British Archaeology, no 20, December 1996: Reviews

MEDIEVAL DEATH
Paul Binski
British Museum, UKP25.00
ISBN 0-7141-0561-9 hb

Books about burials and bones are ever popular, even though many are either solemnly historical or scientifically dull. Medieval Death is neither of these things, but is a scholarly study of the medieval theology of death and its pictorial expression. It provides a comprehensive introduction to death in Christian Europe from the beginning to the end of the medieval period. Many complicated ideas are discussed, yet it is accessible, animated, in places even humorous, and is well illustrated with numerous contemporary images

The theological significance of relics, tombs and shrines, the death ritual, body politics, and the economic importance of burial are among the many themes covered. Churches, coffins and corpses receive little attention and there is a feeling that archaeology is used to fill the gaps in the documentary and pictorial sources. This is more likely to be a result of the scarcity of available material covering the archaeology of medieval death than to the art-historical perspective taken by the author.

Binski, a lecturer in art history at Cambridge University, highlights important changes in theological theory which are likely to have promoted changes in ritual practices. These should be detectable in the archaeological record. For example, 13th century changes in liturgical practice and the later medieval development of the politics of space within the church should be recognisable in the development of floor plan and the arrangement of internal structures and graves.

The popularisation of belief in purgatory, and concerns about what happened to the body and soul after death, must have had an effect on mortuary and burial practices and it should certainly be possible to explore the links between changes in processional ritual, the adoption of the trapezoidal grave slab and the increased use of wooden coffins.

Medieval Death makes clear the complexities of medieval death ritual. Archaeologists must now ensure that medieval burials do not continue to fall through loopholes in the planning system and that techniques are developed not merely to cope with tight excavation budgets but to explore and contribute to these important and fascinating areas of research.

Mike Webber directed excavations in 1994 at St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks

PATRICK, THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF A SAINT
Cormac Bourke
HMSO, UKP7.95
ISBN 0-337-08311-3 pb

There is generally much less to our national saints than meets the eye. St George, as well as his dragon, never existed and David of Wales is, at best, a shadowy figure who may have lived in the 6th century. St Andrew, being one of the twelve apostles, existed; but as a native of Palestine it is extremely unlikely that he had ever heard of Scotland, the country that later adopted him as its national saint. Patrick is the most credible of these saints in that he certainly existed, and although not Irish by birth, he at least visited and lived in Ireland.

Patrick came to Ireland first as a prisoner and later as a missionary during the 4th century. His two surviving writings tell us virtually nothing about Ireland of that time. Neither are there any artefacts or monuments that can be definitely ascribed to that century. The archaeology described in this delightful book by Cormac Bourke, Curator of Medieval Antiquities at Ulster Museum, deals essentially with the later relics associated with the saint, and with Armagh which emerged as the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland. Some of these relics are known only from early documentary sources but others, most famously the Book of Armagh and St Patrick's Bell and Bell Shrine, have survived to the present. In addition to these, Bourke brings to our attention a wonderful group of later medieval and post-medieval relics including shrines for the relics of St Patrick's hand, thumb, head, tooth and jaw.

The book also describes the important collection of metalwork recently found during a drainage scheme in a river near Armagh. It contains broken-up pieces of several shrines, presumably from Armagh. The collection was in the possession of a Viking metalworker until it somehow ended up at the bottom of the river. In places the text in this book is rather obscure especially when dealing with the convoluted `pedigree' of some of the bell shrines, but this is more than compensated for by its excellent design and illustrations.

Dr Finbar McCormick is a Lecturer in Archaeology at Queen's University, Belfast

SHIPS AND SHIPWRECKS OF THE AMERICAS
ed George F Bass
Thames and Hudson, UKP16.95
ISBN 0-500-27892-X pb

Since great numbers of people from elsewhere have forged the history of the Americas, much of this book is in effect the story of seafarers, particularly from England, France, Holland, Portugal and Spain. Dr George Bass, Archaeological Director of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in America, has assembled a team of experts to write the chapters in a style that is both easy and entertaining; and the ships and boats described from their remains are extensively illustrated.

The theme is exciting, beginning with the vessels of the indigenous North American Indians, those of the Maya and Aztecs, and with dugout canoes dating back to 3,000BC. The Viking visitors who arrived in Newfoundland around AD1000 are also featured as the first positive European link. The search for the ships of Columbus and other early explorers, including the Basque whalers found in Red Bay, Canada, suggest the 16th century was a vivid period.

The Spanish and Portuguese galleons of the 16th-18th centuries are always glamorous, for so many were wrecked in clear warm water with their sites and treasures providing superb photographs. The 17th and 18th centuries brought trade and trouble, particularly in the struggle between Britain and France for the control of the continent. And, naturally, this left more wrecks. Then there was the American Revolution from the 1770s, and wrecks of many more vessels, such as the British warship HMS Charon sunk at Yorktown in 1781. Other losses occurred in 1812-13 when the American armed schooners Hamilton and Scourge sank in Lake Ontario and have survived almost intact. The final part of this volume deals with the `native' vessels of North America, and particularly the great steamboats that sailed the lakes and rivers during the 19th century, only to be caught up in the American Civil War. The Monitor, an extraordinary ironclad with a revolving tower housing a gun, characterises this time, and was found in 1973 wrecked in the Atlantic at a depth of 230ft. This book is an excellent read, beautifully illustrated, and shows how much nautical archaeology is adding to our knowledge.

Dr Peter Marsden is the Director of the Shipwreck Heritage Centre, Hastings

THE ROMAN FRONTIER IN BRITAIN
David Shotter
Carnegie, UKP9.95
ISBN 1-85936-015-7 pb

In AD122 hundreds of British farmers were evicted from a corridor of land 76 miles in length between the Tyne and the Solway. They made way for thousands of legionaries, ordered by the emperor Hadrian to build a wall which, in the words of a later Roman biographer, would `separate the Romans from the barbarians'. Hadrian's Wall represented a new approach to a problem that had confronted Rome since its invasion of Britain in AD43 - where could the effective limits of Roman power be fixed, and how best could they be protected?

The success of Hadrian's solution to these problems is one of the main topics examined in this elegantly written and well illustrated book. Dr Shotter, a Senior Lecturer in Roman History at Lancaster University, adopts an historical approach, placing Britain in the wider context of Roman frontier policies. Rome protected her frontiers by offering the native peoples an opportunity to become a part of Roman provincial society. Hadrian's Wall thus served not to prevent movement across the frontier, but to regulate it and allow taxes to be imposed. Under the shelter of the Wall, native society benefited from Roman rule.

This optimistic view, eloquently expounded, is an orthodoxy which has been challenged by recent excavation and research. There is much to be said for Hadrian's Wall as a barrier which restricted movement through the frontier area, and thus necessarily had a military function. The key to this new perception is our improved understanding of the structure of the Wall - the accumulating evidence for a flat top on the wall which could have been used as a fighting platform, tactical adaptations exemplified by the extra tower added at Peel Gap, and the importance attached to signalling in the siting of turrets and milecastles.

One of the main strengths of Shotter's book is its comprehensive and up-to-date account of the western Wall and the Cumberland coast, with its system of towers and fortlets. However, his treatment of the remainder of the Wall, where its function can be seen more clearly, is less penetrating. `Wretched Britons' (the only certain reference to the native population in the Vindolanda writing tablets) or willing and valued subjects of Rome? Shotter presents a lucid case for the latter view, but the truth may be sadder.

Paul Bidwell is the Principal Keeper (Archaeology) at Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields