PEBBLES, POWER CENTRES AND POTENTATES: THE INTERACTION OF TEXTS AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-03-11

Textual, ‘historical’ evidence has often been combined with archaeological evidence to shape our understanding of power centres and potentates, but the interaction between different disciplines is fraught with issues of interpretation. This paper introduces the historical dimension to the ‘Comparative Kingship’ project which focusses on studying contemporary documents, as well as analysing usually later place-names and territorial units, integrating this research with the project’s archaeological and environmental aspects. I will consider debates about the nature of power centres in northern Britain and Ireland in the first millennium A.D., discussing examples of what connections can and cannot be made between written sources, such as Adomnán’s ‘Life of St Columba’, and the archaeological evidence for the forms of hillforts and other elite sites, and for the social uses of such locations. The paper will also discuss whether the textual evidence supports current archaeological theories relating to a shift in the early medieval period from hillfort to undefended lowland, Christian ceremonial centres. I will argue that written evidence, if investigated thoroughly, can provide valuable insights into the nature of power centres which can complement the work of other disciplines. However, it is also important to recognise the limitations of such text-based interpretations, in order to gain a healthy interaction between documentary and material culture approaches.


Author(s): Evans, Nicholas (University of Aberdeen)