Material belief : a critical history of archaeological approaches to religious change in Anglo-Saxon England
This thesis aims to explore the long-term historical background for the archaeological study of the Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity in seventh century England. Following the recent work that has been done on the context and motivations of the migration debate within Anglo-Saxon archaeology (Lucy 2002, Hills 2003) this project has looked at the ways in which contemporary socio-cultural, religious and political factors have shaped the study of early medieval religion in Britain. Beginning with the early modern period, this study traces the history of the material of conversion through subsequent generations of scholars, exposing the historical and religious motivations behind each new interpretation. A careful critical reading of the published texts was performed, covering both antiquarian and archaeological interpretations of the subject. It was found that the study of the conversion and the wider topic of early medieval religion, both before and after the coming of Christianity, has been very much contingent on the historical context in which it has been undertaken. Several common threads have been identified throughout the period, including a consistent focus on the graves and grave-goods as the best
Dooley-Fairchild, Sira Maddalena
Material belief : a critical history of archaeological approaches to religious change in Anglo-Saxon England. This thesis aims to explore the long-term historical background for the archaeological study of the Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity in seventh century England. Following the recent work that has been done on the context and motivations of the migration debate within Anglo-Saxon archaeology (Lucy 2002, Hills 2003) this project has looked at the ways in which contemporary socio-cultural, religious and political factors have shaped the study of early medieval religion in Britain. Beginning with the early modern period, this study traces the history of the material of conversion through subsequent generations of scholars, exposing the historical and religious motivations behind each new interpretation. A careful critical reading of the published texts was performed, covering both antiquarian and archaeological interpretations of the subject. It was found that the study of the conversion and the wider topic of early medieval religion, both before and after the coming of Christianity, has been very much contingent on the historical context in which it has been undertaken. Several common threads have been identified throughout the period, including a consistent focus on the graves and grave-goods as the best
material belief critical_history archaeological_approach religious_change anglo_saxon_england aim_explore long_term historical_background archaeological_study anglo_saxon conversion christianity england following recent_work context motivation migration debate_within anglo_saxon archaeology project look_way contemporary socio_cultural religious_political factor_shape study early_medieval religion britain beginning early_modern_period study trace_history material conversion subsequent generation scholar expose historical religious motivation_behind new_interpretation careful critical_reading publish text perform cover antiquarian archaeological_interpretation subject find study conversion wider topic early_medieval religion come christianity much contingent historical_context undertaken several common_thread identify throughout_period include consistent focus grave grave goods best