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Irish–Scottish connections in the first millennium AD: an evaluation of the links between souterrain ware and Hebridean ceramics

Irish–Scottish connections in the first millennium AD: an evaluation of the links between souterrain ware and Hebridean ceramics

Armit, Ian (University of Bradford, United Kingdom)

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 108C, (2008)

Abstract

Although some limited consideration has been given to the possibility of links between the early medieval ceramic traditions of the Western Isles and the souterrain ware of north-east Ireland, these have tended to be framed in the context of supposed Dalriadic cultural influence flowing from Ireland to Scotland. A re-evaluation of the possible relationships between these pottery styles suggests that souterrain ware might instead be seen as part of a regional expansion of western Scottish pot- tery styles in the seventh–eighth centuries AD. This raises the question of what social processes might underlie the cross-regional patterning evident in what remains a vernacular, rather than a high-status, technology.

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