Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England

Venues of outdoor assembly are an important type of archaeological site. Using the example of early medieval (Anglo-Saxon; 5th–11th centuries A.D.) meeting places in England we describe a new multidisciplinary method for identifying and characterizing such sites. This method employs place name studi...

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Main Authors: Baker, John, Brookes, Stuart
Format: Article
Published: Maney 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28164/
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author Baker, John
Brookes, Stuart
author_facet Baker, John
Brookes, Stuart
author_sort Baker, John
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Venues of outdoor assembly are an important type of archaeological site. Using the example of early medieval (Anglo-Saxon; 5th–11th centuries A.D.) meeting places in England we describe a new multidisciplinary method for identifying and characterizing such sites. This method employs place name studies, field survey, and phenomenological approaches such as viewshed, sound-mark, and landscape character recording. While each site may comprise a unique combination of landscape features, it is argued that by applying criteria of accessibility, distinctiveness, functionality, and location, important patterns in the characteristics of outdoor assembly places emerge. Our observations relating to Anglo-Saxon meeting places have relevance to other ephemeral sites. Archaeological fieldwork can benefit greatly by a rigorous application of evidence from place name studies and folklore/oral history to the question of outdoor assembly sites. Also, phenomenological approaches are an important in assessing the choice of assembly places by past peoples
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spelling nottingham-281642020-05-04T20:09:55Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28164/ Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England Baker, John Brookes, Stuart Venues of outdoor assembly are an important type of archaeological site. Using the example of early medieval (Anglo-Saxon; 5th–11th centuries A.D.) meeting places in England we describe a new multidisciplinary method for identifying and characterizing such sites. This method employs place name studies, field survey, and phenomenological approaches such as viewshed, sound-mark, and landscape character recording. While each site may comprise a unique combination of landscape features, it is argued that by applying criteria of accessibility, distinctiveness, functionality, and location, important patterns in the characteristics of outdoor assembly places emerge. Our observations relating to Anglo-Saxon meeting places have relevance to other ephemeral sites. Archaeological fieldwork can benefit greatly by a rigorous application of evidence from place name studies and folklore/oral history to the question of outdoor assembly sites. Also, phenomenological approaches are an important in assessing the choice of assembly places by past peoples Maney 2015-02 Article PeerReviewed Baker, John and Brookes, Stuart (2015) Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England. Journal of Field Archaeology, 40 (1). pp. 3-21. ISSN 0093-4690 early medieval England hundreds assembly places place-names temporary sites judicial governance phenomenology http://www.maneyonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/0093469014Z.000000000103 doi:10.1179/0093469014Z.000000000103 doi:10.1179/0093469014Z.000000000103
spellingShingle early medieval England
hundreds
assembly places
place-names
temporary sites
judicial governance
phenomenology
Baker, John
Brookes, Stuart
Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England
title Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England
title_full Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England
title_fullStr Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England
title_full_unstemmed Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England
title_short Identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval England
title_sort identifying outdoor assembly sites in early medieval england
topic early medieval England
hundreds
assembly places
place-names
temporary sites
judicial governance
phenomenology
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28164/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28164/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28164/