Herold, H (2021). Review of 'Die Erdburg von Borsod. Ein Komitatszentrum aus der Zeit der ungarischen Staatsgrundung.' (Monographien des Romisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, Band 148). By Maria Wolf. Mainz: Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum 2020. Medieval Archaeology 65-1, 188-189. (original) (raw)
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In our effort to summarise the churchyards in the Transylvanian Basin, although a lot of questions remained unanswered, we have managed to find some interpretations for several problems concerning the sociological and historical phenomena of the different segments of the 11th‒13th century society. Churchyards are the most obvious and reliable indicators of institutionalised Christianity. As opposed to the other regions of Europe, there is no clear archaeological evidence of institutionalised Christianity in the Transylvanian Basin from before the 11th century. We also formulated the question: to what extent could the population of these cemeteries be Christian? The characteristics of these cemeteries seem to show that the members of these communities were Christian. In several cases, unusual or strange burial customs can be documented. Although the Christian church banned some rites in the fight against paganism, based upon the archaeological finds, we can suppose a continuity of these in a few cases. In the analysis of churchyards we could draw a detailed picture of the formation and development of the structure of the medieval settlement network. The connection between the power centres and these types of cemeteries may have been detected only in an indirect way. The use of two or three cemeteries in the centres well-known from the written sources may emphasise the possibility of the classification of society.
2015
This volume explores the pervasive influence exerted by some prehistoric monuments on European social life over thousands of years, and reveals how they acted as nodes linking people through time, possessing huge ideological and political significance. Through the advancement of theoretical approaches and scientific methods, archaeologists have been able to investigate how some of these monuments provided resources to negotiate memories, identities, power,and social relations throughout European history. The essays in this collection examine the life-histories of carefully chosen megalithic monuments, stelae and statue-menhirs, and rock art sites of various European and Mediterranean regions during Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval times. By focusing on the concrete interaction between people, monuments, and places, the volume offers an innovative outlook on a variety of debated issues. Prominent among these is the role of ancient remains in the creation, institutionalization, contestation, and negotiation of social identities and memories, as well as their relationship with political ideology in early historic European societies. By contributing to current theoretical debates on materiality, landscape, and place-making, The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe seeks to overcome disciplinary boundaries between prehistory and history, and highlight the long-term, genealogical nature of our engagement with the world. Contents PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Europe: An Introduction Marta Díaz-Guardamino, Leonardo García Sanjuán and David Wheatley 2. Before the Standing Stones: From Land Forms to Religious Attitudes and Monumentality Joyce E. Salisbury PART II: CASE STUDIES 3. Kings’ Jelling: Monuments with Outstanding Biographies in the Heart of Denmark Steen Hvass 4. Icons of Antiquity: Remaking Megalithic Monuments in Ireland Gabriel Cooney 5. Beowulf and Archaeology: Megaliths Imagined and Encountered in Early Medieval Europe Howard Williams 6. Myth, Memento and Memory: Avebury (Wiltshire, England) David Wheatley 7. Les Pierres de Memoire. The Life History of two Statue-Menhirs from Guernsey, Channel Islands Heather Sebire 8. Back and Forward: Neolithic Standing Stones and Iron Age Stelae in French Brittany Luc Laporte, Marie-Yvane Daire, Gwenolé Kerdivel and Elías López-Romero 9. Enduring Past: Megalithic Tombs of Brittany and the Roman Occupation in Western France Mara Vejby 10. The Outstanding Biographies of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman and Medieval Spain Leonardo García Sanjuán and Marta Díaz-Guardamino 11. Megaliths and Holy Places in the Genesis of the Kingdom of Asturias (North of Spain, 718-910 AD) Miguel Ángel de Blas Cortina 12. Life and Death of Copper Age Monoliths at Ossimo Anvòia (Val Camonica, Italian Central Alps), 3000 BC–AD 1950 Francesco Fedele 13. Biography of a Hill – Novi Pazar in South Western Serbia Staša Babić 14. What Happens When Tombs Die? The Historical Appropriation of the Cretan Bronze Age Cemeteries Borja Legarra Herrero 15. Roman Dolmens? The Megalithic Necropolises of Eastern Maghreb Revisited Joan Sanmartí, Nabil Kallala, Rafel Jornet, M. Carme Belarte, Joan Canela, Sarhane Chérif, Jordi Campillo, David Montanero, Xavier Bermúdez, Thaïs Fadrique, Víctor Revilla, Joan Ramon and Moncef Ben Moussa PART III: RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS 16. The Plot against the Past: Reuse and Modification of Ancient Mortuary Monuments as Persuasive Efforts of Appropriation Estella Weiss-Krejci 17. Piercing together a Past Richard Bradley
Church Archaeology in Transylvania (ca. 950 to ca. 1450
Church Archaeology in Transylvania (ca. 950 to ca. 1450) Series: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, Volume: 84, 2022
Transylvania has some of the most valuable monuments of medieval architecture in Europe. The oldest church was built in the 10th century, but most others came into being only after 1200. Later changes have considerably modified the appearance of still-standing buildings. Written sources are lacking for answers to questions about the identity of the builders and patrons. Countering the idea that only standing structures can reflect the history of medieval churches in Transylvania, this book uses archaeological sources in order to answer some of those questions and to bring to light the hidden past of many monuments.