| ISSN 1357-4442 | Editor: Simon Denison |
|---|
| BOOKS |
THE GREAT REBUILDINGS OF TUDOR AND STUART ENGLAND
In this authoritative and well-illustrated book we are invited
to reconsider the development of English domestic architecture
during
the 16th and 17th centuries. Platt's theme is an explanation of
how
the medieval house plan became obsolete and was replaced by the
`neat
compact boxes' of Restoration England.
An interesting feature of the book is the copious use of
contemporary
writings, which bring back to life the people who actually built,
furnished and lived in these houses. Through his study of this
material,
as well as the buildings themselves, Platt - Professor of History
at Southampton University - helps us document the changing social
attitudes and the political and economic upheaval which
influenced
the revolution in housing design.
The idea of a single Great Rebuilding confined to rural England
between
1570 and 1640 was first put forward by the doyen of landscape
history,
WG Hoskins, over 40 years ago. Often criticised for its
broad-brush
approach and narrow dating, Hoskins's model has been developed
and
refined since the 1950s. Platt takes the debate further and
argues
for a Second Great Rebuilding in both town and country after the
disruption
of the Civil War. The First Great Rebuilding saw medieval open
halls
floored over, new chimneys and staircases inserted, and the
introduction
of glazed windows and new furnishings. The distinguishing mark of
the Second Great Rebuilding, Platt maintains, `was less the final
disappearance of the hall, than a fresh traveller-led emphasis on
regularity'.
Early in the 17th century England's isolation from continental
Europe
ended and the Grand Tour began. A result was the introduction of
new
architectural styles borrowed mainly from France and Italy. This,
coupled with the increasingly sophisticated tastes of `polite'
society,
was the spark for the Second Great Rebuilding. From the 1650s
(but
a generation later in the north) the town and country house
assumed
a double-pile plan more reminiscent of the houses of today. The
emphasis
was now on compactness, symmetry, and the provision of private
accommodation
for every family member.
Jason Wood is an Assistant Director of
the Lancaster University Archaeological Unit
AND SHALL THESE MUTE STONES SPEAK?
The `mute stones' of this book's title are the early Christian,
inscribed memorial stones of 5th-7th century date found in
western
Britain and Ireland. In the hands of Charles Thomas, who deals
mainly
with Dyfed and Cornwall (with offshoot chapters on Breconshire
and
Lundy Island), these early Christian monuments, or ECMs, form
the framework for the history of these areas between the 5th and
7th centuries.
The stones are the memorials of Irish immigrants and their
descendants who formed a new ruling dynasty in 5th century west
Wales.
They reached an accommodation with the native aristocracy which
included
the acceptance of Christianity. They founded a sub-kingdom in
Breconshire,
and later sent colonists to Cornwall, where Christianity only
became widespread in the 7th century, primarily through
evangelisation
from west Wales.
This is heady stuff for students of the period accustomed to
scholarly
reservations on how far we can take the meagre source material.
Prof
Thomas's formidable abilities are brought to bear on problems he
has
studied for some 30 years, in a long book, deployed through the
skills
of a persuasive and vivid writer. But is he right?
At the core of the book is a new typological sequence
based on the languages used for the brief commemorative
inscriptions
on the ECMs. First Irish ogam script, then, bilingually, ogam and
Latin, then Latin alone to which overtly Christian formulae (such
as hic iacit) are added. Date ranges are assigned and
distributions
are mapped. More controversially, this sequence, and with it the
historicity of the people commemorated, is validated by
linking in the few surviving texts of the period: migration
accounts,
king lists, saints' lives. These are taken more literally, and
assigned
closer dates, than many scholars would wish - or dare. However,
I find the argument convincing.
Heather James is a Principal Archaeological
Officer at the Dyfed Archaeological Trust
MEN AMONG THE MAMMOTHS
The subject of this volume is the establishment in the
19th century of the long antiquity of human origins, in contrast
to
short biblical chronologies - dropping the bottom out of
history through the demonstration that `men' lived `among the
mammoths'.
Van Riper's agenda is interdisciplinary, particularly in terms of
the relationship of archaeology/prehistory with geology and
ethnography,
in opposition to earlier historical ties.
Beginning in the 1820s, the volume hinges upon Pengelly's
investigations
at Brixham Cave. Van Riper, an independent archaeologist based in
Atlanta, Georgia, is thorough in his analysis of its `staging'
and
impact, drawing on extensive study of notebooks and committee
minutes.
This is clearly the crux of his thesis, as elsewhere the
employment
of primary source material is limited.
On the whole, this narrative of disciplinary upheaval is
enthralling
and accessible. Its strength and originality lie in the analysis
of
disciplinary politics and boundaries: the orchestration of change
and the mustering of consensus, alliance building by a dominant
set,
the inter-relationship of amateur and professional interests and
the
enlistment of rhetoric in the denial of empirical evidence.
Although at the mercy of events, the volume unfortunately
deflates
the reader. It drives along in a compelling manner, only to
announce
that within the context of Victorian society this debate was all
something
of a straw man. It was superseded by Darwinian evolution, and
whereas
early dates could be accommodated, the nature of human origins
was
the real source of contention.
Thereafter, the book turns to the establishment of an
historically
independent prehistory. What unites this final quarter of the
book
with the rest is van Riper's premise that the source of
prehistory's
liberation was geology. Yet the wedding between the portions of
the
book is awkward and the argued division between historical and
geological
archaeology is not so rigid as claimed.
Christopher Evans is Executive Director of the Cambridge
Archaeological Unit
Return to the British Archaeology
homepage
© Council for British Archaeology, 1995
Two shots at a building revolution
by Jason Wood
Colin Platt
UCL Press, £30.00
ISBN 1-85728-315-5 hb
Hearing the mute stones speak
by Heather James
Charles Thomas
University of Wales, £35.00
ISBN 0-7083-1160-1 hb
Discovering man's true antiquity
by Christopher Evans
A Bowdoin van Riper
Chicago, £13.50
ISBN 0-226-84992-9 pb