Saint’s Dedication and Early Medieval Cross-Marked Stones

2019

• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. 13. Dec. 2021 1 running head: NEW DISCOVERIES OF EARLY MEDIEVAL CARVED STONES IN WALES New discoveries of early medieval carved stones in Wales BY NANCY EDWARDS Over 570 examples of early medieval inscribed stones, cross-carved stones and more ambitious monuments, such as freestanding crosses and cross-slabs, are now known from Wales and the borders (Edwards 2007; 2013; Redknap and Lewis 2007). This number includes two recent discoveries, an early inscribed stone and a cross-carved stone, from Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog on Anglesey and five new monuments, three cross-carved stones and two small freestanding crosses from west Pembrokeshire. One of these, the cross-carved stone from Roch, has been known for over a decade but I have only recently been made aware of it, whilst another likely example from Trefgarn (Treffgarne) was only recently reported to Dyfed Archaeological Trust. The other three are all from the site of St Patrick's Chapel, Porth Mawr (Whitesands Bay), St Davids. 1 The first two came to light in May 2014, one on the beach below the site having been dislodged as a result of the winter storms of 2013-14, while the other was found during rescue excavations on the seaward side of the chapel (Murphy et al. 2014, 12-13, photographs 23-4). A third was discovered during the second season of excavations in May 2015. Unusually, the two excavated examples came from securely stratified archaeological contexts and were associated with graves. The aim of this article is, however, to publish the two monuments from Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog and the two cross-carved stones from Roch and Trefgarn. The three monuments from St Patrick's Chapel will be published separately as part of the forthcoming excavation report. All of them have been designated with county letters and numbers following on from those catalogued in

caa.reviews, 2017

2013

2010

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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018

Select early medieval period (400–1100 CE) Irish people pursued lifestyles of ascetic devotion leading to the establishment of ecclesiastical communities on small islands along Ireland's western coastline. These communities were separated by rough ocean waters, unpredictable Atlantic storms and rocky coastlines. Nevertheless, contemporary textual evidence and shared patterns of architecture, technology, and artisanship, including carved cross stones indicate that these communities were nodes in regional networks of institutional affiliation, shared religious practice, and material procurement or exchange. This study uses geochemical characterization of rock lithologies by hand-held, portable x-ray fluorescence (HHpXRF) in conjunction with routine petrographic analysis to assess the inter-island distribution of rock types used to produce early medieval cross stones in an effort to better define this integrated seascape. The cross stones were produced from a wide range of different geologic materials, including sedimentary limestones to high-grade metamorphic schists. The goal of this study was to determine what proportion of the cross stones were produced from materials locally available on each of the individual islands, and what proportion were produced from imported, non-local lithologies. This study demonstrates that in-field use of portable HHpXRF in-strumentation provides semi-quantitative chemical data that can be used in conjunction with visually obtained petrographic data to broadly discriminate and identify different bedrock lithologies. Our results indicate that approximately 25% of the 41 cross stones analyzed were produced from non-local lithologies. Results of this study suggest that early medieval inhabitants primarily used locally procured (on-island) material for cross stone production; non-locally obtained (off-island) rock was used less frequently. These results are consistent with other recent archaeological interpretations that highlight western Ireland seascapes as a connective network between members of early medieval communities who used open-water seafaring and raw material procurement/exchange as a means to maintain regional connections.

Scottish Archaeological Journal, 2003

The discovery of a cross-inscribed slab with an inscription is described. Because of its importance it was decided to invite specialist comment on this piece of sculpture and to publish it in advance of the full report on the excavations. The form of the monument, its inscription and archaeological context are considered. The text appears to consist of a Gaelic personal name. The script is a form of geometrical lettering which can be dated to the opening quarter of the eighth century. The form of the cross has Columban associations which sit well with place-name and other evidence which points to Dull having been a monastery founded from Iona by c. AD 700.

2020

This series aims to provide a forum for debate on the art and architecture of the Middle Ages. It will cover all media, from manuscript illuminations to maps, tapestries, carvings, wall-paintings and stained glass, and all periods and regions, including Byzantine art. Both traditional and more theoretical approaches to the subject are welcome.

