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IMC 2005: Sessions

Session 704: The Art of the Early Medieval Goldsmith, III

Tuesday 12 July 2005, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:The Historical Metallurgy Society
Organisers:Barbara Armbruster, Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés (TRACES - UMR 5608), Université de Toulouse le Mirail
Niamh Whitfield, Independent Scholar, London
Moderator/Chair:Barbara Armbruster, Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés (TRACES - UMR 5608), Université de Toulouse le Mirail
Paper 704-a'All that Glitters…': The Case for Gold-Working at the Pictish Monastery at Tarbat
(Language: English)
Cecily Spall, Field Archeology Specialists Ltd
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Archaeology - General, Archaeology - Sites, Technology
Paper 704-bThe Classical Roots of Early Medieval Celtic Filigree
(Language: English)
Niamh Whitfield, Independent Scholar, London
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Art History - Decorative Arts, Technology
Paper 704-cThe Cross of Cong: Manufacture of Church Metalwork in 12th-Century Ireland
(Language: English)
Griffin Murray, University College Cork
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Art History - Decorative Arts, Technology
Abstract

This third and final session will look at evidence for goldsmith in the Celtic and Pictish regions. Cecily Spall will show how excavations at the Pictish monastery at Portmahomack, Tarbatness, have revealed a smiths' and leatherworkers' workshop sited side-by-side on a man-made terrace adjacent to the monastic church and cemetery. Niamh Whitfield will consider the influence of Late Antique traditions on Early Medieval Celtic filigree, and suggest a complex path of transmission. Finally, Griffin Murray will discuss the methods used to manufacture one of the great masterpices of Pre-Norman Ireland, the early 12th-century Cross of Cong.