Christian Islamic & Viking Europe

This module will explore the incredibly rich archaeology and history of the early medieval peoples of Europe, AD 400-1100, focusing in particular on the place of Ireland in the early medieval world. It was a time of huge social, ideological and technological change, with the migrations of peoples after the decline of the Roman empire in the mediterranean, the introduction of two new world religions (Christianity and Islam) across Europe, the impact of the Vikings raids, trading networks and settlements across the north Atlantic after AD 800, and ultimately the emergence of Europe's earliest states. We will survey through illustrated lectures some of the key aspects of Europe's early medieval archaeology, focusing in particular on how people organised their settlements, the emergence of their towns, how they farmed the land, made and exchanged objects and commodities, how they buried their dead and how they worshipped and established religious institutions, from the fifth to the eleventh centuries AD.