User:Marshallsumter/Keynote lectures (draft)/Middle Ages



The Middle Ages is usually regarded as a period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (5th century) to the fall of Constantinople (1453), or, more narrowly, from c. 1100 to 1453.

The apparent Dark Ages lasted from the destruction of the Western Roman Empire until about 500 b2k, or it's the period in western Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the high Middle Ages, c. ad 500–1100, during which Germanic tribes swept through Europe and North Africa, often attacking and destroying towns and settlements.

"The latest Roman levels are sealed by deposits of dark coloured loam, commonly called the 'dark earth' (formerly 'black earth'). In the London area the 'dark earth' generally appears as a dark grey, rather silty loam with various inclusions, especially building material. The deposit is usually without stratification and homogeneous in appearance, It can be one meter or more in thickness. [...] The evidence suggests that truncation of late Roman stratification is linked to the process of 'dark earth' formation."

"The sediments in the Thingvellir lake basin have been successfully dated by tephra layers back to ca. AD 900, the time of Nordic Settlement in Iceland."

"Contemporary literature refers directly to tephra fall in the Thingvellir area during the following eruptions [see the X-ray radiographs of the cores on the left]: Katla 1918, 13 October (Sveinsson 1919); Hekla 1766-68, 16 July 1766 (Thörarinsson 1967); Katla 1721, most likely 13 May (Thörarinsson 1955). Tephra fall in adjacent regions is mentioned during the following eruptions: Vatnajokull 1766, 24 July (Thörarinsson 1974); Hekla 1693, sometime between mid February and the end of July (Thörarinsson 1967); Hekla 1510, 25 July or later that summer (Thörarinsson 1967); Hekla 1341, 19 May or later that summer (Thörarinsson 1967)".

"Tephra layers from three historical eruptions, not mentioned in written sources, have been traced into the Thingvellir area, i.e. Katla - 1500, Katla-R from the early 10th century and Vatnaoldur - 900, also named The Settlement Layer (Thörarinsson 1959, 1967, Larsen 1978, 1984a). Neither the year nor the season of deposition are accurately known. In addition, a tephra layer from a subaqueous eruption near Reykjanes in the 13th or 14th century, the Medieval tephra layer, has been traced into the region west of the lake (Olafsson 1983), and the tephra layer from the Eldgjd eruption AD 934 ± 2 has been traced into the region east of the lake."

Theoretical Middle Ages
Def. the "period of primarily European history between the decline of the Western Roman Empire (antiquity) and the early modern period or the Renaissance; the time between c. 500 and 1500" is called the Middle Ages.

Def. the history of "or relating to the Middle Ages, the period from about 500 to about 1500" is called medieval history.

Early history
The early history period dates from around 3,000 to 2,000 b2k.

-10th century
The 10th century BC is equivalent to 3,000 to 2,900 b2k.

On the right is the burial mask for the Pharaoh Psusennes I exhumed from Tomb III at Tanis (Nile delta). The material used is gold (different pieces were assembled using nails). The eyebrows and eye shadows are lapis lazuli. The eyes are glass paste. There is a cobra on the forehead. The ritual beard is braided to symbolize the death of the sovereign. It is kept in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. Dynasty is the XXI, dated to c. 1039 BC-990 BC.

In the left image is the burial mask for pharaoh Amenemope of the 21st Dynasty of Egypt, dated to 1001 – 992 BC or 993 – 984 BC.

Derrybrusk 2, Co. Femlanagh, is a logboat of Ireland, designated UB-3848, radiocarbon dated to 2912 ± 38 b2k.

-9th century
In 842 BC the Kingdom of Israel and the Phoenician cities sent tributes to Shalmaneser III. The image on the right is from the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III and depicts King Jehu of the Kingdom of Israel bowing before Shalmaneser III of Assyria.

Carthage was founded in 814 BC.

"The recent radiocarbon dates from the earliest levels in Carthage situate the founding of this Tyrian colony in the years 835–800 cal BC,4 which coincides with the dates handed down by Flavius Josephus and Timeus for the founding of the city."

The "dates for the founding of Carthage coincide with dates established for the Phoenician colony of Morro de Mezquitilla, which situate the most ancient occupation levels (Strata B1a and B2) in the years 807–802 cal BC.5"

The "founding of the first Phoenician colonies at the end of the ninth century coincides with the radio-carbon chronology attributed to the most ancient Phoenician imports recorded in the indigenous Portuguese settlements and in the south of Spain, like Acinipo, Alcáçova de Santarem or Cerro de la Mora.7"

Derrybrusk I, Co. Fermanagh, is a logboat of Ireland, designated UB-3846, radiocarbon dated to 2876 ± 34 b2k.

