Irene Bavuso | Utrecht University (original) (raw)

Articles by Irene Bavuso

Research paper thumbnail of Moving Jobs: Occupational Identity and Motility in the Middle Ages – Introduction

Medieval Worlds, 2024

The present thematic section investigates the movement of people in connection with their work du... more The present thematic section investigates the movement of people in connection with their work during the Early Middle Ages, and the repercussions of such movement in terms of construction of job identities. The development of specific professional identities and groups of professionals, such as guilds, has been amply studied for later periods in Europe. By contrast, although the picture of an immobile early medieval world has now been overcome, why and how people moved for their job in the early medieval centuries remains a largely underexplored topic. This project aims to take forward the discussion on this theme, and it does so through a reflection on the concept of motility – that is, the entirety of those factors that allow an individual to move through space – and on recent developments in the social sciences. Central questions concern the role of job mobility (considered in individual, relational, and collective terms) in the functioning of economic circuits and of social, cultural and military practices; the role of labour and one’s profession in individual identity construction; and how mobility interacts with the latter. The perspective of the thematic section is an interdisciplinary and global one, with contributions reaching from the North Sea to India and the Southern Tarim Basin and including research on military and ecclesiastical elites, artisans, artists, peasants, merchants and scholars. The contributions are collected in the present volume and in volume 23, to be published in 2025.

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Research paper thumbnail of Balance of power across the Channel: reassessing Frankish hegemony in southern England (sixth–early seventh century)

Early Medieval Europe, 2021

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Books by Irene Bavuso

Research paper thumbnail of Bavuso I., Castrorao Barba A. (eds.) 2023, The European Countryside during the Migration Period: Patterns of Change from Iberia to the Caucasus (300–700 CE), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter

Research on late antique and early medieval migrations has long acknowledged the importance of in... more Research on late antique and early medieval migrations has long acknowledged the importance of interdisciplinarity. The field is constantly nourished by new archaeological discoveries that allow for increasingly refined pictures of socio-economic development. Yet the perspectives adopted by historians and archaeologists are frequently different, and so are their conclusions. Diverging views exist in respect to varying geographical areas and scholarly traditions too.

This volume brings together history and archaeology to address the impact of the inflow and outflow of migrations on the rural landscape, the creation of new settlement patterns, and the role of migrations and mobility in transforming society and economy.

Such themes are often investigated under a regional or macro-regional viewpoint, resulting in too fragmented an understanding of a widespread phenomenon. Spanning Eastern and Western Europe, the book takes steps toward an integrated picture of territories normally investigated as separate entities, and critically establishes grounds for new comparisons and models on late antique and early medieval transformations.

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Research paper thumbnail of Economic Circularity in the Roman and Early Medieval Worlds. New Perspectives on Invisible Agents and Dynamics

Economic circularity is the ability of a society to reduce waste by recycling, reusing, and repai... more Economic circularity is the ability of a society to reduce waste by recycling, reusing, and repairing raw materials and finished products. This concept has gained momentum in academia, in part due to contemporary environmental concerns. Although the blurry conceptual boundaries of this term are open to a wide array of interpretations, the scholarly community generally perceives circular economy as a convenient umbrella definition that encompasses a vast array of regenerative and preservative processes.

Despite the recent surge of interest, economic circularity has not been fully addressed as a macrophenomenon by historical and archaeological studies. The limitations of data and the relatively new formulation of targeted research questions mean that several processes and agents involved in ancient circular economies are still invisible to the eye of modern scholarship. Examples include forms of curation, maintenance, and repair, which must have had an influence on the economic systems of premodern societies but are rarely accounted for. Moreover, the people behind these processes, such as collectors and scavengers, are rarely investigated and poorly understood. Even better-studied mechanisms, like reuse and recycling, are not explored to their full potential within the broader picture of ancient urban economies.

This volume stems from a conference held at Moesgaard Museum supported by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Networks Evolutions (UrbNet) at Aarhus University. To enhance our understanding of circular economic processes, the contributions in this volume expand the framework of the discussion by exploring circular economy over the longue durée and by integrating an interdisciplinary perspective. Furthermore, the volume gives prominence to classes of material, processes, agents, and methodologies generally overlooked or ignored in modern scholarship.

