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.
A genetic perspective on Longobard-Era migrations
According to historical records, around the first century CE a Germanic population called “Longobard” was settled in the northern Elbe basin.
Grooming the Face in the Early Middle Ages
A study of beards and hair focusing on the medieval period in Europe.
Study examines the food fallout from the Vandal sack of Rome
The findings suggest that the political upheaval following the Vandal sack of Rome in AD 455 and the 6th century wars between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines may have had a direct impact on the food resources and diet of those working at Portus Romae.
How the borders of the Barbarian Kingdoms changed in the Middle Ages
As the Western Roman Empire declined in the fourth century, a number of Germanic, Hunnic, and other peoples established states for themselves. Collective known as the Barbarian Kingdoms, here are eight videos that show the rise and fall of these states.
Time, Myth and the Origins of the Lombards
Origins, Identities and ethnicities were all central concerns of Early Medieval writers
The Commerce of the German Alpine Passes During the Early Middle Ages
In addition to the inability of the manor to be self-sufficient, the human desire for luxuries, foreign goods, such as fine clothing, highly decorated weapons, and exceptional foods, especially foreign wines and spices, tended to keep commerce alive.
What does ice from the Alps tell us about coins in the 7th century?
A new study has found ground-breaking evidence from an ice core in the Swiss-Italian Alps that proves the 7th century switch from gold to silver currencies in western Europe actually occurred a quarter of a century earlier than previously thought.
Migration and social organization in medieval Europe: a paleogenomic approach
We obtained ancient genomic DNA from 63 samples from two cemeteries (from Hungary and Northern Italy) that have been previously associated with the Longobards, a barbarian people that ruled large parts of Italy for over 200 years after invading from Pannonia in 568 CE.
Eighth-century skeleton discovered near Venice
Archaeologists working on the island of Torcello, near Venice, have uncovered a medieval skeleton dating to around 700 A.D.
‘Vampire burial’ discovered in Italy dates to the 5th century AD, researchers find
The discovery of a 10-year-old’s body at a medieval Roman site in Italy suggests measures were taken to prevent the child, possibly infected with malaria, from rising from the dead and spreading disease to the living.
6th-century barbarian cemeteries offer insights into the transformation of Europe, study finds
This research provides the clearest picture yet of the lives and population movements of communities associated with the Lombards, a barbarian people that ruled most of Italy for more than two hundred years
Genetic secrets of early medieval warriors revealed from German burial site
In 1962, an Alemannic burial site containing human skeletal remains was discovered in Niederstotzingen in southwestern Germany. A team of researchers have now examined the DNA of these skeletal remains, and discovered that this was a group of warriors buried between the years 580 and 630 AD.
The return to hill forts in the Dark Ages: what can this tell us about post-Roman Britain?
After being abandoned for nearly 400 years, some of the ancient Iron Age hill forts were re-occupied and re-fortified in the later fifth and early sixth centuries. Interestingly, some ‘new’ hill forts were also erected at this time.
Survival to amputation in pre-antibiotic era: a case study from a Longobard necropolis (6th-8th centuries AD)
This is a remarkable example in which an older male survived the loss of a forelimb in pre-antibiotic era.
Researchers discover early medieval women with their skulls altered
A new palaeogenomic study of early medieval people in southern Germany has revealed the presence of women who had their skulls artificially altered.
Hunnic Warfare in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries C.E.
This study examines evidence of Hunnic archery, questions the acceptance and significance of the “Hunnic archer” image, and situates Hunnic archery within the context of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Malaria and malaria-like disease in the early Middle Ages
This paper clears up contours of malaria’s occurrence in Frankish Europe. It surveys sources relevant to its study and establishes guidelines for retrospectively diagnosing the disease.
Ireland in Late Antiquity: A Forgotten Frontier?
This paper argues that it is more fruitful to examine the relationship between Ireland and its neighbors from c. 150–c. 550 C.E., through a frontier dynamic, a dynamic in which religious identity was but one factor among many.