-8th century
This Dipylon Vase on the right is apparently from the late Geometric period, or the beginning of the Archaic period, c. 750 BC (2750 b2k). Prothesis scene is exposure of the dead and mourning.

The low-relief from the L wall of the palace of Sargon II at Dur Sharrukin in Assyria (now Khorsabad in Iraq) is apparently dated to c. 716–713 BC. It is the image on the left.

In the center is an image of the upper portion of a statue of Elissa, Queen of Carthage, apparently from the early 8th century or late ninth century.

"The founding of the Phoenician colony of Toscanos would have come a bit later; its earliest levels (Strata I/II) would date from the years 805–780 cal BC.6"

A logboat of Britain, 126 Short Ferry, designated Q-79, was radiocarbon dated to 2795 ± 100 b2k.

-7th century
Esarhaddon, portrayed on a stone stele, dated after 671 BC on the right, apparently ruled Assyria between 681 – 669 BC.

The black basalt monument of king Esarhaddon on the left narrates Esarhaddon's restoration of Babylon, ca. 670 BCE, from Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq, now in The British Museum, London.

A logboat from Britain, 108 Peterborough, designated Q-1564, has been radiocarbon dated to 2610 ± 50 BP or b2k.

-6th century
Croesus, 595 BC – c. 546 BC, was king of Lydia for apparently 14 years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC, or 547 BC. He issued gold-silver alloy coins as on the left.

Based on the pottery shown in the image on the right, Croesus was burned to death.

"Sappho of Eresos" is shown center holding a lyre and plectrum, and turning toward a bearded man with a lyre partially visible on the left.

Logboats from Britain occur in the -6th century: 108 Peterborough, designated Q-3129, radiocarbon dated twice to 2535 ± 40 and 2565 ± 35 BP or b2k, and 14 Blae Tam, designated Q-1497, to 2550 ± 50 BP or b2k.

-5th century
Apparently construction on the Parthenon is dated to have begun in 447 BC (2447 b2k) and was completed in 438 BC (2438 b2k) although decoration continued until 432 BC (2432 b2k).

A logboat from Ireland, Kilraghts, Co. Antrim, designated GrN-14743, has been radiocarbon dated to 2405 ± 20 BP or b2k.

-4th century
The Hellenistic period is between the death of Alexander the Great dated to 323 BC and the Battle of Actium dated to 31 BC and the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt dated to 30 BC.

The bronze statue imaged on the right is missing the feet, ankles, eyes, part of the crown and the palm branch originally brought in the left hand. The statue is supported by a stainless steel rod inserted in his right leg. It is dated from 340 until 100 BC.

Two logboats from Ireland, 124 Shapwick and 47 Ellesmere, designated Q-357 and Q-1246, have been radiocarbon dated to 2305 ± 120 and 2320 ± 50 BP or b2k, respectively.

-3rd century
"Jastorf (La Tène) culture [3rd to 1st century BC] with bronze and iron technology. Rich building evidence in downtown Bremen."

A logboat from Britain 40 Clifton I, designated Q-1374, has been radiocarbon dated to 2250 ± 45 and 2275 ± 35 BP or b2k.

-2nd century
The Winged Nike of Samothrace is made from Parian marble, ca. 190 BC? and found in Samothrace in 1863 by the archaeological expedition of Charles Champoiseau, 1863 and 1879.

Cleopatra II on the left was involved in the ruling of Egypt apparently from c. 175 BC to until she died in 116 BC.

A logboat, Eskragh, Co. Tyrone, from Ireland, designated GrN-14740, has been radiocarbon dated to 2165 ± 25 BP or b2k.

-1st century
] The "Late La Tène time span [is] between the conquests of 55 BC and 54 BC [2055 and 2054 b2k] under Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) and the time of Christ. In the rare cases where pottery and tableware are attributed to Saxons of the 4th/5th c. AD, "astonishingly La Tène art styles [more than 300 years out of fashion] re-emerge as dominant in the northern and western zone." (Hines 1996, 260)"

"Stamped pottery has had a long and varied history in Britain. There have been periods when it flourished and periods when it almost totally disappeared. This article considers two variations of the rosette motif (A 5) and their fortunes from the late Iron Age to the Early Saxon period. [...] The La Tène ring stamps [which end in the 1st century BC; GH ] are found in a range of designs, from the simple negative ring (= AASPS Classification A 1bi) to four concentric negative rings (= AASPS A 2di). These motifs are also found in the early Roman period [1st century AD; GH]. [...] The 'dot rosettes' (= AASPS A 9di) on bowls from the [Late Latène] Hunsbury hill-fort (Fell 1937) use the same sort of technique as the dimple decoration on 4th-century 'Romano-Saxon' wares."

In "Šarnjaka kod Šemovca (Dalmatia/Croatia), e.g., contain 700-year-older La Tène and Imperial period items (1st century BC to 3rd century AD) [...]:"

"A large dugout house (SU 9) was discovered in the course of the investigation in 2006. Its dimensions are 4.8 by 2.1 metres, with a depth of 34 centimetres, and an east-west orientation, deviating slightly along the NE-SW line. It contained numerous sherds of Early Medieval pottery, two fragments of glass, and a small iron spike. Three sherds of Roman pottery [1st-3rd c. CE; GH] and ten sherds of La Tène pottery [ending 1st c. BCE; GH] were also recovered from the house."

"The contemporaneity of Rome’s Imperial period textbook-dated to the 1st-3rd century AD with the Early Middle Ages (8th-10th century AD) is also confirmed for Poland [in the stratigraphic table above]. There, too, Late Latène (conventionally ending 1st c. BC) immediately precedes the Early Medieval period of the 8th-10th c. CE."

"In [the Roman Empire] capital cities, Rome and Constantinople (Heinsohn 2016) [they] build residential quarters, streets, latrines, aqueducts, ports etc. only in one of the three periods—Imperial Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and Early Middle Ages—dated between 1 and 930s AD. In Rome, they are assigned to Imperial Antiquity (1st-3rd c.); in Constantinople, to Late Antiquity (4th-6th c.)."

"Roman churches of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages [...] would suffice to confirm the existence of these two periods. The churches are there. However, we never find churches of the 8th or 9th century superimposed on churches of the 4th or 5th century that, in turn, are superimposed on pagan basilicas of the 1st or 2nd century. They all share the same stratigraphic level of the 1st and 2nd/early 3rd century. Moreover, the ground plans of the 4th/5th—as well as the 8th/9th—century churches slavishly repeat the ground plans of 1st/2nd century basilicas, as already pointed out 75 years ago by Richard Krautheimer (1897-1994). It is this period of Imperial Antiquity (with its internal evolution from the 1st to 3rd centuries) that alone builds the residential quarters, latrines, streets, and aqueducts so desperately looked for in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Thus, Rome does not have more stratigraphy for the first millennium AD than England or Poland."

"Germanic tribes, not only Anglo-Saxons and Frisians but also Franks, had been competing with Rome for the conquest of the British Isles since the 1st century BC".

"1st century BC "Astonishingly LA TÈNE art styles" (Hines 1996) dominate pottery of SAXONS [and] Powerful LA TÈNE Celts with King Aththe-Domarous of Camulodunum [is the] greatest ruler."

"Saxons begin their attack on Britain as early as the 1st century BC. They compete with the Romans, who may have employed Germanic Franks as auxiliary forces. The Saxons invade from the East, i.e., from the German Bight."

From "the stratigraphy of the Saxon homeland, located around Bremen/Weser inside today’s Lower Saxony [it] is mainly inhabited by Chauci and Bructeri [...] Saxon tribes that are [...] at war with the Romans in the time of Augustus (31 BC-14 AD) and Aththe-Domaros of Camulodunum (Aθθe-Domaros, also read as Addedom-Arus; c. 15-5 BC)."

On the right is an Indian-standard coin of King Maues. On the obverse is a rejoicing elephant holding a wreath, a symbol of victory. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ&#32;ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ&#32;ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ&#32;ΜΑΥΟΥ (Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows the seated king Maues. Kharoshthi legend: RAJATIRAJASA MAHATASA MOASA (Great King of Kings Maues).

Gortgill, Co. Antrim, is the location of a logboat from Ireland, designated UB-268I, radiocarbon dated to 2060 ± 60 BP or b2k.

Classical history
The classical history period dates from around 2,000 to 1,000 b2k.

Classical antiquity may be from the earliest poetry of Homer (8th–7th century BC) to the Early Middle Ages (600–1000).

"There is absolutely no justification for believing there to have been a historical figure of the fifth or sixth century named Arthur who is the basis for all later legends. / There is, at present, no cogent reason to think that there was a historical post-Roman Arthur."

Imperial Antiquity
Imperial Antiquity lasts from 2,000 to 1,700 b2k.

In Felix Romuliana, "the construction [...] is [...] Imperial Antique (1st-3rd c.), and sometimes even late Hellenistic, [in] appearance."

"Felix Romuliana is regarded as an ideal embodiment of a purely Late Antique (4th-6th c.) city in the Roman province of Moesia (today's Gamzigrad in Serbia), because in the earlier Imperial Antiquity of the 1st to early 3rd centuries there appears to be simply nothing at all in that splendid urban space erected around 305 CE for Emperor Galerius (293-311 CE)."

"Felix Romuliana [was] erected around 305 CE for Emperor Galerius (293-311 CE)."

"Felix Romuliana can boast a rich urban history up to the end of the 1st c. BCE"

It "has “a long settlement continuity from the Neolithic period over the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages”2 (DAIST 2013, see already Petkovic 2011a, 40)."

