Ritual objects: placed deposits in medieval churches

This paper considers the evidence for placed deposits in later medieval Christian contexts, focusing particularly on parish and monastic churches. The aim is to consider placed deposits within the contextual framework of Christian ritual, to trace patterns in the types of object deposited in churches and to begin to establish frameworks of reference in which they may be understood. These practices are not recorded in medieval documents and have therefore fallen outside the orbit of historical scholarship on popular religion and magic

Cuidando a los muertos : las mujeres medievales en las pompas fúnebres familiares

Estudis previs sobre les pràctiques funeràries de la Baixa Edat Mitjana han conclòs que els costums funeraris estaven regulats exclusivament per les autoritats religioses masculines, cosa que establia una pràctica uniforme que deixava poc marge a l'expressió individual o de les relacions familiars. Aquest assaig posa en dubte aquests enfocaments previs mitjançant l'estudi exhaustiu de la cultura material de tombes medievals. Una combinació de fonts arqueològiques i pictòriques apunta a què les dones eren les responsables de preparar al difunt per a l'enterrament. Aquesta reavaluació dels enterraments medievals aporta noves proves sobre el paper funerari de la dona com a extensió del rol social de la maternitat.Estudios previos sobre las prácticas funerarias de la Baja Edad Media han concluido que las costumbres funerarias estaban reguladas exclusivamente por las autoridades religiosas masculinas, lo cual establecía una práctica uniforme que dejaba un escaso margen a la expresión individual o de las relaciones familiares. Este ensayo pone en entredicho estos enfoques previos mediante el estudio exhaustivo de la cultura material de tumbas medievales. Una combinación de fuentes arqueológicas y pictóricas apunta a que las mujeres eran las responsables de preparar al difunto para el entierro. Esta reevaluación de los enterramientos medievales aporta nuevas pruebas sobre el papel funerario de la mujer como extensión del rol social de la maternidad.Previous studies of burial practice in the later medieval period have concluded that mortuary custom was regulated strictly by male religious authorities, resulting in a uniformity of practice that held little potential for the expression of personal identity or family relationships. This paper challenges previous approaches through a close study of the material culture of the medieval grave. Archaeological and pictorial sources combine to suggest that women were responsible for the preparation of the body for burial. This reassessment of medieval burial yields new evidence for female undertaking as an extension of the social role of mothering

Sacred Heritage

Critically evaluates the concept of sacred heritage, drawing on multi-disciplinary, global perspectives to clarify the multiple values of sacred heritage to spiritual and humanist audiences. Forges innovative connections between medieval archaeology and heritage studies, revealing new perspectives on medieval monasticism, identity, and healing. This title is also available as Open Access

Magic and archaeology: ritual residues and 'odd' deposits

The use of archaeology as source material for medieval magic raises a number of methodological and theoretical issues. Many of the rituals of common magic revealed by archaeology were never (or rarely) documented in medieval texts. The lack of correlation between texts and material culture has been regarded as problematic for historians; to the contrary, these complementary sources permit access to social contexts and agents that are under-represented in texts, particularly women and other practitioners who operated in a domestic environment

Magic and archaeology: ritual residues and 'odd' deposits

The use of archaeology as source material for medieval magic raises a number of methodological and theoretical issues. Many of the rituals of common magic revealed by archaeology were never (or rarely) documented in medieval texts. The lack of correlation between texts and material culture has been regarded as problematic for historians; to the contrary, these complementary sources permit access to social contexts and agents that are under-represented in texts, particularly women and other practitioners who operated in a domestic environment

Objects: the archaeology of medieval healing

This chapter discusses the contribution that artefactual analyses make to a cultural history of medieval medicine, and more specifically, what the study of archaeological sources can offer, drawing principally on evidence from medieval Britain

Macroscopic quantum fluctuations in noise-sustained optical patterns

We investigate quantum effects in pattern formation for a degenerate optical parametric oscillator with walk-off. This device has a convective regime in which macroscopic patterns are both initiated and sustained by quantum noise. Familiar methods based on linearization about a pseudoclassical field fail in this regime and new approaches are required. We employ a method in which the pump field is treated as a c-number variable but is driven by the c-number representation of the quantum subharmonic signal field. This allows us to include the effects of the fluctuations in the signal on the pump, which in turn act back on the signal. We find that the nonclassical effects, in the form of squeezing, survive just above the threshold of the convective regime. Further, above threshold, the macroscopic quantum noise suppresses these effects