From c. 550 CE, Italy experienced a significant agrarian decline. Grain harvests still mattered, but a new diet came to reflect the new uphill location
Category: Medieval Archaeology
Castle of Miranduolo
In the last 20 years archaeologists have excavated the castle of Miranduolo near Siena documenting a continuous habitation from the 8th to the 14th century.
Valmarecchia – an Italian Medieval Landscape
Changes in the Medieval Italian landscape were often dramatic. And, yet, micro-studies of Valmarechia in Emilia Romagna, reveal both continuity and change.
Medieval Hilltop Villages and Castles in the Italian Landscape
The history behind the castle-building on hilltops in the medieval Mediterranean landscape – the incastellamento or incastellation – is nuanced
The Fregerslev Viking From Outside Hørning
Sensational find of several chamber graves from the later part of the Viking Age at Fregerslev in Denmark witness to the ethos of the Viking warriors
Deserted Medieval Landscape near Pier in the Northern Rhineland
Between Jülich and Düren in Northern Rhineland lies a bleak landscape scarred by lignite mining. Beneath lies a precious time warp of a medieval landscape
Viking Age War Fleets
Studies of Vikings and their pirating and warfare seldom pause to reflect upon the enormous investment, the ships represented. New book sets this right.
The Salme Ship Burials in Pre-Viking Estonia
Around 750 CE 41 people were buried in two Viking ships at Salme in Estonia. New studies tell us about who they were and where they came from
Ship Burials at Sutton Hoo, Karmøy and Oseberg
Ship burials in North Western Europe are few and far between. The question is: when and where did this burial practice originate?
Royal Castilian Dinners in the 14th century
The remains of a Castilian king and his family from the 14th century reveal a diet rich in wheat bread and meat.
At Home with Herigar and Ansgar at Birka
Ansgar arrived at Björkö near Stockholm in AD 829 and converted the royal bailiff there. New surveys indicate his first church may have been found.
The Winter Camp of the Great Viking Army at Torksey
In 2013 the archaeological discovery of the Viking Winter Camp of the “mycel heathen here” in Torksey was reported. Now comes the scientific publicationin The Antiquaries Journal.
Odin with Horns, Birds or Dragons?
Yet again an intriguing Viking figurine has been found on the island of Fyn in Denmark. This time it is a rare Odin with a 'horned' helmet
Medieval Fenlands
For a long time a number of research projects have explored the culturally fluid landscape of the Medieval Fenlands in Eastern England. New book tells the story
Rendlesham – An Anglo-Saxon Royal Palace Near Sutton Hoo
Rendelsham is located five km north-east of Sutton Hoo and known as an early Anglo-Saxon emporium. Recently a royal mead-hall was discovered there
Merovingian Graves in Dirmstein
Tracing residential mobility trough isotopic analysis demonstrates once more that grave-goods and funeral practice cannot be used as ethnic markers