Between "1 and 1,000 CE there are only some 300 years with building strata in Felix Romuliana."

"Just between the 1st and 3rd c. CE the city’s evolution is totally and mysteriously stalled."

"Only during the Late Antique period (3rd to 6th c.), which appears to emerge out of thin air, does evolution pick up again with “different construction and expansion phases”3 (DAIST 2013). Since the German-Serbian excavations (2004 to 2012), one even knows “the localization of a necropolis belonging to the palace and its succession of settlements [up to the 6th c.], whose evidently dense occupation indicates a large population”4 (DAIST 2013)."

"For the more than 400 years between the late 6th and early 11th centuries, there was, however, no building evolution in the emergency accommodations. There are no archeological remains for some 400 years of use. There is substantial evidence for only a few decades, or even less. Those 400 years were written into the excavation report to meet a textbook chronology that is not understood but deeply venerated."

"Imperial Antiquity [apparently] did not leave any buildings [in Felix Romuliana] between Augustus (31 BCE - 14 CE) and Severus Alexander (222-235 CE)."

"Since Marcus Licinius Crassus (consul in 30 BCE) had already conquered Moesia in 29 BCE, it remains an enigma why suddenly the fertile area of Felix Romuliana, which had been in full use since the Neolithic period, was suddenly abandoned."

"Galerius’s Late Antique palace complex in Felix Romuliana was built by Legio V Macedonica (the bull and eagle were its symbol), a Roman legion that had been set up in 43 BCE by Octavian and Consul Gaius Vibius Panza Caetronianus (who fell in 43 BCE against Mark Antony)."

"It is indisputable that in 6 CE the legion was in the province of Moesia, with sufficient time to build something. It is also known that right there, in 33/34 CE (now under Emperor Tiberius), the legion did road-construction along the Danube (Clauss EDCS, 1649)."

"The Legio V Macedonica also participates in the construction of the gigantic Danube Bridge (1135 m; 103-105 CE) under Emperor Trajan (98-117). All this happens in close vicinity of Felix Romuliana, where the legion supposedly did not work before the 3rd/4th c. CE."

"Also, for around a quarter of a millennium (1st-3rd c. CE), there are no Aeolian layers in Felix Romuliana with vegetation or small animal remains, etc., which are to be expected if a city lies fallow for such a long time."

"Felix Romuliana still amazes [...] by its absence of Christian traces, despite its cultural proximity to the Greek part of the empire where Christianity had been in full development since the 1st c. CE. During the governorship (111-113 CE) of Pliny the Younger (61/61-113 CE) in Pontus-Bithynia, Christianity was, e.g., no longer stoppable. It had “spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms” of Asia Minor (Pliny: Letters 10:96)."

"[Roman sites and buildings dated to Britain’s Late Antiquity, i.e., to the 5th/6th century AD] never have 1st-3rd century building strata with streets, residential quarters, latrines, aqueducts etc. that are—after the Crisis of the Third Century—built over by new streets, residential quarters, latrines, aqueducts etc. reflecting new styles and technologies. At best, there are alterations of 1st-3rd c. structures that retain the style of the 1st-3rd century AD. An example may be provided by the small basilica in the 2nd century forum of Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) that is currently dated 5th/6th c. but stylistically would perfectly fit the late 2nd early 3rd century AD. The situation is comparable for pottery dated to Late Antiquity that cannot be tied to settlements. E.g., a "small later Roman pottery assemblage" from Mucking is dated "to a period without major occupation" (Lucy 2016)."

"From a stratigraphic viewpoint there is nothing wrong with the term "Saxon date," if Saxons and Romans lived side by side from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. Since archaeologically this period is contingent with the High Middle Ages of the 10th century AD—there are no building strata with residential quarters etc. in between—, its dates cannot help but move into the 7th to 10th century AD time span."

1st century
On the left is a Roman fresca of Venus standing on a quadriga of elephants from the Officina di Verecundus (IX 7, 5) in Pompeii, first century.

"[1st century AD] Saxon Chauci create rich building evidence. 50 m long houses (three aisles) with integrated stables are found all over the city and many suburbs; blacksmith shops; charcoal kiln technology etc."

"A succession of fires allowed the preservation of all the elements in place, when the inhabitants ran away from the catatrophe, transforming the area into a real little Pompei of Vienne [image on the right]."

"The fire brought the top floor, the roof and the terrasse of a sumptuous dwelling to collapse, both caved in floors being preserved, with the furniture left in place. The house, dating from the the second half of the first century and surrounded by gardens, was baptised "House of the Bacchae" because of a mosaic with a cortege of bacchae surrounding a Bacchus."

