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Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites in South-western Britain: their dates, characters and significance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2012

Susan Pearce
Susan Pearce*
Affiliation:
Susan Pearce, FSA, 7 Sackville Gardens, Leicester LE2 3TH, UK. E-mail: smp14@leicester.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper considers the historical, topographical, and morphological characteristics of burial sites in south-western Britain between ad 400 and 1000, looking for evidence of patterns of Christian development across the region. The study concludes that there is no one simple set of characteristics that exclusively identifies sites of this period. It demonstrates the very considerable complexity of the long, slow cultural shift that turned a pagan society into a Christian one, and it draws attention to the range of place names, morphologies, dedications and traditions that mark the surviving evidence.

Résumé

Ce document examine les caractéristiques historiques, topographiques et morphologiques des sites funéraires du Sud-ouest de la Grande-Bretagne de l'an 400 à l'an 1000 de notre ère, en recherchant des traces d'implantation chrétienne dans la région. Cette étude conclut qu'il n'existe pas un ensemble de caractéristiques uniques qui identifieraient exclusivement les sites de cette période. Elle attire l'attention sur la complexité considérable du changement culturel long et très lent qui a transformé la société païenne en société chrétienne, et attire également l'attention sur la diversité de noms de lieu, de morphologies, de consécrations et de traditions qui marquent les preuves ayant survécu.

Zusammenfassung

Dieses Referat behandelt die historischen, topografischen und morphologischen Charakteristiken von Grabstätten aus der Zeit von 400 bis 1000 n.Chr. im Südwesten Großbritanniens, wobei Nachweise für Strukturen einer christlichen Entwicklung in der Region gesucht werden. Die Studie kommt zu dem Schluss, dass es keinen einfachen Zusammenhang von Charakteristiken gibt, die allein ausreichen um Grabstätten aus dieser Periode identifizieren zu können. Dabei wird die Aufmerksamkeit auf die beträchtliche Komplexität der langwährenden und langsamen kulturellen Verlagerungen gelenkt, mit der die Umwandlung einer heidnischen in eine christliche Gesellschaft erfolgte, und es wird darin auch auf die verschiedenen Ortsnamen, Morphologien, Widmungen und Traditionen verwiesen, die die überdauernden Nachweise kennzeichnen.

Type
Research papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 92 , September 2012 , pp. 81 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2012

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