of the Historia ecclesiastica, Bede writes that the Kentish king Æthelberht had, ‘with the advice of his counsellors, established legal enactments according to the examples of the Romans.’ This article argues that Bede’s formulation serves as a means of characterizing the increasingly interventionist role played by early Kentish kings in making the laws issued in their names.     

Three-hole composite stone anchors from a medieval context at Caesarea Maritima,Israel

Three-holed stone anchors have been considered the earliest ‘composite anchors’, replacing single-hole ‘weight anchors’ of the Bronze Age. Though there is inconclusive evidence as to the first appearance of this new, revolutionary type, the data from land sites attest its use by the end of the 13th century BCE. Specimens of this anchor have been used as a testimony for Iron Age maritime activity of the Phoenicians and related maritime groups at various sites. While three-holed stone anchors were found in clear medieval contexts, only a few originate from good datable contexts. Recent discoveries derive from both the well-stratified medieval urban settlement of Caesarea, and late deposits on its harbour floor. They include the period between 1101 and 1265, when Crusaders settled in the city. This data calls for a revision of our attitude towards ‘anchorology’ and a reassessment of earlier conclusions concerning typology as a cultural and chronological benchmark.