"With many others, a superb mosaic preserved in its near-totality in the "House of Thalia and Pan" has been lifted with much precaution earlier this week, to be restored at the ateliers of the gallo-roman museum of Saint-Romain-en-Gal."

"The Roman city of Vienne, in Southeast France, was at a crossroads of communications, between the Rhône River and the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, on a "highway" connecting Lyon, the capital of Gaul, to the city of Arles. Another axis of circulation had most probably preceded it and the excavations «provide also an exceptional opportunity to analyze the anterior states of the Roman road of Gallia Narbonensis, or Transalpine Gaul, "one of the most important of this time.""

"Besides the two luxurious houses, the neighborhood included shops dedicated to metalwork, food stores and other artisanal production; a warehouse full of jugs for wine; and a hydraulic network that allows for cleaning and drainage. The neighborhood appeared to be built around a market square, apparently the largest of its kind to be discovered in France."

A logboat from Britain 7 Baddiley Mere designated Q-1496 has been radiocarbon dated to 1980 ± 50 BP or b2k.

2nd century
"[2nd/3rd century AD] Ptolemy’s PHA-BIRABON is identified with Bremen though there are other candidates, too. Rich evidence for Roman period. Settlements of 1st century are continued."

The last known celestial globe shown at the right dates from 1850 to 1780 b2k. The constellation illustrations from the Mainz celestial globe are shown at the left.

"After Octavian/Augustus (31 BCE – 14 CE) had, in 30 BCE, turned Egypt into an imperial province of the Roman Empire, Memphis continued to thrive. Suetonius (69-122) writes about the city in his Life of Titus (part XI of The Twelve Caesars)."

A 2nd-century sculpture on the right perhaps shows Phosphorus (the Morning star) and Hesperus (the Evening star) on either side of the Moon (Selene or Luna).

A logboat from Ireland Crevinish Bay l, Co. Femlanagh, designated HAR-1969, has been radiocarbon dated to 1860 ± 70 BP or b2k.

3rd century
In the late imperial antiquity map on the right, provincial boundaries (dashed red lines) are approximate and, in many places, very uncertain.

"Many [British] building sequences appear to terminate in the 2nd and 3rd centuries [1900-1700 b2k]. [...] The latest Roman levels are sealed by deposits of dark coloured loam, commonly called the 'dark earth' (formerly 'black earth'). In the London area the 'dark earth' generally appears as a dark grey, rather silty loam with various inclusions, especially building material. The deposit is usually without stratification and homogeneous in appearance, It can be one meter or more in thickness. [...] The evidence suggests that truncation of late Roman stratification is linked to the process of 'dark earth' formation."

“Parts [of Londinium] / were already covered by a horizon of dark silts (often described as 'dark earth') / Land was converted to arable and pastoral use or abandoned entirely. The dark earth may have started forming in the 3rd century."

A logboat from Britain 168 Wisley designated Q-1399 has been radiocarbon dated to 1780 ± 45 BP or b2k.

Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages date from around 1,700 to 1,000 b2k.

At left is an attempt to correlate the change in 14C with time before 1950. The different data sets are shown with different colored third order polynomial fits to each data set.

"The Δ14C values in a chronology can clearly be used to identify catastrophic gaps and catastrophic rises in carbon-14."

The first four gaps have a jump up in 14C with a fairly quick return to the calibration curve shown in the figure on the right. However, from about 2000 b2k there is a steady rise in the Δ14C values.

4th century
"Recent archaeological excavations have focused on the late fourth and fifth centuries. The discovery of two young adult skeletons in a burial pit in the courtyard of the commander's house have been dated to the early fifth century. The bodies were not buried immediately after their deaths but were left [...] for animals to prey upon before they were thrown into the burial pit. The bodies of the young man and young woman have been radiocarbon dated to 140-430 AD cal. and 340-660 AD. Archaeologists believe that the commander's house was already in ruins at the time of their deaths, and the burial in the pit suggests the Roman community was no longer present at Arebia. The end of the occupation can be tentatively dated by two coins dated to AD 388-402 found on the floor of the commander's house. These coins are the latest Roman coins to be found anywhere along the northern Roman defenses. This last period of Roman occupation was active, with the fort's garrison and defenses consistently maintained. The fortress was remodeled or repaired in the same period since another coin dating to 388-402 was found in the resurfaced road of the rebuilt west gate. This combined data suggests that the fortress was occupied by the Romans until the end of the fourth century and that the end came rapidly."

A logboat from Ireland, Drummans Lower, Co. Leitrim, designated GrN-18756 has been radiocarbon dated to 1630 ± 30 BP or b2k.

5th century
"The Saxons tended to avoid Roman sites possibly because they used different farming methods."