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PhD Thesis by Irene Bavuso

Research paper thumbnail of Irene Bavuso, ‘The Sixth and Earlier Seventh Centuries: Preconditions of the Rise of the Emporia’

DPhil thesis, Faculty of History, University of Oxford (awarded 2018)

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Conference Organisation by Irene Bavuso

Research paper thumbnail of Invisible Circularity from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages

Invisible Circularity from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages

Conference to be held on the 7th and 8th of September 2022. Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (... more Conference to be held on the 7th and 8th of September 2022.
Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), Aarhus University
Venue: Moesgaard Museum, Moesgård Allé 15, DK-8270 Højbjerg, Building 4240, room 301
https://urbnet.au.dk/news/events/2022/invisible-circularity
This conference is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet).

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Research paper thumbnail of International Conference "Patterns of Change: the European Countryside During the Migration Period (300-700 CE)", 21-22/11/19, University of Tübingen (Germany)

The understanding of migrations is fundamental for reconstructing the major transformations occur... more The understanding of migrations is fundamental for reconstructing the major transformations occurred across Europe between 300 and 700 CE. The impact of migrations on social and economic changes, the nature and characteristics of the flows of people, and their relations with the local populations in terms of construction of identities have generated a lively debate in scholarship involving different theoretical approaches. Based on written and archaeological sources, the debate is constantly nourished by new archaeological discoveries which allow for increasingly refined historical models and complex pictures of socio-economic development. The importance of interdisciplinarity for the field has long been recognised, yet the different nature of our sources often results in the diverging perspectives offered by historians and archaeologists. The core of this Conference is the new settlement pattern which came into appearance in rural areas across Europe during the Migrations period broadly understood (ca. 300-700). We aim to address the impact of the inflow and outflow of migrations on the landscape, the creation of new patterns of settlement, and, more generally, the role of migrations and mobility in transforming society and economy. Such themes are often investigated under a regional or macro-regional viewpoint, which results in too fragmented an understanding of a widespread phenomenon. Yet it remains crucial to assess the broader picture encompassing individual territories and their specificities. Contributions by experts of different areas and disciplines will allow us to draw an integrating picture of territories normally investigated as separate entities. In this way, the Conference aims to critically establish grounds for new comparisons and historical models.

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Conference Sessions by Irene Bavuso

Research paper thumbnail of IMC 2024, Session 1214: Which crisis? A comparison between Italy and the North Sea in the sixth century

The sixth century is commonly considered as a moment of profound change and general crisis, both ... more The sixth century is commonly considered as a moment of profound change and general crisis, both by contemporaneous authors and the literature. However, it still represents an understudied period, which is often approached through broad generalisations. In Italy, for instance, harsher environmental conditions, diseases, political instability, and war resulted in a strong demographic reduction compared to the late-Roman period. This crisis, however, shows different symptoms across the peninsula, thus defying a homogeneous description. To what extent can this scenario be considered accurate and applicable across all of Europe? And how far is it possible to discern signs of crisis?
In the North Sea the sixth century represents the nadir of economic life, although a blurry-edged category of sixth-century connectivity is often highlighted to explain the later, major social transformations and the economic boom this area witnessed from the seventh century onwards. Can we use connectivity to better frame crisis? And, at the bottom of this, can we sharpen our theoretical understanding and definitions of crisis, to help us reflect on the impact our own socio-economic models have on the ways in which this century is studied?
In this panel, we bring together interdisciplinary expertise (history and archaeology) to explore the sixth century from a comparative perspective, focusing on the two regions that have symbolised the sixth-century transformations in Europe since the formulation of the Pirenne’s Thesis: Italy and the North Sea. Shedding light on specific case studies, the comparative angle can contribute to recontextualising the sixth-century crisis. By putting the different factors that shaped this period of change in a wider perspective, this approach cautions against generalising the notion of ‘crisis', and highlights local complexities as the principal characteristic behind regional realities.

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Reviews by Irene Bavuso

Research paper thumbnail of Lucie Malbos, Les ports des mers nordiques à l’époque viking (VIIe–Xe siècle). (Collection Haut Moyen Âge 27.) Turnhout: Brepols, 2017. Paper. Pp. 453; 6 black-and-white figures, 23 maps, and 5 tables. €85. ISBN: 978-2-503-57580-3

Speculum, 2021

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Conference Presentations and Talks by Irene Bavuso

Research paper thumbnail of ''Gift and trade: the evidence from the Channel, c.5th-7th centuries'', Medieval Archaeology Seminar, Institute of Archaeology, Oxford, 6th March 2017.