The superficial similarity in form of prehistoric standing stones and early medieval western British inscribed stones has sometimes led to the suggestion that the medieval stones were reusing the earlier monuments. In this paper this suggestion is critically assessed. It shows that the medieval stones are different in size from the prehistoric stones, and placed in different contexts. This lack of reuse of prehistoric standing stones is considered in the context of other examples of monument reuse known from western Britain.

2017

This section of the journal comprises two core sets of reports linked to work in 2010: on finds and analyses relating to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS); and on site-specific discoveries and reports in medieval Britain and Ireland, with a selection of highlighted projects. The Society is most grateful to all contributors (of field units, museums, universities, developers, specialist groups and individuals) who have provided reports on finds, excavations, field-surveys, and building analyses and group activities for 2010. We thank contributors for conforming to the house style; we can advise on content, but are unable to abstract from interim reports. . 2 Within 139,613 database records. This is a large increase on previous years and is, in part, due to the revamped database which has aided the inputting of new material, making it much easier and faster. However, included within this are over 52,000 Roman coins from the Frome hoard and over 38,000 Iron-Age coins imported from the Celtic Coin

Previous research on the late Viking-age and medieval stone crosses and cross-decorated stones of Western Norway has focused on the role of the tall crosses and upright cross-slabs as direct markers of Norway’s transition to Christianity. Limited attention has been given to the use and perception of these monuments throughout the centuries. However, when studying their individual biographies, it transpires that many of them have been moved, modified and reused and, thus, repeatedly must have acquired new functions and meanings. In this chapter several matters of temporality with regard to the Norwegian stone crosses and cross-decorated stones are explored, the first one being the translation of portable crosses of other media into stone and the reasons for which this may have been done. Petrified and enlarged portable crosses could in turn inspire the production of similar monuments, as is exemplified by a cross from Stavanger and the four crosses that appear to have been based on its design. Focusing on monuments with runic inscriptions, I address how these memorials may reflect the changing burial customs, commemorative practices, and the conceptions of time that existed in Norway during the Christianization period and the Middle Ages. That a stone monument is no guarantee for enduring memory is clarified by the case of a deteriorated runic cross that inspired the erection of an entirely different wooden cross. Although the paper emphasizes the interplay between crosses of various sizes and materials that are usually associated with different time-periods, functions and uses, the landscape context of the stone monuments is also touched upon. The focus lies on stone crosses that were at some point in time placed on Bronze-age and Iron-age mounds. Do these belong to the time of conversion or are there other possible explanations? The last section explores the continuous dialogue between monuments, medieval textual sources, customs and folklore by discussing crosses associated with St Óláfr and other missionary saints. The chapter aims at demonstrating that the stone crosses of Western Norway were powerful monuments to which people responded in a variety of ways, not only at their moment of origin, but also in the decades and centuries to follow.

Ogham is a script that originated in Ireland and later spread to other areas of the British Isles. This script has preserved best on large pillar stones. Other artefacts with ogham inscriptions, such as bone-handled knives and chalk spindle-whorls, are also known. While ogham has fascinated scholars for centuries, especially the antiquarians of the 18 th and 19 th centuries, it has mostly been studied as a script and a language and the nature of its association with particular artefact types has been largely overlooked.

S. Driscoll, J. Geddes & M. Hall (eds) Pictish Progress: Pictish Studies for the 21st Century. Leiden: Brill, pp. 281-306., 2010

Chapter in 'S. Driscoll, J. Geddes & M. Hall (eds) Pictish Progress: Pictish Studies for the 21st Century. Leiden: Brill, pp. 281-306'

2017

Ulster Journal of Archaeology 78 (2023), 46-58

Two fragments of stone crosses are described and illustrated. One, from Donagh, Co Monaghan, although already on record, is shown for the first time to belong to the 9th-or 10th-century Blackwater group of high crosses. The other, newly recognised and from a secondary context at Mullaghmossagh, Co Tyrone, is dated to the 15th century.