"[We] learn from Prof. Fleming [2016] that Roman conquerors introduced many — perhaps as many as 50 — new and valuable food plants and animals (such as the donkey) to its province of Britannia, where these crops were successfully cultivated for some 300 years. Among the foodstuffs that Roman civilization brought to Britain are walnuts, carrots, broad beans, grapes, beets, cabbage, leeks, turnips, parsnips, cucumbers, cherries, plums, peaches, almonds, chestnuts, pears, lettuce, celery, white mustard, mint, einkorn, millet, and many more. These valuable plants took root in Britain and so did Roman horticulture. British gardens produced a bounty of tasty and nourishing foods. [...] Following the collapse of Roman rule after 400 AD, almost all of these food plants vanished from Britain, as did Roman horticulture itself. Post-Roman Britons [...] suddenly went from gardening to foraging. Even Roman water mills vanished from British streams. But similar mills came back in large numbers in the 10th and 11th centuries, along with Roman food plants and farming techniques."

"Wat's Dyke has recently been redated to the fifth century. The dyke runs parallel to the eighth-century Offa's Dyke in the Welsh Marches. This area marked the border between the British kingdom of Powys and Mercia in medieval times. Excavations at Maes-y-Clawdd near Oswestry have discovered a site along the dyke that contained the remains of a small fire and Roman-British pottery.  The charcoal from the fire had been radiocarbon dated to AD 411-561. It has been suggested that the dyke was associated with the Romano-British kingdom based on the city of Wroxter."

A logboat from Ireland Strabane, Co. Derry, has been dendrodated to 431 AD and radiocarbon dated 1610 BP or b2k.

Another Oxford Island, Co. Amlagh (Kinnegoe), has been dendrodated to 492 AD and radiocarbon dated 1590 BP or b2k.

6th century
"AMS [Accelerator mass spectrometry] 14C dating [summarized on the left] indicates that the age [of Can Ferrerons, a Roman octagonal building in Premià de Mar, Barcelona, with an image of the Tepidarium on the right] is between CE 420–540, at 95.4% confidence level."

A logboat from Ireland West Ward I, Co. Tyrone, designated GrN-16863, has been radiocarbon dated to 1440 ± 30 BP or b2k.

7th century
"There is absolutely no justification for believing there to have been a historical figure of the fifth or sixth century named Arthur who is the basis for all later legends. / There is, at present, no cogent reason to think that there was a historical post-Roman Arthur."

"The reputed remains of St. Chad, enshrined at St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham, have been put to the scientific test by radiocarbon dating and skeletal analysis. Only six bones from at least two individuals remained in the reliquary. Five of the six bones have been dated by radiocarbon dating to the 7th century. This date for the bones likely means that one of the at least two 7th century individuals in the reliquary is St. Chad."

"St. Chad and St. Cedd were two Anglian brothers who were among the original twelve students chosen for instruction by St. Aidan of Lindisfarne. In 658, he was sent by Bishop Finian of Lindisfarne to Mercia as a missionary. He became Bishop of the East Saxons and later in 669 of Mercia. He died on March 2, 672 and was buried in Lichfield, Mercia."

"The fact that all the bones date to the 7th century likely means that they have been held together for centuries, perhaps being mixed from bones in cemetery where he was initially interred or, as attested by Bede, in the first movement of his bones to a new church in c. 700. The bones are all leg bones with three bones being dated to the mid 6th to late 7th century and the remaining two bones to the early 7th to mid-8th century by Radiocarbon analysis."

"In 1996, the Isle of May yielded the earliest known Christian church on the east coast of Scotland. Current estimates date the church to the ninth century. The church is similar in size and style to those found in western Scotland and in Ireland in the seventh to tenth century."

"The church was built into the side of a mass burial mound which contains mostly early medieval graves. [...] The burial mound contains hundreds of graves in a 30 m x 20 m space. The latest burials were found in stone cists but most of the earlier graves were separated only by a layer of rocks. [Radiocarbon] dating of the remaining skeletons produced dates from the seventh to the tenth century."

8th century
The Dunhuang map from the Tang Dynasty of the North Polar region at right is thought to date from the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (705–710). Constellations of the three schools are distinguished with different colors: white, black and yellow for stars of Wu Xian, Gan De and Shi Shen respectively. The whole set of star maps contains 1,300 stars.

The Dunhuang Star Atlas, the last section of manuscript Or.8210/S.3326. It is "the oldest manuscript star atlas known today from any civilisation, probably dating from around AD 700. It shows a complete representation of the Chinese sky in 13 charts with over 1300 stars named and accurately presented."

"The Dunhuang Star Atlas [above center] forms the second part of a longer scroll (Or.8210/S.3326) that measures 210 cm long by 24.4 cm wide and is made of fine paper in thirteen separate panels."

