Death and Memory in Early Medieval Britain

Addresses the commemorative functions of funerary ritual between 400–1100 AD using archaeological remains as its evidence base.

Howard Williams (Author)

9780521840194, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 August 2006

268 pages
25.5 x 18.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.718 kg

Review of the hardback: 'Howard William's excellent book is thus greatly to be welcomed as the first extended survey of how the dead were remembered in early medieval Britain.' Antiquity

How were the dead remembered in early medieval Britain? Originally published in 2006, this innovative study demonstrates how perceptions of the past and the dead, and hence social identities, were constructed through mortuary practices and commemoration between c. 400–1100 AD. Drawing on archaeological evidence from across Britain, including archaeological discoveries, Howard Williams presents a fresh interpretation of the significance of portable artefacts, the body, structures, monuments and landscapes in early medieval mortuary practices. He argues that materials and spaces were used in ritual performances that served as 'technologies of remembrance', practices that created shared 'social' memories intended to link past, present and future. Through the deployment of material culture, early medieval societies were therefore selectively remembering and forgetting their ancestors and their history. Throwing light on an important aspect of medieval society, this book is essential reading for archaeologists and historians with an interest in the early medieval period.

List of figures
Preface
1. Death, memory and material culture
2. Objects of memory
3. Remembering through the body
4. Graves as mnemonic compositions
5. Monuments and memory
6. Death and landscape
7. Remembering, forgetting and the mortuary context
references
Index.

Subject Areas: Medieval European archaeology [HDDM], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]