(Bio)archaeological Approaches: Disease and Death in Early Medieval France
Reconstructing what happened, in France and across western Eurasia, during the first pandemic of bubonic plague in the Roman Empire and its neighbors from 541 to 750 AD.
Beta Samati and the Aksumite Empire of East Africa: From the Red Sea to the Ancient Mediterranean
This was the mighty Empire of Aksum, an ancient east African kingdom that thrived at the same time as the Roman and Byzantine empires.
Genetic study connects the Avars to the fall of the Rouran Khaganate
In the year 555 AD, the Rouran Khaganate, based in northeast Asia, was defeated and scattered by a Turkish invasion. Around 567-8, a new nomadic group known as the Avars came to Eastern Europe. Now, a new genetic study has linked these two groups.
New insights into Scotland’s ‘bodies in the bog’
In 1976, the remains of 14 individuals were discovered in the latrine of a Roman bathhouse in Cramond, Scotland. Dubbed the ‘bodies in the bog’, they were considered a mystery. Now, new research has revealed details about who these people were and where they came from.
Digging into the Dark Ages: Early Medieval Fake Histories and How to Combat Them
Howard Williams will address how archaeology has long transformed our understanding of the period and yet myths, legends, fantasies and fake histories persist.
The Faroe Islands were settled in the sixth century, researchers find
New evidence indicates that an unknown band of humans settled the Faroe Islands around 500 AD—some 350 years before the Vikings, who up until recently have been thought to have been the first human inhabitants.
What exactly ended in Late Antiquity?, with Polymnia Athanassiadi
A conversation with Polymnia Athanassiadi about the way of life that ended in late antiquity. Scholars of Byzantium and the Middle Ages may see this as a period of new beginnings, but Polymnia doesn’t want us to forget the practices and urban values that came to an end during it.
Ancient DNA in the Western Mediterranean
Ancient DNA has a lot to say about the people who walked the Earth in the Middle Ages. History and sciences are coming together and it’s quite the crossover.
Researcher examines 26,000 graves to understand how early medieval people buried their dead
This relatively swift change – spreading across almost the entirety of western Europe in about 150 years – points to the interconnectedness of early medieval Europe, but is it as simple as that?
The power and journeys of the True Cross and other holy relics, with Lynn Jones
A conversation with Lynn Jones on how fragments of the True Cross were requested, gifted, traveled, repatriated, abducted, and returned in the early Byzantine period; how they were used to validate rival claims to power; and the anxiety caused by doubts over their authenticity.
Why were people in the Early Middle Ages reopening graves?
In early medieval Europe, the dead and their possessions did not stop being important after the burial – researchers have discovered a widespread tradition of reopening graves.
The watery miracles of Italian saints
A new study examines the cultural impacts of climate change in Italy during the Early Middle Ages.
Ravenna, capital of empire between east and west, with Judith Herrin
A conversation with Judith Herrin about the fascinating history of Ravenna between 400 and 800 AD.
New book examines early medieval hunting
In the Manner of the Franks: Hunting, Kingship, and Masculinity in Early Medieval Europe, by Eric Goldberg examines the history of hunting in Europe from the years 300 to 1000.
How to Rebel via Jokes and Laughter: Two Examples of Rebellious Emotions in the Early Middle Ages
Two very different examples of public emotions have been presented. On the one hand Sichar failed to fulfill his ritual obligation by using a too rude joke. His attempt to rebel against his conqueror backfired and led – without any laughter at his bad joke – to his own death.
Surviving climate change in 6th century Finland
Norse myths tell of a time called “fimbulwinter” – when the world will be struck by three consecutive winters, with constant snows and no summer. This might actually have happened in the mid-sixth century, and a newly published article is showing how people in Finland survived the disaster.
Seeing and Hearing the ‘Scourge of God’: Attila the Hun in film, music and opera
Attila is a figure who has been treated in all manner of different ways, positive and negative in various art forms – from classical to contemporary music, sculpture, painting, opera, fiction, and film.
The Beginning of the Middle Ages in the Balkans
The article deals with the “short seventh century” between 620 (the date of Emperor Heraclius’ withdrawal of the Roman armies) and 680 (the date of the Bulgar migration into the northeastern Balkans).
The Sandby Borg Massacre: Interpersonal Violence and the Demography of the Dead
During excavations of the Iron Age ringfort of Sandby borg (AD 400–550), the remains of twenty-six unburied bodies were encountered inside and outside the buildings.
€10 million project to understand migrations in early medieval Europe
A €10 million research grant is set to fund a multidisciplinary study of more than 100 medieval cemeteries located across central and eastern Europe. The aim of the project will be to better understand the waves of migrations that took place in the early Middle Ages.
Early Medieval Art: A Short Guide
A guide to Anglo-Saxon, Byzantine, Carolingian, Chinese, Indian, Viking and Visigothic art from the Early Middle Ages.
Ireland’s population declined before the Vikings arrived, researchers find
New research has found that the population of Ireland was in decline for almost 200 years before the Vikings settled.
People in early medieval Croatia may have deliberately altered their skulls, archaeologists find
People in Croatia during the fifth to sixth centuries may have deliberately made cranial modifications to indicate their cultural affiliations, according to a study published this month in PLOS ONE.
Mapping European Population Movement through Genomic Research
This article reviews scientific publications that have attempted to use genetic and genomic data in order to investigate European migrations between the fourth and ninth centuries.