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Research paper thumbnail of ''Exploiting natural resources: coastal settlement and landownership in the Channel area (ca. 5th-8th c.)'', Peasant Households in the Landscape. Peasant Production and Consumption Patterns in Early Medieval Europe symposium, winter school, Brussels, 15th-16th December 2016.

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Research paper thumbnail of ''Landed property and foreign goods: investigating contacts across the Channel, c.6th-7th centuries'', Medieval History Seminar, All Souls College, Oxford, 24th October 2016.

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Research paper thumbnail of ''Cross-Channel interactions before Quentovic: a view from the Pas-de-Calais'', Society for Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium, Brussels, 3rd-5th November 2016.

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Research paper thumbnail of ''Long-distance routes in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight during the Early Saxon period, c.5th-7th centuries'', 24th Annual Workshop in Economic and Social History, Oxford, 25th-26th April 2016.

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Research paper thumbnail of ''Coastal Settlement and Wealth in Early Anglo-Saxon England'', GAO Conference, Oxford, 12th-13th March 2016.

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Research paper thumbnail of Moving Jobs: Occupational Identity and Motility in the Middle Ages – Introduction

Medieval Worlds, 2024

The present thematic section investigates the movement of people in connection with their work du... more The present thematic section investigates the movement of people in connection with their work during the Early Middle Ages, and the repercussions of such movement in terms of construction of job identities. The development of specific professional identities and groups of professionals, such as guilds, has been amply studied for later periods in Europe. By contrast, although the picture of an immobile early medieval world has now been overcome, why and how people moved for their job in the early medieval centuries remains a largely underexplored topic. This project aims to take forward the discussion on this theme, and it does so through a reflection on the concept of motility – that is, the entirety of those factors that allow an individual to move through space – and on recent developments in the social sciences. Central questions concern the role of job mobility (considered in individual, relational, and collective terms) in the functioning of economic circuits and of social, cultural and military practices; the role of labour and one’s profession in individual identity construction; and how mobility interacts with the latter. The perspective of the thematic section is an interdisciplinary and global one, with contributions reaching from the North Sea to India and the Southern Tarim Basin and including research on military and ecclesiastical elites, artisans, artists, peasants, merchants and scholars. The contributions are collected in the present volume and in volume 23, to be published in 2025.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Balance of power across the Channel: reassessing Frankish hegemony in southern England (sixth–early seventh century)

Early Medieval Europe, 2021

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Bavuso I., Castrorao Barba A. (eds.) 2023, The European Countryside during the Migration Period: Patterns of Change from Iberia to the Caucasus (300–700 CE), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter

Research on late antique and early medieval migrations has long acknowledged the importance of in... more Research on late antique and early medieval migrations has long acknowledged the importance of interdisciplinarity. The field is constantly nourished by new archaeological discoveries that allow for increasingly refined pictures of socio-economic development. Yet the perspectives adopted by historians and archaeologists are frequently different, and so are their conclusions. Diverging views exist in respect to varying geographical areas and scholarly traditions too.

This volume brings together history and archaeology to address the impact of the inflow and outflow of migrations on the rural landscape, the creation of new settlement patterns, and the role of migrations and mobility in transforming society and economy.

Such themes are often investigated under a regional or macro-regional viewpoint, resulting in too fragmented an understanding of a widespread phenomenon. Spanning Eastern and Western Europe, the book takes steps toward an integrated picture of territories normally investigated as separate entities, and critically establishes grounds for new comparisons and models on late antique and early medieval transformations.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Economic Circularity in the Roman and Early Medieval Worlds. New Perspectives on Invisible Agents and Dynamics

Economic circularity is the ability of a society to reduce waste by recycling, reusing, and repai... more Economic circularity is the ability of a society to reduce waste by recycling, reusing, and repairing raw materials and finished products. This concept has gained momentum in academia, in part due to contemporary environmental concerns. Although the blurry conceptual boundaries of this term are open to a wide array of interpretations, the scholarly community generally perceives circular economy as a convenient umbrella definition that encompasses a vast array of regenerative and preservative processes.

