Barbaric Splendour: The Use of Image Before and After Rome

Barbaric Splendour: the use of image before and after Rome comprises a collection of essays comparing late Iron Age and Early Medieval art. Though this is an unconventional approach, there are obvious grounds for comparison. Images from both periods revel in complex compositions in which it is hard to distinguish figural elements from geometric patterns. Moreover, in both periods, images rarely stood alone and for their own sake. Instead, they decorated other forms of material culture, particularly items of personal adornment and weaponry. The key comparison, however, is the relationship of these images to those of Rome. Fundamentally, the book asks what making images meant on the fringe of an expanding or contracting empire, particularly as the art from both periods drew heavily from – but radically transformed – imperial imagery.

Table of Contents:
Preface ; Barbaric tendencies? Iron Age and early medieval art in comparison – Toby F. Martin ; In the eye of the dragon: how the ancient Celts viewed the world – Laurent Olivier ; Variations on a theme? Examining the repetition of patterns on British Iron Age art – Jody Joy ; Changing perspectives in southwest Norwegian Style I – Elna Siv Kristoffersen and Unn Pedersen ; Helmets and headaches: thoughts on the Staffordshire Hoard helmet – George Speake ; ‘Magnificent was the cross of victory’: the great gold cross from the Staffordshire Hoard – Chris Fern ; The materiality of faces – Charlotte Behr ; Insular numismatics: the relationship between ancient British and early Anglo-Saxon coins – Anna Gannon

About the Author :
Toby Martin currently works as a lecturer at Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education, where he specialises in adult and online education. His research concentrates on theoretical and interpretative aspects of material culture in Early Medieval Europe. Wendy Morrison currently works for the Chilterns Conservation Board managing the NLHF funded Beacons of the Past Hillforts project, the UK’s largest high-res archaeological LiDAR survey. She also is Senior Associate Tutor for Archaeology at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education.

Review :
‘Well-illustrated, full of new insights and breaking down barriers, this important publication is to be welcomed and, I am sure, will be used as a model for examining further types of material from these two periods of ‘barbaric splendour’ in the future.’ – Michael King (2022): Medieval Archaeology, 66/1, 2022