Putting Domestic Ritual in its Place: 'Placed Deposits' and Religion between the 4th and 10th Centuries AD, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, Oxford, March 17–18, 2017
Late antique and medieval archaeologists in northwest Europe and Scandinavia have seen a surge in studies on everyday ritual practices, among them deposits intentionally placed underneath door openings, walls and floors of residential or communal structures. By contrast, research of similar deposits in Roman, late antique and medieval/ Byzantine archaeology elsewhere is much rarer, though not entirely unknown. Although this difference in frequency may be the result of a real difference in practices, more likely it is due to different research traditions.
The post-Roman West and the Byzantine East are usually considered as two separate fields of scholarship, but much of the archaeological material, especially that pertaining to daily life and found in domestic contexts, in fact is very similar at least in appearance. This conference intends to overcome existing boundaries by investigating the occurrence of placed deposits, their meaning and relation with contemporaneous worldviews, popular beliefs, and orthodox religion from the fourth to tenth century AD. By inviting scholars from different backgrounds and working on diverse geographical regions and periods in time, we seek to stimulate discussion on the possible different meanings or purposes of placed deposits in order to arrive at a more accurate understanding of the mind-set of people in the past.
Registration required.