"The first part of the scroll is a manual for divination based on the shape of clouds. The twelve charts showing different sections of the sky follow these. The stars are named and there is also explanatory text. The final chart is of the north-polar region. The chart is detailed, showing a total of 1345 stars in 257 clearly marked and named asterisms, or constellations, including all twenty-eight mansions."

"The importance of the chart lies in both its accuracy and graphic quality. The chart includes both bright and faint stars, visible to the naked eye from north central China".

"There is no doubt about Early Medieval artifacts from the [Krakus] mound [in the second image down on the right] belonging to the 8th century, i.e. the date that was settled upon by dendrochronology."

"The Archaeological Museum of Kraków (Poland) is to be commended for its chronological honesty. Though its curators do not deviate from chronological dogma, they refuse to report settlement strata that cannot be found in the city’s ground. Therefore, their exhibits for the 1st millennium AD jump from the 2nd right into the 9th century AD, with nothing to show for the 700 years in between."

"Mound Krakus (apart from Lusatian and pre-Roman items) also revealed artifacts of the Przeworsk Culture (Buko 2011, 163), which peaked from the 1st c. BC to the 2nd c. AD. The situation is repeated at Aleksandrowice, some 70 km southwest of Kraków, where many ﻿﻿Przeworsk artifacts were excavated (Makiewicz 2002, 106-113, 120). Thus, the Kraków area was well settled and active in the time of Imperial Rome."

"Dates for the Przeworsk Culture in more recent textbooks may be stretched up to the 5th or even 6th c. AD. However, there are no 5th c. Przeworsk settlement strata superimposed on 2nd century Przeworsk settlement strata. The additional three centuries are derived from dates found in coin catalogues. Thus, there is no Przeworsk building evolution over six centuries anywhere. Therefore, Ukraine’s Kiev Culture –– with striking 1st-3rd c. Przeworsk features, too –– that is dated from the 3rd/4th to the 5th/6th century has no strata for the 1st-3rd century but a plain blank (cf. Heinsohn 2015). Thus, for Przeworsk it is either 1st-3rd substance plus a 300 year blank or a 300 year blank plus 4th-6th c. substance but never the two periods on top of each other. Moreover, there are no 8th-10th c. Slavic tribal centers (matching the dendrochronological date of the Krakus Mound) superimposed on Przeworsk settlement strata dated to the 2nd or the 5th century. Therefore, it cannot come as a surprise that Przeworzk material and Early Medieval material, i.e. 2nd and 9th c. material, was mixed together in the Krakus Mound (Buko 2011, 163)."

"This enormous time span is confirmed by two other mounds in Lesser Poland, located close to Sandomierz, where the mix of 700 year apart artifacts can be dated to Imperial Rome (1st c. AD) and the Early Middle Ages (Buko 2011, 166). There can be no doubt about blossoming cultures in Lesser Poland during the 1st-3rd century of Imperial Antiquity."

"The first set of [Roman coins at] Jerzmanowice was discovered in autumn 2005. There were more than 110 denarii, only 8 of them were recorded (from Vespasianus [69-79 AD] to Septimius Severus [193-211 AD]). In spring 2006, the second hoard in Jerzmanowice was dug up (less than 100 meters from the place, where the first set had been found). Until summer 2006, Roman denarii in the number of 78 (from Hadrian [117-138 AD] to Septimius Severus [193-211 AD]) were discovered there" (Dymovski 2007, English abstract).

“Though Mound Krakus of the 8th century ff. is labeled as the “oldest man-made structure in Kraków” the same area has villages blossoming 700 years earlier in the 1st and 2nd centuries that are confirmed by the coin finds of Jerzmanowice, 21 km northwest of Kraków. How, then, is it possible that Kraków’s Castle Hill, the very heart of the city, has to wait for some 700 years to start its role as the future capital of Poland? After all, small finds from the hill also stretch from Imperial Rome, a coin of Emperor Titus (69-81 AD; i.e Przeworsk period) to the Early Middle Ages with a Carolingian belt buckle from the 8th/9th c. Slavic Vistulans (Wiślanie) period (Wawel.Kraków)."

"Late Latène Period whose artifacts are evolutionary continued not only in Przeworsk but also in Early Medieval Tribal Center sites. Stratigraphically, Late Latène immediately precedes Polish Tribal Centers as well as Przeworsk strata, Therefore, Late Latène people must be the Slavic predecessors of 1st c. Przeworskers as well as of 8th c. Poles, making the former Poles, too."

"The situation of a 700-year-gap between Slavs of the 8th century and possible predecessors at their sites is repeated on Poland’s Baltic coast where, e.g., at the 8th/9th Slavic hill fort of Sopot 700 year earlier Roman coins from the 1st/2nd century (Trajan [98- 117 AD] and Antoninus Pius [138-161]) have been found (Sopot 2001). In 8th-10th c. Viking Truso (Jagodziński 2010) coins of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius (161-180) have been excavated (Bogucki 2012, 41 f.). Both sites have no strata for the time between 1 and 700 AD. Therefore, the coins cannot be heirlooms handed from parents to children over many centuries."

