The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe

By contributing to current theoretical debates on materiality, landscape, and place-making, The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe seeks to overcome disciplinary boundaries between prehistory and history, and highlight the long-term, genealogical nature of our engagement with the world."--pub. desc.;Part I: Introduction -- 1. The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Europe: An Introduction / Marta Díaz-Guardamino, Leonardo García Sanjuán, and David Wheatley -- 2. Before the Standing Stones: From Land Forms to Religious Attitudes and Monumentality / Joyce E. Salisbury -- Part II: Case Studies -- 3. Kings' Jelling: Monuments with Outstanding Biographies in the Heart of Denmark / Steen Hvass -- 4. Icons of Antiquity: Remaking Megalithic Monuments in Ireland / Gabriel Cooney -- 5. Beowulf and Archaeology: Megaliths Imagined and Encountered in Early Medieval Europe / Howard Williams -- 6. Myth, Memento and Memory: Avebury (Wiltshire, England) / David Wheatley -- 7. Les Pierres de Memoire: The Life History of two Statue-Menhirs from Guernsey, Channel Islands / Heather Sebire -- 8. Back and Forward: Neolithic Standing Stones and Iron Age Stelae in French Brittany / Luc Laporte, Marie-Yvane Daire, Gwenolé Kerdivel and Elías López-Romero -- 9. Enduring Past: Megalithic Tombs of Brittany and the Roman Occupation in Western France / Mara Vejby -- 10. The Outstanding Biographies of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman and Medieval Spain / Leonardo García Sanjuán and Marta Díaz-Guardamino -- 11. Megaliths and Holy Places in the Genesis of the Kingdom of Asturias (North of Spain, AD 718-910) / Miguel Ángel de Blas Cortina -- 12. Life and Death of Copper Age Monoliths at Ossimo Anvòia (Val Camonica, Italian Central Alps), 3000 BC-AD 1950 / Francesco Fedele -- 13. Biography of a Hill -- Novi Pazar in South Western Serbia / Stas̆a Babić -- 14. What Happens When Tombs Die? The Historical Appropriation of the Cretan Bronze Age Cemeteries / Borja Legarra Herrero -- 15. Roman Dolmens? The Megalithic Necropolises of Eastern Maghreb Revisited / Joan Sanmartí, Nabil Kallala, Rafel Jornet, M. Carme Belarte, Joan Canela, Sarhane Chérif, Jordi Campillo, David Montanero, Xavier Bermúdez, Thaïs Fadrique, Víctor Revilla, Joan Ramon, and Moncef Ben Moussa -- Part III: Recapitulation and Conclusions -- 16. The Plot against the Past: Reuse and Modification of Ancient Mortuary Monuments as Persuasive Efforts of Appropriation / Estella Weiss-Krejci -- 17. Piercing together a Past / Richard Bradley.;The essays in this collection examine the life-histories of carefully chosen megalithic monuments, stelae and statue-menhirs, and rock art sites of various European and Mediterranean regions during the Iron Age and Roman and Medieval times. By focusing on the concrete interaction between people, monuments, and places, the volume offers an innovative outlook on a variety of debated issues. Prominent among these is the role of ancient remains in the creation, institutionalization, contestation, and negotiation of social identities and memories, as well as their relationship with political economy in early historic European societies.;"This volume explores the pervasive influence exerted by some prehistoric monuments on European social life over thousands of years, and reveals how they can act as a node linking people through time, possessing huge ideological and political significance. Through the advancement of theoretical approaches and scientific methodologies, archaeologists have been able to investigate how some of these monuments provide resources to negotiate memories, identities, and power and social relations throughout European history. Cover......Page 1 The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Preface......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 List of Figures......Page 10 List of Tables......Page 16 List of Contributors......Page 18 Part I: Introduction......Page 20 1: The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe: An Introduction......Page 22 WORDS, NATURE, AND MONUMENTS......Page 25 MONUMENTS, POLITICS, AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS......Page 28 COROLLARY: TOWARDS SUITABLE CONCEPTS?......Page 31 REFERENCES......Page 34 INTRODUCTION......Page 38 THE STUDY OF PERSISTENT BELIEFS......Page 40 EARLY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS......Page 41 SACRED MOUNTAINS......Page 43 SACRED CAVES AND SUPERNATURAL WATERS......Page 46 CONCLUSIONS......Page 48 REFERENCES......Page 49 Part II: Case-Studies......Page 52 INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH HISTORY OF THE SITE......Page 54 THE ‘PAGAN’ MONUMENT (MID TENTH CENTURY AD)......Page 57 THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MONUMENT (LATE TENTH CENTURY AD)......Page 60 THE SECOND CHRISTIAN MONUMENT (LATE TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES AD)......Page 67 JELLING IN MODERN HISTORY (SIXTEENTH TO TWENTIETH CENTURIES AD)......Page 69 CONCLUSION......Page 70 REFERENCES......Page 71 INTRODUCTION: THE ENDURANCE OF MEGALITHS......Page 74 TARA, NEWGRANGE, AND KNOWTH: A HISTORIC SUMMARY......Page 77 TARA: BUILDING A LINEAGE FROM THE PAST......Page 81 KNOWTH: REVITALIZING THE PAST......Page 85 NEWGRANGE: ANOTHER WORLD......Page 87 DIFFERENT MONUMENTS, DIFFERENT LIVES......Page 89 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 90 REFERENCES......Page 91 INTRODUCTION......Page 96 THE DRAGON’S MOUND IN BEOWULF......Page 97 A BIOGRAPHY FOR THE DRAGON’S MOUND......Page 99 THE MOUND’S ARCHITECTURAL MATERIALITY......Page 100 THE TREASURE’S MATERIALITY......Page 105 THE DRAGON’S MATERIALITY......Page 107 CONCLUSION......Page 112 REFERENCES......Page 114 BIOGRAPHY, MEMORY, AND MEMENTO......Page 118 PREHISTORIC MEMENTOS......Page 119 ROMAN AND SAXON ENCOUNTERS......Page 122 BURIAL OF STONES IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD......Page 124 THE (EARLY MODERN) HEAT IS ON......Page 126 THE MYTH OF THE ‘REAL’ AVEBURY......Page 128 LIVES, AFTERLIVES, MEMENTOS, AND MEMORIES......Page 132 REFERENCES......Page 134 INTRODUCTION......Page 138 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT......Page 139 EARLY LIFE: DATING OF THE STATUE-MENHIRS......Page 142 TWO EXCEPTIONAL STATUE-MENHIRS: HISTORICAL DISCOVERY......Page 144 Le Câtel menhir......Page 145 La Gran’mère du Chim’quière......Page 147 THE LIVES OF THE GUERNSEY STATUE-MENHIRS IN THE ROMAN AND MEDIEVAL PERIODS AND BEYOND......Page 148 Le Câtel Menhir......Page 149 La Gran’mère du Chim’quière......Page 150 The statue-menhirs in the modern day......Page 151 CONCLUSIONS: THE ONGOING LIFE HISTORIES OF THE MENHIRS......Page 152 Anthropomorphic form......Page 153 The Roman period......Page 154 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 155 REFERENCES......Page 156 8: Back and Forward: Neolithic Standing Stones and Iron Age Stelae in French Brittany......Page 160 REUSE OF MEGALITHS AND STANDING STONES IN WESTERN FRANCE......Page 161 NEOLITHIC ‘MENHIRS’ IN BRITTANY......Page 163 IRON AGE ‘STELAE’ IN BRITTANY......Page 168 BACK AND FORTH......Page 172 CONCLUSION......Page 177 REFERENCES......Page 178 THE REUSE OF MEGALITHIC TOMBS IN ROMAN BRITTANY: AN INTRODUCTION......Page 182 MEGALITHIC TOMBS AND VENUS STATUETTES ALONG THE GULF OF MORBIHAN......Page 185 DISCUSSING THE EVIDENCE AND PIECING TOGETHER THE PAST......Page 194 REFERENCES......Page 199 INTRODUCTION......Page 202 MEGALITHIC FUNERARY MONUMENTS......Page 203 STELAE, STATUE-MENHIRS, AND ROCK ART......Page 208 CONCLUSIONS......Page 215 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 217 REFERENCES......Page 218 INTRODUCTION......Page 224 THE SANTA CRUZ DOLMEN......Page 225 PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS AND ‘SIGNIFICANT PLACES’ IN THE RISE OF THE ASTURIAN MONARCHY......Page 230 DISCUSSING CONTINUITIES BETWEEN THE NEOLITHIC AND THE MIDDLE AGES......Page 236 A FINAL REMARK: THE CONTINUITY OF THE MEGALITHIC SITES AS PARISH ENTITIES......Page 239 REFERENCES......Page 240 INTRODUCTION......Page 244 CONTEXT AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE......Page 246 Anvòia I......Page 249 Anvòia II......Page 251 Anvòia III......Page 254 Fourth century AD......Page 255 Modern period......Page 260 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 262 REFERENCES......Page 263 13: Biography of a Hill: Novi Pazar in South-Western Serbia......Page 268 THE EMERGING STATE......Page 269 THE ‘ILLYRIAN-GREEK TREASURE’......Page 271 OVERLAPPINGS......Page 275 DEMARCATIONS......Page 277 TRANSFORMATIONS IN SPACE AND TIME......Page 279 REFERENCES......Page 281 INTRODUCTION......Page 284 THE ALWAYS PRESENT BRONZE AGE LANDSCAPE......Page 288 THE RICHNESS OF RESPONSES: BRONZE AGE TOMBS ON CRETE......Page 290 WHAT ROLE FOR THE PAST: HELLENIC DEVOTEES OR ROMAN ROBBERS?......Page 297 THE BRONZE AGE TOMBS OF CRETE: AXIS OF INTERPRETATION......Page 298 REFERENCES......Page 301 INTRODUCTION......Page 306 STATE OF THE ART......Page 307 THE NATIONAL HERITAGE INSTITUTE (INSTITUT NATIONAL DU PATRIMOINE, INP)/UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA (UB) ‘ALTHIBUROS PROJECT’......Page 308 THE MEGALITHIC NECROPOLIS OF EL KSOUR......Page 310 DISCUSSION......Page 317 REFERENCES......Page 322 Part III: Recapitulation and Conclusions......Page 324 16: The Plot Against the Past: Reuse and Modification of Ancient Mortuary Monuments as Persuasive Efforts of Appropriation......Page 326 Evocation of appropriated ancestors in the House of Habsburg......Page 328 Evocation of the past at Gamla Uppsala (Sweden)......Page 333 CONCLUSIONS......Page 337 REFERENCES......Page 339 INTRODUCTION: ONE PAST OR MANY PASTS?......Page 344 COMMEMORATING THE FUTURE......Page 345 IMPROVISATION AND THE LIMITS OF MEMORY: THE RELEVANCE OF ORAL LITERATURE......Page 346 MONUMENTS, MEMENTOS, AND MEMORIALS......Page 349 PROCESSES, EVENTS, AND INTERPRETATIONS......Page 350 ESTABLISHING LEGITIMACY......Page 351 COEXISTENCE AND CONFRONTATION......Page 352 ASSUMPTIONS AND ERRORS......Page 353 THE PERSISTENCE OF THE HUMAN FORM......Page 354 SCOTTISH STONE CIRCLES—A SUCCESSION OF DIFFERENT PASTS......Page 355 The past in 1500–800 BC......Page 356 The past in AD 100......Page 357 The past in AD 600......Page 358 CONCLUSION—PIECES OF A PAST......Page 359 REFERENCES......Page 360 Index......Page 362 Cover -- The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe -- Copyright -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- List of Contributors -- Part I: Introduction -- 1: The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe: An Introduction -- WORDS, NATURE, AND MONUMENTS -- MONUMENTS, POLITICS, AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS -- COROLLARY: TOWARDS SUITABLE CONCEPTS? -- REFERENCES -- 2: Before the Standing Stones: From Land Forms to Religious Attitudes and Monumentality -- INTRODUCTION -- THE STUDY OF PERSISTENT BELIEFS -- EARLY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS -- SACRED MOUNTAINS -- SACRED CAVES AND SUPERNATURAL WATERS -- CONCLUSIONS -- REFERENCES -- Part II: Case-Studies -- 3: Kings' Jelling: Monuments with Outstanding Biographies in the Heart of Denmark -- INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH HISTORY OF THE SITE -- THE 'PAGAN' MONUMENT (MID TENTH CENTURY AD) -- THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MONUMENT (LATE TENTH CENTURY AD) -- THE SECOND CHRISTIAN MONUMENT (LATE TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES AD) -- JELLING IN MODERN HISTORY (SIXTEENTH TO TWENTIETH CENTURIES AD) -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- 4: Icons of Antiquity: Remaking Megalithic Monuments in Ireland -- INTRODUCTION: THE ENDURANCE OF MEGALITHS -- TARA, NEWGRANGE, AND KNOWTH: A HISTORIC SUMMARY -- TARA: BUILDING A LINEAGE FROM THE PAST -- KNOWTH: REVITALIZING THE PAST -- NEWGRANGE: ANOTHER WORLD -- DIFFERENT MONUMENTS, DIFFERENT LIVES -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- REFERENCES -- 5: Beowulf and Archaeology: Megaliths Imagined and Encountered in Early Medieval Europe -- INTRODUCTION -- THE DRAGON'S MOUND IN BEOWULF -- A BIOGRAPHY FOR THE DRAGON'S MOUND -- THE MOUND'S ARCHITECTURAL MATERIALITY -- THE TREASURE'S MATERIALITY -- THE DRAGON'S MATERIALITY -- CONCLUSION -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- REFERENCES -- 6: Myth, Memento, and Memory: Avebury (Wiltshire, England) This volume explores the pervasive influence exerted by some prehistoric monuments on European social life over thousands of years, and reveals how they can act as a node linking people through time, possessing huge ideological and political significance. Through the advancement of theoretical approaches and scientific methodologies, archaeologists have been able to investigate how some of these monuments provide resources to negotiate memories, identities, and power and social relations throughout European history. The essays in this collection examine the life-histories of carefully chosen megalithic monuments, stelae and statue-menhirs, and rock art sites of various European and Mediterranean regions during the Iron Age and Roman and Medieval times. By focusing on the concrete interaction between people, monuments, and places, the volume offers an innovative outlook on a variety of debated issues. Prominent among these is the role of ancient remains in the creation, institutionalization, contestation, and negotiation of social identities and memories, as well as their relationship with political economy in early historic European societies. By contributing to current theoretical debates on materiality, landscape, and place-making, The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe seeks to overcome disciplinary boundaries between prehistory and history, and highlight the long-term, genealogical nature of our engagement with the world. The essays in this collection examine the life-histories of carefully chosen megalithic monuments, stelae and statue-menhirs and rock art sites of various European and Mediterranean regions during the Iron Age, Roman and medieval times. By focusing on the concrete interaction between people, monuments and places, they offer an innovative outlook on a variety of debated issues, inlcuding the role of ancient remains in the creation, institutionalisation, contestation and negotiation of social identities and memories, and their relationship with political economy in early European societies