Despite the recent surge of interest, economic circularity has not been fully addressed as a macrophenomenon by historical and archaeological studies. The limitations of data and the relatively new formulation of targeted research questions mean that several processes and agents involved in ancient circular economies are still invisible to the eye of modern scholarship. Examples include forms of curation, maintenance, and repair, which must have had an influence on the economic systems of premodern societies but are rarely accounted for. Moreover, the people behind these processes, such as collectors and scavengers, are rarely investigated and poorly understood. Even better-studied mechanisms, like reuse and recycling, are not explored to their full potential within the broader picture of ancient urban economies.

This volume stems from a conference held at Moesgaard Museum supported by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Networks Evolutions (UrbNet) at Aarhus University. To enhance our understanding of circular economic processes, the contributions in this volume expand the framework of the discussion by exploring circular economy over the longue durée and by integrating an interdisciplinary perspective. Furthermore, the volume gives prominence to classes of material, processes, agents, and methodologies generally overlooked or ignored in modern scholarship.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Irene Bavuso, ‘The Sixth and Earlier Seventh Centuries: Preconditions of the Rise of the Emporia’

DPhil thesis, Faculty of History, University of Oxford (awarded 2018)

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Invisible Circularity from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages

Invisible Circularity from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages

Conference to be held on the 7th and 8th of September 2022. Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (... more Conference to be held on the 7th and 8th of September 2022.
Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), Aarhus University
Venue: Moesgaard Museum, Moesgård Allé 15, DK-8270 Højbjerg, Building 4240, room 301
https://urbnet.au.dk/news/events/2022/invisible-circularity
This conference is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet).

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of International Conference "Patterns of Change: the European Countryside During the Migration Period (300-700 CE)", 21-22/11/19, University of Tübingen (Germany)

The understanding of migrations is fundamental for reconstructing the major transformations occur... more The understanding of migrations is fundamental for reconstructing the major transformations occurred across Europe between 300 and 700 CE. The impact of migrations on social and economic changes, the nature and characteristics of the flows of people, and their relations with the local populations in terms of construction of identities have generated a lively debate in scholarship involving different theoretical approaches. Based on written and archaeological sources, the debate is constantly nourished by new archaeological discoveries which allow for increasingly refined historical models and complex pictures of socio-economic development. The importance of interdisciplinarity for the field has long been recognised, yet the different nature of our sources often results in the diverging perspectives offered by historians and archaeologists. The core of this Conference is the new settlement pattern which came into appearance in rural areas across Europe during the Migrations period broadly understood (ca. 300-700). We aim to address the impact of the inflow and outflow of migrations on the landscape, the creation of new patterns of settlement, and, more generally, the role of migrations and mobility in transforming society and economy. Such themes are often investigated under a regional or macro-regional viewpoint, which results in too fragmented an understanding of a widespread phenomenon. Yet it remains crucial to assess the broader picture encompassing individual territories and their specificities. Contributions by experts of different areas and disciplines will allow us to draw an integrating picture of territories normally investigated as separate entities. In this way, the Conference aims to critically establish grounds for new comparisons and historical models.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of IMC 2024, Session 1214: Which crisis? A comparison between Italy and the North Sea in the sixth century

The sixth century is commonly considered as a moment of profound change and general crisis, both ... more The sixth century is commonly considered as a moment of profound change and general crisis, both by contemporaneous authors and the literature. However, it still represents an understudied period, which is often approached through broad generalisations. In Italy, for instance, harsher environmental conditions, diseases, political instability, and war resulted in a strong demographic reduction compared to the late-Roman period. This crisis, however, shows different symptoms across the peninsula, thus defying a homogeneous description. To what extent can this scenario be considered accurate and applicable across all of Europe? And how far is it possible to discern signs of crisis?
In the North Sea the sixth century represents the nadir of economic life, although a blurry-edged category of sixth-century connectivity is often highlighted to explain the later, major social transformations and the economic boom this area witnessed from the seventh century onwards. Can we use connectivity to better frame crisis? And, at the bottom of this, can we sharpen our theoretical understanding and definitions of crisis, to help us reflect on the impact our own socio-economic models have on the ways in which this century is studied?
In this panel, we bring together interdisciplinary expertise (history and archaeology) to explore the sixth century from a comparative perspective, focusing on the two regions that have symbolised the sixth-century transformations in Europe since the formulation of the Pirenne’s Thesis: Italy and the North Sea. Shedding light on specific case studies, the comparative angle can contribute to recontextualising the sixth-century crisis. By putting the different factors that shaped this period of change in a wider perspective, this approach cautions against generalising the notion of ‘crisis', and highlights local complexities as the principal characteristic behind regional realities.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact