THIS ARTICLE CRITICALLY EXAMINES medievalFootnote1 archaeology’s relationship with myth. A surge of research examining pre-Christian belief has seen mythology, place names and folklore increasingly utilised to reconstruct mentalities and cosmologies. As a wider global phenomenon, this trend comes with pitfalls that must be addressed more systematically. This article examines these issues through early medieval Ireland, beginning with an overview of recent trends in cognate disciplines, before proceeding through case studies of Tara, Brú na Bóinne (both Co Meath), and Nenagh (Co Tipperary). Far from being relics of prehistoric cult practices, many deities populating these landscapes may have been consciously invented for political, allegorical and exegetical reasons during the medieval period. This creative process had a marked 8th-century monumental dimension, contemporary with the floruit of saga literature. This precludes such evidence being utilised to reconstruct pre-Christian cosmologies. This has broad implications for research across European medieval archaeology that would seek to access ritual, belief and religion.
Résumé
Archéologie et mythe dans l’Europe du Haut-Moyen Âge : la création des dieux de l’Irlande médiévalepar Patrick Gleeson
Cet article examine d’un point de vue critique la relation entre l’archéologie médiévale et le mythe. Dans une vague d’études examinant les croyances pré-chrétiennes, la mythologie, les noms de lieux et le folklore sont utilisés de manière croissante pour reconstruire des mentalités et des cosmologies. C’est un phénomène qui existe plus largement au plan mondial, et cette tendance s’accompagne de pièges qu’il s’agit d’éviter de façon plus systématique. Cet article examine ces questions tout au long du Haut-Moyen-Âge irlandais, en commençant par une vue d’ensemble des tendances récentes dans des disciplines apparentées, avant de passer à des études de cas à Tara, Brú na Bóinne (tous deux dans le comté de Meath), et Nenagh (comté de Tipperary). Loin d’être des reliques de pratiques de culte préhistoriques, nombre de dieux peuplant ces paysages ont pu être inventés sciemment à des fins politiques, allégoriques et d’exégèse pendant la période médiévale. Ce processus créatif avait une dimension monumentale marquée au 8e siècle, contemporaine de l’apogée du genre littéraire de la saga. Il est donc exclu qu’on puisse s’appuyer sur ces éléments pour reconstruire des cosmologies pré-chrétiennes. Cela a d’importantes répercussions pour la recherche dans toute l’archéologie médiévale européenne qui cherche à accéder aux rituels, aux croyances et aux religions.
Zussamenfassung
Archäologie und Mythen im Europa des frühen Mittelalters: Wie die Götter des frühen Irland entstandenvon Patrick Gleeson
Dieser artikel ist eine kritische untersuchung der Beziehung zwischen Mittelalterarchäologie und Mythen. In einer ganzen Welle von Forschungsarbeiten zu vorchristlichen Glaubensformen wurden Mythologie, Ortsnamen und Folklore zunehmend dazu verwendet, Mentalitäten und Kosmologien zu rekonstruieren. Dieser Trend ist inzwischen ein breiteres globales Phänomen geworden, hat jedoch einige Tücken, die es systematischer zu betrachten gilt. Der vorliegende Artikel untersucht diese Thematik im gesamten Irland des frühen Mittelalters; er beginnt mit einem Überblick über neuere Trends in verwandten Disziplinen, ehe er mit Fallstudien aus Tara, Brú na Bóinne (beide in County Meath), und Nenagh (County Tipperary) fortfährt. Viele Gottheiten, die diese Landschaften bevölkern, sind alles andere als Relikte prähistorischer kultischer Praktiken, sondern es kann vielmehr sein, dass sie im Mittelalter aus politischen, allegorischen und exegetischen Gründen bewusst erfunden wurden. Dieser kreative Prozess spiegelt sich im 8. Jahrhundert deutlich in den Monumenten, zeitgleich mit einer Blüte der Sagenliteratur. Damit ist ausgeschlossen, dass derlei Zeugnisse zur Rekonstruktion vorchristlicher Kosmologien herangezogen werden können. Und es hat weitreichende Implikationen für die Forschung in der Mittelalterarchäologie in ganz Europa, die versucht, sich mit Ritualen, Glaubensformen und Religion zu beschäftigen.
Riassunto
Archeologia e mito nell’Europa altomedievale: la creazione degli dei nell’antica Irlandadi Patrick Gleeson
Questo articolo esamina in modo critico il rapporto tra archeologia medievale e mito. Il dilatarsi della ricerca per esaminare le credenze precristiane ha portato a usare in modo crescente mitologia, toponomastica e folclore per ricostruire mentalità e cosmologie. Questa tendenza, parte di un fenomeno globale, nasconde insidie che devono essere affrontate in modo più sistematico. Questo articolo prende in esame tali questioni riguardo all’Irlanda altomedievale iniziando con una panoramica delle recenti tendenze nelle discipline affini per poi proseguire con la casistica di Tara, Brú na Bóinne (entrambe nella contea di Meath) e di Nenagh (nella contea di Tipperary). Ben lungi dall’essere le vestigia di pratiche di culto preistoriche, molte tra le divinità che popolano questi paesaggi possono essere state inventate coscientemente per motivi politici, allegorici ed esegetici durante il periodo medievale. Tale processo creativo ha assunto una dimensione amplissima nell’ VIII secolo, contemporaneamente al fiorire della letteratura delle saghe, il che impedisce che tale evidenza venga usata per ricostruire cosmologie precristiane. Questo ha ampie conseguenze per la ricerca dell’archeologia medievale che cerchi di occuparsi di riti, credenze e religione in tutta Europa.
Acknowledgments
Dr Elizabeth Boyle very kindly commented on an early draft. I am grateful to The Discovery Programme for data for and , to Dr Stephen Davis for , and to both Rose Cleary and Nick Hogan for .
Notes
1 Archaeology and Palaeoecology, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK. [email protected]
35 See Schele and Freidel Citation1990, 71–5, where Mayan sacred geographies were produced as rulers mapped patterns of political ritual and cosmography onto each other.
56 See Grogan Citation2008; Johnston and Wailes Citation2007; Waterman Citation1997; Waddell et al Citation2009. For an analogue to the DPC/Ráith na Ríg figure-of-eight, see O’Driscoll et al forthcoming.
99 Logainm, Tulach Éide is favoured, but Tulach Téide as the root of Tullahedy is also noted; cf Ettlinger Citation1953 for female burial places forming the location of assembly games.
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