Introduction – theorising monuments

Early medieval archaeologists encounter many different types of monument. Some can be described as ‘mortuary’ in character on account of their contextual association with the remains of the dead, others can be identifiable as commemorative of the dead on account of their form and inscriptions, even when their original locations and association with human remains and graves cannot be verified or were never the original intention. Further examples have mortuary and commemorative associations as only an element of their significance and function. In this chapter we shall focus upon the significance for remembering and forgetting in early medieval monumentality by looking at a series of themes rather than attempting to explore the full range of monumental forms. In particular, the discussion will focus upon the different ways in which cairns and burial mounds served to commemorate the dead. Consideration of churches, domestic architecture, and inscribed and sculpted stone monuments (including shrines, grave covers, slabs and free-standing crosses) receive limited attention here, as they will be addressed in future research by the author (see Williams, in prep.).

As with grave goods, so archaeologists have approached monuments as a means of charting early medieval migrating peoples, ideas and religious beliefs. More recently, mortuary monuments have been considered in social terms, regarded consecutively as reflections of social organisation and social differentiation (e.g. Shephard 1979), as evidence of social stress and competition in society (e.g. Arnold 1982b), and in terms of shifting ideological statements of domination and resistance (for a review, see Carver 2001; 2002).