Mobile carvers and mobile monuments: a geochemical study of early medieval cross-slabs from Clonmacnoise and outlying sites, Ireland

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorMeere, Patrick
dc.contributor.authorÓ Carragáin, Tomás
dc.contributor.authorGhosh, Urmi
dc.contributor.funderTaighde Éireann - Research Ireland
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-09T12:00:01Z
dc.date.available2026-06-09T12:00:01Z
dc.date.issued2026-03-16
dc.description.abstractClonmacnoise has one of the largest collections of early medieval (c. 400–1200 CE) carved stone monuments in northwest Europe. The presence of Clonmacnoise-style cross-slabs at outlying church sites within and beyond the immediate hinterland of the site provides an unmatched opportunity to investigate how stone-carving could be used to shape relationships with subsidiaries and affiliates. Geochemical analysis of a dataset collected using p-XRF demonstrates that craftspeople sometimes travelled considerable distances to carve cross-slabs at outlying sites using local stone. It also found evidence to suggest that some Clonmacnoise-style cross-slabs were carved at or near the site itself before being transported upstream via the Shannon to islands in Lough Ree and to a site immediately beyond the lake. This provides new insights into the complexity and variety of the relationships within early ecclesiastical networks, the organisation of the craft of stone-carving, and the mobility of carvers.en
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by the National Monuments Service of Ireland through a Research Ireland COALESCE INSTAR+ Award (Ref.: COALESCE/2022/1658). Our thanks to the staff of the National Monuments Service for facilitating our research, as well as funding it, and for permission to use several photographs (Fig. 3: WM015-001008-, LF021-048009-, LF023-097003-). Many thanks also to Nick Hogan for preparing Figs. 1-6 and 8, to Dr Diarmuid Ó Riain for help with data collection, and to Prof. Maria McNamara for the use of her team's portable XRF instrument. Finally, thanks to the Office of Public Works and Athlone Castle Museum for access to monuments in their care. This research was funded by the National Monuments Service of Ireland through a Research Ireland COALESCE INSTAR+ Award (Ref.: COALESCE/2022/1658). Our thanks to the staff of the National Monuments Service for facilitating our research, as well as funding it, and for permission to use several photographs (Fig. 3: WM015-001008-, LF021-048009-, LF023-097003-). Many thanks also to Nick Hogan for preparing Figs. 1-6 and 8, to Dr Diarmuid Ó Riain for help with data collection, and to Prof. Maria McNamara for the use of her team’s portable XRF instrument. Finally, thanks to the Office of Public Works and Athlone Castle Museum for access to monuments in their care.
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent15
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid105693
dc.identifier.authororcidMeere, Patrick§0000-0001-8227-0925
dc.identifier.authororcidÓ Carragáin, Tomás §0000-0001-7227-4287
dc.identifier.authororcidGhosh, Urmi
dc.identifier.citationMeere, P, Ó Carragáin, T & Ghosh, U 2026, 'Mobile carvers and mobile monuments: a geochemical study of early medieval cross-slabs from Clonmacnoise and outlying sites, Ireland', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 71, 105693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105693
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105693
dc.identifier.issn2352-409X
dc.identifier.journaltitleJournal of Archaeological Science: Reports
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-8227-0925/work/217251661
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-7227-4287/work/217252084
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18954
dc.identifier.volume71
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier B.V.
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105033122988
dc.rights© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectCarved stone monuments
dc.subjectClonmacnoise
dc.subjectEarly medieval Ireland
dc.subjectMobility
dc.subject[BEES]
dc.subject[HumanEnvironment]
dc.subjectpXRF
dc.titleMobile carvers and mobile monuments: a geochemical study of early medieval cross-slabs from Clonmacnoise and outlying sites, Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
1-s2.0-S2352409X26001288-main.pdf
Size:
23.93 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
School of the Human Environment
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences