Newsletter 44
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Society for Medieval Archaeology Newsletter Issue 44 October 2010 ISSN 1740-7036 EDITORIAL 18–19 November, Perth, Western Australia, Australian Early Medieval If there has been some concern about the Association 7th Annual Conference: health of artefact studies, the amulet Courage and Cowardice, http://home. recovered in 2009 from Lejre, possibly vicnet.net.au /~medieval/conference2010/ depicting Odin, is testimony to the contrary. Readers will also find in this 27 November, Dept of Archaeology, issue of the Newsletter lots of object- University of Exeter, Wallingford Burh to related material, including PAS-related Borough Research Project Workshop. approaches suggesting the relevance of Townscapes in Transformation: Debating artefact studies to understanding Urbanism c. AD 800-1200, an landscape more generally. David Hinton, AHRC-funded project. http://humanities. in turn, reviews how museums exhibit the exeter.ac.uk/archaeology/conferences/ Middle Ages today. wallingfordworkshop.shtml DECEMBER: The Society’s AGM will take place at the Institute of Archaeology, London, on 6 December at 6pm. See Niall Brady Society News. Newsletter editor 8–10 December, Åarhus University: e-mail: [email protected] Houses – shaping dwellings, identities, and homes, a conference on European CONFERENCES & EVENTS, housing culture from the Viking Age to forthcoming the Renaissance. Contact Mette Svart Kristiansen, [email protected] To advertise conferences/events in the Newsletter, contact: Dr Oliver 17–19 December, TAG conference in Creighton, Bristol. www.nomadit.co.uk/tag/tag2010/ email [email protected] 2011: FEBRUARY: Archaeology of Wooded Landscapes. Meridian Hall, East NOVEMBER: The Society’s Career day, Grinstead, 12–13 February. sheduled for 10 November has been www.sussexpastshop.co.uk postponed until the Spring. Check the Society’s website, or contact Jill APRIL: Castle Studies Group 2011 Campbell at medieval.archaeology@ Conference, Marks Tey, Essex, 7–10 googlemail.com April. www.castlestudiesgroup.org.uk/ 13 November, Corning Museum of Glass, MAY: 46th International Congress on New York State, on Medieval Glass Medieval Studies will take place at Illuminates what Art and Reason Reveal, Western Michigan University, a Celebration of Meredith Lillich’s Kalamazoo, Michigan, 12–15 May. Passionate Legacy. Contact Florian www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/ Knothe at [email protected] index.html 13–14 November, Institute of JUNE: The Vernacular Architecture Archaeology, University College Group, tour to Norway, 16–26 June, London: Local Churches and Lordship in to visit some of the notable timber the European Middle Ages; looking at the buildings. Open to non-members of the role of the aristocracy in private and group. www.vag.org.uk/norway2011.pdf local churches in medieval society. www.ucl.ac .uk/archaeology/events/ 22–25 June, the University of Liverpool’s conferences/lordship-2010/ or write to Centre for Manx Studies and Manx J. Sanchez-Pardo, 31–34 Gordon Square, National Heritage will hold a vernacular London WC1H 0PY. architecture conference in Douglas, Isle www.medievalarchaeology.org of Man, on New Light on Vernacular at the ‘Irish Bar’ were not enough, the Architecture: Studies in Britain, Ireland organisers of ICMS invited everyone to and the Isle of Man. Contact Dr Catriona enjoy a number of medieval festivities Mackie, [email protected], including film screenings, dancing and or call 01624 695 777. traditional music. JULY: Leeds International Medieval On a more serious note, with medieval Congress. An interdisciplinary forum for revelry and book-haggling aside, it all aspects of Medieval Studies 11–14 continues to be important to present July. www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/imc archaeology at such international and 2011_call.html interdisciplinary medieval fora. Through such venues, archaeology gains kudos as CONFERENCE REPORTS a crucial and fundamental approach in the investigation of the medieval past. 45th International Congress on Medieval Archaeology at Kalamazoo 2010 was Studies, Western Michigan University, a complete success. Moreover, it was USA, 13–16 May, 2010. With more exciting to see established academics and than six-hundred sessions covering a emerging young researchers voicing new mind-blowing array of medieval topics, contributions, creating lively discussion speakers and delegates flocked from and gaining important international America, Europe and as far away as ground for the study of Medieval Taiwan to partake in this medieval Archaeology. revelry. The scope and diversity of Lisa Brundle and Sira Dooley-Fairchild the papers at the Congress enabled Durham University participants many opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary discussions ‘Space and Settlement’ Conference at throughout the conference. Trinity College, Dublin, 28–29 May 2010. A very successful two-day international The society sponsored a session on conference on medieval settlement, with the topic of New Directions in Castle an emphasis on the contribution of GIS Research, which included papers on systems was held in Trinity College, ‘Norman Imposition: The Medieval Dublin. The Trinity Long Room Hub Castle and the Urban Space’ by Michael which co-ordinates research in the Fradley of Exeter University and humanities in Ireland supported it ‘Debating Lordly Landscapes: The financially. There were over 90 Deerpark of Earlspark, Loughrea, participants, both interested members of County Galway’ by Kieran O’Conor and the public as well as academics, students Fiona Beglane of the National University and commercial and state archaeologists. of Ireland, Galway. Scattered throughout There were over 20 speakers, many of the four-day Congress were papers on whom are members of our Society. Our archaeological topics, ranging from Assistant Editor, Oliver Creighton, gave ‘Medievalism, Post-1848 Czech the keynote address, on the subject of Nationalism, and the Beginnings of designed elite landscapes of the Middle Medieval Archaeology in Bulgaria Ages, an area in which he is an and Ukraine’ by Florin Curta of the acknowledged expert. University of Florida, to ‘The Archaeo- metallurgy of Lombard Swords: From The Academic Director of the Trinity Artefacts to a History of Craftmanship’ Hub, Professor Poul Holm, a by Vasco La Salvia of the University world-famous environmental economic degli Studi “G. d’Annunzio” Cheiti e historian, gave an inspirational welcome Pescara, and many others. address in which he outlined the contribution that the Trinity Hub would To everyone’s delight the exhibition halls make to the furtherance of research in brimmed with booksellers from the humanities. He also mentioned publishers worldwide, replica medieval some exciting new research projects in instruments, jewellery and chain mail. environmental history. There is not the If wine receptions hosted by medieval space here to give an account of each groups on campus, strolls through paper, but the feedback from the down-town Kalamazoo or a quick stop conference was extremely positive, and 2 every paper was of a consistently high compared to halls in larger castles on standard. stylistic and functional grounds, and that this process highlighted a number of There were four major linked themes, interesting parallels in hall design and in the first on ‘Mapping’, Sarah and decoration. There was another Gearty of the Royal Irish Academy presentation on tower houses, this outlined the ways in which the Irish time by Gillian Eadie of the Queen’s Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA) uses maps University, Belfast, in which she in its analysis of urban space, as well as examined gate-house type tower houses exploring the less obvious potential of Co. Down, which show striking that published maps and texts offer similarities in form. This offers cartographic study and digital substantive evidence for a thriving interaction. Mark Hennessy of Trinity regional building school in the 15th College Dublin then revealed that there century, but how far do these similarities had been a lay subsidy in 1292 in Ireland, translate into similarities in function? a fact that no other scholar seems to She examined three of the best-preserved have noticed to date. As the only other examples of the gate-house type and surviving medieval taxation return for analysed the function of these buildings Ireland was the early 14th-century with a focus on the individual balance Ecclesiastical Taxation, this finding is of priorities behind their construction. potentially very significant. Although the buildings may look very similar, they each served slightly different The second section was on ‘Boundaries’, purposes. and Charles Doherty of University College, Dublin discussed the extensive In case the audience thought that they vocabulary for roads in early had heard enough on tower houses, Irish literature, which provided an the most impressive stone monument infrastructure that facilitated surviving throughout Ireland of the later communication for social, military and middle ages, there was another excellent economic purposes. Two research paper by Vicky McAlister of Trinity. students from Trinity – Erin Britton and In it she tried to determine to what extent Linda Shine – outlined important aspects changes in trading activity influenced the abandonment of the Irish tower house of their settlement research, in Kilkenny th and Cavan, and East Galway through the first half of the 17 century, respectively. Edel Bhreathnach of the also using Co. Down as a case study. As well as employing several historical