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Abstract: Britain and its Neighbours explores instances and periods of cultural contact and exchanges between communities in Britain with those in other parts of Europe between c.500–1700. Collectively, the twelve case studies highlight certain aspects of cultural contact and exchange, present neglected factors, previously overlooked evidence, and new methodological approaches. The discussions draw from a broad range of disciplines including archaeology, history, art history, iconography, literature, linguistics, and legal history in order to shine new light on a multi-faceted variety of expressions of the equally diverse and long-standing relations between Britain and its neighbours. Organised chronologically, the volume accentuates the consistency and continuity of social, cultural, and intellectual connections between Britain and Continental Europe in a period that spans over a millennium. With its range of specialised topics, Britain and its Neighbours is a useful resource for undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars interested in cultural and intellectual studies and the history of Britain's long-standing connections to Europe.

Content:

– Dirk H. Steinforth, Bryony Coombs, and Charles C. Rozier: Britain and its neighbours: Contacts, exchanges, influences. An introduction

1. Sigmund Oehrl: Wayland the Smith and the Massacre of the Innocents. Pagan-Christian 'amalgamation' on the Anglo-Saxon Franks Casket

2. Danica Ramsey-Brimberg: The permeating presence of practices: Northwest English and Manx ecclesiastical sites with Viking-Age furnished burials and sculpture

3. Dirk H. Steinforth: Between Continental models, a Christian message, and a Scandinavian audience: Early examples of the images of 'Christ trampling the Beasts' in the British Isles

4.Tom J. Horne: Silver threads – How Scandinavian Scotland connected with a wider economic world

5. Rod McDonald: The problem of Manx: Norse linguistic evidence for the survival of Manx Gaelic in the Scandinavian period

6. Keith Ruiter: Legal custom and Lex Castrensis? Using law and literature to navigate the North-Sea neighbourhood in the late Viking Age

7. Rachel E. Swallow: Ring-fencing the gardinum? European romance to British reality of the thirteenth-century Caernarfon Castle garden and park

8. Bryony Coombs: Albany and the poets: John Stuart, Duke of Albany, and the transfer of ideas between Scotland and the Continent, 1509–1536

9. Vivienne Larminie: Anglo-Swiss relations in the seventeenth century: Religion, refuge, and relief

10. Alistair Maeer: Fashioning an expanding English world: Commerce, curiosities, and coastal profiles from Edward Barlow's 1668 voyage to Italian port cities

11. Linnea Bring Larsson: 'England is not a kingdom located on the Moon': Use and usefulness of English knowledge in early Modern Swedish agricultural literature

12. Matteo Moro: An honoured Guest: The 1764 Journeys across Piedmont of Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany

Abstract: This anthology of sixteen case studies intends to provide an overview of recent investigations dealing with diverse research questions regarding pre-Christian religions and beliefs of the Central and Northern Europe from the 6th to 13th centuries. Its papers deal with subjects that include pre-Christian religion, con­version and transition from traditional beliefs to Christianity, human-animal relations, ritual practices, landscape studies, and the way results of these analyses changed our understanding of the period.

In archaeological study of religion, we draw upon a wide range of sources and methods, but the fundamental question is: how to use them successfully in the re­search of pagan beliefs? Using new perspectives, modern technology, and theories gathered from other disciplines, the papers intend to demonstrate the importance of innovative interdisciplinary methods – such as the combination of different branches of humanities (e.g. cultural anthropology, history, or religion studies) with fields of na­tural sciences (e.g. zooarchaeology, paleobotany, osteology, or landscape studies).