Crossing Boundaries

Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Art, Material Culture, Language and Literature of the Early Medieval World

Jane Hawkes editor Eric Cambridge editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxbow Books

Published:30th Apr '17

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Crossing Boundaries cover

Interdisciplinary studies are increasingly widely recognised as being among the most fruitful approaches to generating original perspectives on the medieval past. In this major collection of 27 papers, contributors transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries to offer new approaches to a number of themes ranging in time from late antiquity to the high Middle Ages. The main focus is on material culture, but also includes insights into the compositional techniques of Bede and the Beowulf-poet, and the strategies adopted by anonymous scribes to record information in unfamiliar languages.

Contributors offer fresh insights into some of the most iconic survivals from the period, from the wooden doors of Sta Sabina in Rome to the Ruthwell Cross, and from St Cuthbert’s coffin to the design of its final resting place, the Romanesque cathedral at Durham. Important thematic surveys reveal early medieval Welsh and Pictish carvers interacting with the political and intellectual concerns of the wider Insular and continental world.

Other contributors consider what it is to be Viking, revealing how radically present perceptions shape our understanding of the past, how recent archaeological work reveals the inadequacy of the traditional categorisation of the Vikings as ‘incomers’, and how recontextualising Viking material culture can lead to unexpected insights into famous historical episodes such as King Edgar’s boat trip on the Dee.

Recent landmark finds, notably the runic-inscribed Saltfleetby spindle whorl and the sword pommel from Beckley, are also published here for the first time in comprehensive analyses which will remain the fundamental discussions of these spectacular objects for many years to come.This book will be indispensable reading for everyone interested in medieval culture.

[…] a collection of excellent essays that make a significant contribution to Anglo-Saxon studies. * Parergon *
The collection is stimulating and thought-provoking, and undoubtedly some of the more substantial contributions will prove to be seminal. In its totality, the collection contributes in depth and breadth to the refining of our understanding of the early medieval world. One can only hope that its methodology will prove inspirational to an even wider field. * Early Medieval Europe *
A satisfying and scholarly compendium. * Current Archaeology *
Overall, there is much her o finterst to anyone with a broad interest in early medieval art and culture in Viking-Age prison… [ there is ] much that will consildate, develop and enhance how we understand the early medeival world in the North. * Medieval Archaeology *

ISBN: 9781785703072

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

320 pages