Description
This volume focuses on new research on the archaeology of the early medieval Celtic churches c AD 400-1100 in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, south-west Britain and Brittany. The 21 papers use a variety of approaches to explore and analyse the archaeological evidence for the origins and development of the Church in these areas. The results of a recent multi-disciplinary research project to identify the archaeology of the early medieval church in different regions of Wales are considered alongside other new research and the discoveries made in excavations in both Wales and beyond. The papers reveal not only aspects of the archaeology of ecclesiastical landscapes with their monasteries, churches and cemeteries, but also special graves, relics, craftworking and the economy enabling both comparisons and contrasts. They likewise engage with ongoing debates concerning interpretation: historiography and the concept of the Celtic Church, conversion to Christianity, Christianization of the landscape and the changing functions and inter-relationships of sites, the development of saints cults, sacred space and pilgrimage landscapes and the origins of the monastic town .
Table of Contents
1. The Archaeology of the Early Medieval Celtic Churches: An Introduction Identifying the Archaeology of the Early Medieval Church in Wales 2. Identifying the Mother Churches of North-East Wales 3. The Early Medieval Church in North-West Wales 4. Identifying Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites in South-West Wales 5. Continuity and Renewal of Monastic Landholding in Wales before and after the Anglo-Norman Conquest 6. Early Medieval Burial in Wales Sites, Buildings, Burial and Landscapes 7. Pagan or Christian? Burial in Ireland during the 5th To 8th Centuries AD 8. Identifying British Christian Sites in Western Wessex 9. The Archaeology of the So-Called 'Celtic Church' in Brittany 10. A Peacock's Tale: Excavations at Caherlehillan, Iveragh, Ireland 11. The Saint and the Sacred Centre: The Early Medieval Pilgrimage Landscape of Inishmurray 12. Investigations on the May Island, and Other Early Medieval Churches and Monasteries in Scotland 13. The Origins of Ecclesiastical Stone Architecture in Wales 14. A Suggested Typology for Pre-Romanesque Stone Churches in Ireland 15. Early Medieval Church Groups in Wales and Western England 16. Gruffudd AP Cynan and the Romanesque Church of Penmon, Anglesey Artefacts and Production 17. Reflections on the Monastic Arts: Recent Discoveries at Portmahomack, Tarbat, Easter Ross 18. The Economy and Industry of Early Medieval Clonmacnoise: A Preliminary View 19. Early Medieval Metalwork and Christianity: A Welsh Perspective 20. The Shrine of ST Gwenfrewi from Gwytherin, Denbighshire an Alternative Interpretation 21. St Fillan's Crozier — Its Cult and Its Reliquaries ad 1000–2000
