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IMC 2012: Sessions

Session 1003: The Materials of Memory: Commemorative Monuments and Memorial Spaces in the Middle Ages

Wednesday 11 July 2012, 09.00-10.30

Organiser:Aleksandra McClain, Department of Archaeology, University of York
Moderator/Chair:Dawn Hadley, Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield
Paper 1003-aScales, Skeumorphs, and the Making of Solid Spaces: Translating the Materials of Memory in Commemorative Monuments in the Middle Ages
(Language: English)
Howard Williams, Department of History & Archaeology, University of Chester
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Archaeology - General, Art History - Sculpture
Paper 1003-bCarving Out Social Identities: Monuments, Patrons, and Ideas of Place in Northern England
(Language: English)
Aleksandra McClain, Department of Archaeology, University of York
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Archaeology - General, Art History - Sculpture
Paper 1003-cGeographies of Piety?: Late Medieval Chantries and Commemoration
(Language: English)
Jonathan Finch, Department of Archaeology, University of York
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Archaeology - General, Architecture - Religious
Abstract

This session explores the social significance of funerary monuments and memorial practice in the Middle Ages, their use as tools of communication and display, and the role of material culture in defining the rules by which medieval society remembered and interacted with the dead. Medieval patrons utilized a complex vocabulary of forms, inscriptions, images, built spaces, and ephemeral practices to create their monuments, reify certain identities for themselves and their families, and generate memorial behaviour from particular audiences. These papers will explore the conscious choices made by patrons about how best to memorialize themselves, which were closely linked to overarching structures of time, place, and sociopolitical, religious, and cultural contexts.