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IMC 2006: Sessions

Session 1014: Archaeological Approaches to Medieval Gesture and Emotion

Wednesday 12 July 2006, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:Society for Medieval Archaeology
Organiser:Dawn Hadley, Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield
Moderator/Chair:Dawn Hadley, Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield
Paper 1014-aDeath, Emotion, and Gesture in Early Medieval Britain
(Language: English)
Howard Williams, Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Archaeology - Sites, Pagan Religions
Paper 1014-bNurturing the Dead: Medieval Women as Family Undertakers
(Language: English)
Roberta Gilchrist, Department of Archaeology, University of Reading
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Archaeology - Sites, Gender Studies
Paper 1014-cGesture: The Built Environment and the Middle Classes in Late Medieval England (unconfirmed)
(Language: English)
Kate Giles, Department of Archaeology, University of York
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Architecture - Religious, Architecture - Secular
Abstract

Archaeologists are uniquely well-placed to explore the physical settings in which emotions were experienced and gestures performed in the medieval period. Two of the papers in this session will explore gesture and emotion in the funerary contexts of early and late medieval Britain respectively, emphasising the performative qualities of the funeral and exploring the ways in which emotional responses to death are revealed in the burial record. The third paper examines the range of architectural, cultural, and corporeal strategies through which the middle classes sought to distinguish themselves from others in society, through their 'inhabitation' of houses, churches, and public buildings in late medieval England.