Revistas de JAS Arqueología
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King Æthelstan and Cornwall
No full textDuring the three centuries from about AD 700 to 1000, Cornwall became a border area through the anglicisation and absorption into Wessex of its neighbour Devon, then ceased to be one when it was itself fully absorbed into the newly-formed kingdom of England. The particular focus here is on the reign of Æthelstan (924–939). Four events relating to Cornwall are considered in detail, including William of Malmesbury’s twelfth-century account of Æthelstan’s treatment of the Cornish. His statement that Æthelstan ‘expelled the Cornish from Exeter’, if accepted, refers not to native Devonians but to economic migrants from Cornwall itself
The Fluidity of Borderlands
No full textThis introduction to the special issue considers the central themes raised by the volume’s contributions as a whole, focusing on their collective interest in the political and cultural — as opposed to geographical — fluidity of borderland zones in early medieval Britain. To highlight these important points, two case studies from the Anglo-Welsh border region are discussed: the Old English legal text known as the Dunsæte Agreement or Ordinance concerning the Dunsæte and the tradition preserved within some Welsh law texts that legal reforms were enacted by the Welsh ruler Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (king of Gwynedd from 1064 to 1073), both of which underscore the fluidity of frontiers on a political level
Place-names and Offa’s Dyke: The Limits of Inference
No full textThis chapter examines English and Welsh place-names along the line of Offa’s Dyke. It is divided into three sections, each concentrating on a separate area and each given a rather different focus. First, names either side of the dyke passing through the hundred of Clun in south-west Shropshire are examined to show the nature of the evidence and some of its complexity, as well — it is hoped — as some of its interest. The second section reconsiders some specific arguments about the dating of English names lying to the west of the dyke in modern Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire. Finally the third section, in rather speculative vein, attempts to co-ordinate a ‘reading’ of the place-name evidence in Oswestry hundred, north-west Shropshire, with the different lines indicated by Offa’s Dyke, Wat’s Dyke and various types of historical evidence. It is suggested, on one hand, that a cultural boundary visible in the later medieval period may have roots deep in the Anglo-Saxon period, but also that this line was probably always only one element in a complex skein of boundaries that made up the Anglo-Welsh frontier
The Changing Approaches of English Kings to Wales in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries
No full textThis article examines how political relations between England and Wales evolved during the tenth and eleventh centuries. During this period, the newly enlarged English kingdom ruled by Alfred the Great’s descendants became more sophisticated and better able to exploit its inhabitants. At the same time, Wales came to be dominated by a smaller number of more powerful and wide-ranging kings. The combined effect of these changes was a move away from the complete domination over Wales sought by English kings of the earlier tenth century to a pattern of more sporadic intervention exercised through client lords active in the Anglo-Welsh borderlands
Review: Educación y divulgación del patrimonio arqueológico
Full text linkA popular proverb states ‘Don't play with your food’. This maxim that not only concerns those of us who have the immense fortune of dedicating our working hours (and more if possible) to the noble discipline of archaeology and historical research. If anything is really clear to us, it is that Heritage (from the perspective of investigation, safeguard and management) is more than the ‘food’ of a couple of professors and four tourist guides, but of many thousands whose income depends on it essentially through tourism. In fact, tourism in Spain in 2019 before the pandemic yielded 154,487 million Euros to the economy, representing 12.4% of its GDP. In fact, dear reader, please reflect on what drives you to go on vacation? And what leads you to choose one tourist destination over another? The response is simple: diversity. It represents a search for something that is unknown where you reside, something unique and unrepeatable that is only found at a particular destination, a unique setting offering an aesthetic or gastronomic experience that otherwise would not be worth the visiting. This book under review delves precisely into the question of this diversity we seek when traveling as it is Heritage (either material or intangible, artistic, monumental, archaeological or natural) that gives an identity to each city, each community. Heritage renders them different from other neighbouring cities. From a material point of view, Heritage is what attracts tourists and, even more, from a sentimental point of view, it is what offers signs of identity to locals. Thus in the end we are not only talking about ‘things to eat’
Drawing the Line: What's Wat's Dyke? Practice and Process
No full textOften neglected and misunderstood, there are considerable challenges to digital and real-world public engagement with Britain’s third-longest linear monument, Wat’s Dyke (Williams 2020a). To foster public education and understanding regarding of Wat’s Dyke’s relationship to the broader story of Anglo-Welsh borderlands, but also to encourage the monument’s management and conservation, we proposed the creation of a comic heritage trail (Swogger and Williams 2020). Funded by the University of Chester and the Offa’s Dyke Association, we selected one prominent stretch where Wat’s Dyke is mainly damaged and fragmentary and yet also there remain well-preserved and monumental sections. Around Wrexham, Wat’s Dyke navigates varied topographies including following and crossing river valleys, and it is accessible to the public in the vicinity of North Wales’s largest town. In this article we outline the dialogue and decision-making process behind the map and 10-panel comic: What’s Wat’s Dyke? Wrexham Comic Heritage Trail (Swogger and Williams 2021; Williams and Swogger 2021a–b). In particular, we consider the stages taken to adapt from the initial plan of producing a bilingual map guide in response to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. This digital resource, published online in Welsh and English, guides visitors and locals alike along a central stretch of Wat’s Dyke around Wrexham town from Bryn Alyn hillfort to the north to Middle Sontley to the south. The comic heritage trail thus responds to the highly fragmented nature of the monument and utilises the linearity of Wat’s Dyke as a gateway to explore the complex Anglo-Welsh borderlands from prehistory to the present day. Building on earlier discussions (Swogger 2019), What’s Wat’s Dyke? illustrates the potential of future projects which use comics to explore linear monuments and linear heritage features (from ancient trackways and roads to railways and canals) constructed across the world from prehistory to recent times
Toward a Decolonial and Denationalized Public Archaeology
No full textIt has been more than a decade since I completed my own participation in a public archaeology project at Rogem Gannim, in West Jerusalem (Natasha Dudinski, “The Past on our Doorstep,†https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef3fPcrB11c); since then, in the role of an archaeological activist and advocate, I have observed the progress of public archaeology in Israel and abroad and participated in the local and global dialogue (Clark and Horning 2019), without initiating new fieldwork. This brief note, though looking toward the future as requested by the editors, is therefore retrospective in origin, rather than being a missive from the front lines
Points of You: Is archaeology becoming a bullshit job?
Full text linkIt was summer, I was searching for new books for my to-read pile and I came across Graeber’s latest work, Bullshit jobs (Graeber 2018). Right after buying it and reading the short essay it started with, I posted a question on Twitter: “Is archaeology a bullshit job?†Instantly, he answered—without even quoting him in the tweet—that it was not because people valued it. I did not want to engage into a debate, but the question stayed in my head, as I was not so convinced. He suddenly died a few days later. The book was next in my pile and I compulsively finished the one I was reading to start with it as soon as possible. Now, with a forum about the future of public archaeology in this celebratory volume, I thought it would be timely to add this opinion piece to celebrate his memory and wake up
Building heritage communities online: The experience of the Summer School Program ‘Engaging Communities in Cultural Heritage’
Full text linkThe summer school program entitled ‘Engaging Communities in Cultural Heritage’ was held from 21 June to 5 July 2020, as part of the Executive Leadership Development in Heritage Management Workshops organized yearly by the Heritage Management Organization. This year in particular, the course was entirely held online due to the ongoing pandemic and the subsequent worldwide responses enforcing preventive measures and social distancing. Amid these challenging circumstances, the 2-week program was successfully conducted, taking advantage of the digital resources to materialize a syllabus designed to combine theoretical and practical perspectives regarding community engagement in heritage projects in Greece. The series of online meetings gathered 13 students from six countries in total (Greece, Iran, Kenya, Peru, Puerto Rico and Serbia) with different backgrounds and career experiences. This diversity enriched the dynamics of the workshop where group discussions and assignments played a substantial role, and fostered a unique and fertile environment of intercultural and multidisciplinary work
Indigenous views on the future of public archaeology in Australia. A conversation that did not happen
Full text linkThis paper was written in response to a request by the editors of the AP: Online Journal of Public Archaeology, Jaime Almansa Sánchez and Elena Papagiannopoulou, for Claire Smith to write on the future of public archaeology in Australia. In Australia, public archaeology focusses on high profile colonial sites such as The Rocks in Sydney (Karskens 1999) and Port Arthur in Tasmania (Steele et al. 2007; Frew 2012), tourism (e.g. Cole and Wallis 2019) or enhancing school curricula (Nichols et al. 2005; Owens and Steele 2005). However, given her decades-long relationships with Jawoyn and Ngadjuri people (Smith 1999; Smith et al. 2016; Smith et al. 2020), Claire Smith decided that a useful way of approaching this topic would be to obtain Indigenous views on the subject. Accordingly, she contacted the Aboriginal co-authors of this article and invited them to co-author the paper. The possibility to write in free form was a boon. The ‘conversation’ format we settled on was designed to facilitate the voices of individuals, to present a range of Indigenous views, to allow people to express their views frankly, and to deal with the constraints of people being located in different parts of Australia as well as occasional lock-downs due to COVID-19. We decided on five topics/questions that would be the basis of the conversation. Each Aboriginal author gave their views either by email or by phone. These views were interwoven into a ‘conversation’. The language has been edited lightly for clarity and to simulate a real-life conversation. The final text was approved by all authors