Re-evaluating the Quoit Brooch Style: Economic and Cultural Transformations in the 5th Century ad,with an Updated Catalogue of Known Quoit Brooch Style Artefacts

QUOIT BROOCH STYLE MATERIAL, produced from the early 5th century onwards, has been primarily considered from a stylistic point of view, leaving much scope for further investigation. In addition, the known corpus of material has been much expanded through newly excavated and metal-detected finds. In this article, I bring together the known extant material for the first time, and document important evidence relating to contextual dating, gender associations, manufacture (including new compositional analyses of c 75 objects), repair, and reuse. The article questions previous interpretations of Quoit Brooch Style material as relating to Germanic mercenaries and/or post-Roman political entities. It interprets the earliest material as a part of wider trends elsewhere, in England and in continental north-western Europe, for the production of material imitating late-Roman symbols of power. It presents new evidence for connectivity with continental Europe via the western-Channel route in the 5th century. A detailed investigation of individual artefacts shows that many Quoit Brooch Style objects were reused, and sometimes subject to extensive repair and modification. This provides new insights into the 5th-century metal economy; for instance, acute problems in the availability of new metal objects in south-eastern Britain in the middle years of the 5th century. Compositional analyses contribute further to our understanding of metal supply in the 5th century and relationships with the post-Roman West. Insights are provided into wider cultural transformations in the 5th century and the gradual loss of value that occurred for Roman-style objects.     

Post-Roman crop production and processing: Archaeological evidence from Goldthorpe,South Yorkshire

The remains of a ditched field system dating from the late Iron Age to the early post-Roman period, and two associated corn drying ovens (dating to the 5th–6th centuries AD) were revealed during archaeological excavations at Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire. The site was excavated during 2012 and 2013, during which bulk environmental samples were taken in order to retrieve any surviving botanical remains from deposits associated with the corn drying ovens, and other features across the excavated area. Early post-Roman occupation is under-represented in the archaeological record, especially in northern England, as such human activity and subsistence during this period are currently not well understood. This paper combines evidence for the field system, the physical remains of the corn drying ovens and their associated botanical remains to further understand early post-Roman change and continuity in landscape use and crop production and processing practices.     

RETHINKING THE SMALL PIG HORIZON AT YORK MINSTER

Summary.   The small pig horizon within the headquarters building of the legionary fortress of Eboracum (York) is a unique assemblage of early post-Roman animal bones. Originally interpreted as evidence of an impoverished Dark Age community scratching out a living within the ruined fortress, reinterpretation of this deposit suggests that it may be evidence of the economic power of a post-Roman elite conspicuously consuming suckling pig, perhaps in an echo of high-status Roman dietary preferences.     

A Powerful Place of Pictland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Power Centre of the 4th to 6th Centuries ad

OUR UNDERSTANDING of the nature of late and post-Roman central places of northern Britain has been hindered by the lack of historical sources and the limited scale of archaeological investigation. New work at Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (NJ 49749 26345), has begun to redress this through extensive excavation and landscape survey. This has revealed a Pictish central place of the 4th to 6th centuries ad that has European connections through material culture, iconography and site character. In addition to reviewing the place-name and historical context, this article outlines preliminary reflections on five seasons of excavation and survey in the Rhynie landscape. The article also provides a detailed consideration of chronology, including radiocarbon dating and Bayesian statistical analysis. The results reveal the multi-faceted nature of a major, non-hillfort elite complex of Pictland that comprised a high-status residence with cult dimensions, a major centre for production and exchange, and a contemporary cemetery. A series of sculptured stones stood in association with the settlement and cemetery and the iconography of the stones, along with the wider archaeological evidence, provides a rich dataset for a renewed consideration of the central places of early medieval northern Britain with broader implications for the nature of power and rulership in late and post-Roman Europe.     

"基督教国家"的理念和现实基础

基督教在由“出世”倾向朝“入世”倾向转变的过程中,提出了神权统治的思想体系。利用中世纪初期西欧政治秩序的混乱,基督教会凭借其经济、文化和社会势能,实现了其政治理念,把中世纪的欧洲锻造成一个单一的政治实体,即所谓的“基督教国家”。这个进程充分反映了宗教意识形态对人类文明发展的巨大影响。     

The Malham Pipe: A Reassessment of Its Context,Dating and Significance

The Malham Pipe is a musical instrument formed from the tibia of a sheep, and was discovered in 1950 among artefacts revealed during the excavation of a Bronze Age burial mound at Seaty Hill on Malham Moor in the Yorkshire Dales. On the basis of associated finds the pipe was dated originally to the Iron Age, and in a study published in 1952 the musical properties of the pipe were examined physically at a level of detail that set a benchmark for the characterization of other such objects discovered subsequently. However, in the intervening period the dating of the pipe has been questioned. In this paper, following a detailed reappraisal of the Seaty Hill finds and dating evidence, including burial practice and settlement remains in the locality, and their wider historical context, we have concluded that the Malham Pipe is of post-Roman date. We believe, therefore, that although the Malham Pipe may no longer be claimed to be the earliest known duct flute found in the British Isles, nevertheless it appears to be the first recorded bone flute found in a post-Roman (Anglo-Saxon) burial context.     

Roman Roads in the East of England

The West Wansdyke is a major earthwork in the former County of Avon, now Bath and North-East Somerset, which is thought to date to either the late Roman or early post-Roman periods. A series of cross-sections excavated across the earthwork showed, firstly, that it originally existed in some areas where there are no longer any visible remains, but, secondly, that there are still some unexplained gaps. The research suggests that the monument was of a very consistent and uniform design and dimensions, a feature which implies strategic planning and co-ordinated management during construction. Evidence from two particular sites, Blackrock Lane and Compton Green, indicated that significant stretches of the dyke bank originally had a timber revetment, but that, where it was easily available, stone was used, as at Binces Lane, Stantonbury. Little artefactual dating evidence was recovered during the work, although the presence of Romano-British and earlier pottery, and prehistoric flints from bank construction deposits does not preclude the established, post-Roman, context, but can also allow a late Roman date. Construction techniques indicate work in a Roman military tradition, possibly re-using an earlier structure.     

WHO INVENTED THE CLAW CHISEL?

Summary. Part I discusses the problem of the introduction of the claw chisel in stone masonry and sculpture. This tool was thought to have been invented in 6th-century Greece for the needs of marble carving. The detection of its traces on a tomb of 7th-century Egypt in soft limestone, however, now suggests not only that the Greeks borrowed it from the Egyptians but also that it was not originally a marbleworker's tool. Part II deals with both the tomb and career of an Egyptian official designated Nespeqashuty D in order to place into a chronological framework one of the earliest securely dated attestations for the use of the claw chisel in Egyptian art. Both parts are intended to place the impact of Egypt on Greece into sharper focus.     

The 18th-century traditions of representation in a new age of revolution

What happened to shared historical experiences in the discursive processes of constitutional reform in Sweden and Finland? This article examines the use of 18th-century history in early 20th-century politics. Building on a long-term survey of Swedish and Finnish estate and parliamentary debates, it analyses the political implications of differing national historiographies in the two successor states of the 18th-century Swedish realm, focusing on how the ancient past and collective (and often selective) memories of the Age of Absolutism, the Age of Liberty and the Gustavian Age were used by parliamentarians in constitutional debates. The analysis demonstrates how the Finnish polity continued to be profoundly influenced by these 18th-century constitutions even after the Russian Revolution, while Sweden took the post-French Revolution constitution of 1809 as its point of departure. In both countries, interpretations of the long 18th century were ideologically motivated in an age of the parliamentarization of government and the democratization of the representative system. This leads us to a discussion of the history-political significance of the common and differing understandings of representative government in the two interconnected countries.     

On Carvings in Morse Ivory

Abstract

Recent excavations at Beverley Minster contribute significant new information relating to the development of the minster from the later pre-conquest period until the 12th century, as well as some technical detail relating to the 14th-century nave. This paper provides a brief overview of later 19th- to 20th-century considerations of the minster’s origins and development. Thereafter, the results of recent excavations are presented and the impact of these in re-shaping the history of the minster’s development is then considered within the wider context of the minster as a whole. More specifically, evidence is presented for the existence of an early pre-conquest cemetery, perhaps focused on a church of an alignment slightly different from that of the present. The implication of further burials pre-dating a 12th-century nave is also examined. Evidence relating to a large 12th-century aisled nave is also presented and discussion given to the impact this nave had on the rebuilding of the eastern parts of the church after 1188 as well as to the origin of the eastern elements that preceded these.     

A Venezuelan household clearance assemblage of 19th-century British ceramics in international perspective

Abstract

In 2010, the authors undertook the analysis of a 19th-century assemblage of ceramics excavated in 2004 in the Venezuelan city of Barcelona. The pilot study was designed to address the hitherto underappreciated importance of South American evidence towards global studies of 19th-century British material culture. Analysis of the assemblage demonstrated that it contained a mid 19th-century household clearance component comprised of British-made ceramics. This article describes the basic typology of the household clearance component, and the scale of the replacement of Spanish-tradition materials with British-made ceramics in the post-independence period. Some preliminary conclusions based on this ongoing research are also offered.     

Beyond Food: Placing Animals in the Framework of Social Change in Post-Roman England

Zooarchaeological evidence is combined with anthropological, artistic and historical sources to investigate the role of human-animal interactions during periods of social change in post-Roman England. Data from nearly 500 assemblages covering 1500 years in southern England provide a unique basis to investigate the use of non-livestock animals in diverse areas from cosmology to commodities, companions to status. Results showcase the potential for integrated studies to provide insights into the changing perceptions of animals from creatures that play a role in the afterlife, to those that are earthbound and soulless, to express status and power, to reveal a demand for spectacle and education and to reflect contrasting functions of economy alongside an increasing sentimentality for pets.     

Excavations at High Street and Winetavern Street,Dublin

A DETAILED RE-EXAMINATION of the Great Hall of Leicester Castle has confirmed its mid 12th-century date. It originally had a clerestoried form, decorated with semicircular transverse and longitudinal braces, and was closely comparable to the hall of the Bishop's Palace at Hereford. Both stand in the forefront, socially and architecturally, of 12th-century construction.     

THE PROVENANCE OF DONKEY MILLS FROM ROMAN BRITAIN

Pompeiian-style (hourglass) grain mills are common at many Roman sites within the circum-Mediterranean countries. Three examples are known from Corfe Mullen, London and Hamworthy in southern Britain. Petrographic examination, chemical and microprobe analyses indicate that the Corfe Mullen millstone and the London donkey mill were imported from central France into southern Britain. The Hamworthy mill should be designated a ‘flat donkey mill’, and represents a recent (post-Roman) import from a volcanic source in Sardinia. There is no evidence of importation of Roman donkey mills from Germany or for transportation of such mills (or stylistic derivatives) north of London.     

Pottery and Other Finds from the Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Sandy,Bedfordshire

INTENSIVE museum research and examination of documentary records of the discovery in the 18th and 19th centuries of Anglo-Saxon urns and other finds at Sandy (Beds.) reveals a series of 5th- to early 6th-century cremation urns and other pottery from the site. These are published together for the first time and their significance is discussed. A metal find of importance, a silver bracelet, is given extended treatment.     

The local articulation of central power in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (500–1000)

Envisaging political power as dynamic allows the historian to deal with its structures with some sophistication. This paper approaches political power, not as a circumscribed block of bureaucratic elements, but as a complex phenomenon rooted in social reality. The authors explore the dialogue between local and central power, understanding 'dialogue' in its widest sense. Thus the relationships (both amicable and hostile) between local and central spheres of influence are studied. The authors propose a new analytical framework for the study of the configuration of political power in the northern zone of the Iberian peninsula, over a long period of time, which takes in both the post-Roman world and the political structures of the early Middle Ages.     

Carlisle: Function and Change between the First and Seventh Centuries AD

Archaeological excavations combined with antiquarian observations shed considerable light on the evolution of Roman Carlisle. From being a fort in the northern advance under Cerialis and Agricola, Carlisle developed as a nodal hub supported by a number of activity ‘zones’. By the early third century most had become absorbed into the newly created civitas capital. The Roman town declined and stone buildings became ruinous, a process that probably commenced before the fourth century and continued until the land was taken over by the kings of Northumbria and the church in the seventh century. Scanty archaeological records for the sub- and post-Roman periods are supplemented by implications for socio-political structures drawn from texts.