"In and around Sopot, altogether 41 sites have been surveyed that jump from the end of Late Latène/Iron Age (1st c. BC) right into Slavic sites of the Early Middle Ages with nothing to show for the 700 years in between (Sopot 2001). Yet, there is hardly any evolution of art over this enormous time span. This is well known because of “analogies observable in the Roman period [1st-3rd c.] and medieval pottery [8th-10th c.]“ (Wołoszyn 2012 after Makiewicz 2005)."

"Whereas written sources referring to Slavs on the Baltic coast are divided over three different periods, Imperial Antiquity (1st-3rd c.), Late Antiquity (4th-6th/7th c.), and the Early Middle Ages (7th/8th-10th c.), archaeology can only confirm the Slavic Tribal Centers of the Early Middle Ages. Thus, the 1st-3rd c. VENEDI-Slavs (Pliny the Elder; Tacitus, and Ptolemy) as well as the 4th-6th c. VENETHI-Slavs (Jordanes) are none other than the 8th-10th c. WEONOD-Slavs (from Alfred the Great’s Voyage of Wulfstan). What was anti-stratigraphically put into a chronological sequence returns back to its archeological contemporaneity."

"The devastation of Rome in the 3rd c. is contemporary with the fires that annihilate the second stage of Wawel’s Early Medieval fortifications at the beginning of the 10th century."

In 1978 radiocarbon dating of Roman Empire piles in England such as the one at left were dated conclusively to AD 684 to 702.

"The Strood causeway to Mersea Island was thought to be Roman, built in the 1st c. AD. It leads to Mersea’s Roman burial mound (barrow) where a typical Roman lead covered box with a no less typical Roman glass urn (tentatively dated between 100 and 120 AD) was retrieved [in the image on the page top left]. Oak piles in typical Roman cut were discovered in 1978. Up to the 1980s it was never doubted that the dam was built by Romans in the 1st c. AD to reach their settlements on the Island."

"Scientific dating methods have been applied to some substantial oak piles discovered beneath the Strood in 1978, when a water-main was being laid. They indicate that the structure was probably built between A.D. 684 and 702. The piles were discovered at the south end of the causeway where the trench was at its deepest—they were about 1.6m below the present ground level and were sealed by a series of road surfaces. Seven piles were recovered and samples were submitted to Harwell laboratory for radiocarbon dating to get a rough idea of the date. Samples from four of the piles were sent to the University of Sheffield for tree ring dating (dendrochronology). The remaining three piles are now in the Colchester and Essex Museum. The dating of the construction to AD 684 to 702 was regarded as conclusive."

"Until 1978 it was thought the causeway had been in use since Roman Times. However radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology of the original foundation timbers gave a felling date of about the year 690. The site of the original Roman road has yet to be determined. The Strood regularly floods especially during spring tides."

"From Ireland to the Black Sea, the winter of 763–64 was so extreme that the normally laconic historical and other records of the mid-eighth century refer abundantly to it and offer exceptional details about it and its consequences. The Irish annalistic tradition records that terrible winter as “a great snowfall which lasted almost three months.”29"

"At 66 ppb, the spike in the GISP2 sulfate deposit on Greenland dated 767 is the highest recorded for the eighth century [in the bottom image on the right] and shows that this terrible winter in Europe and western Asia was connected with a volcanic aerosol that left marked traces on Greenland."

9th century
"Three hundred years [prior to 829 AD, 1171 b2k], it would seem, have left almost no trace in the ground. Truly, it would appear, that these years were indeed dark. Not only did men forget how to build in stone, they seem to have lost the capacity even of creating pottery; and the centuries in England that are generally designated Anglo-Saxon have left little or nothing even in this necessary domestic art. Pottery making does appear again in the tenth century."

"An important British settlement has been found at Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey [...]. Structures have been found dating to the 10th, 8th-9th, and 7th century. The settlement is believed to have been a working farm which also produced goods for export. It included coexisting timber halls and round wattle houses. The 10th century structures are in the Viking style but it is unclear if it was built by Vikings or Britons influenced by Viking culture."

"The excavations discovered numerous foreign goods. A seventh century bird headed Saxon brooch similar to Northumbrian brooches was found at the settlement. The brooch could have been dropped during Edwin's raid on Angelsey in c. 630 or arrived as booty from Cadwallon's raids and occupation of Northumbria from 633-634. The 8th-9th century ring ditch was dated to the early 9th century by radiocarbon analysis and a Northumbrian coin. A large timber hall is also believed to date from the same period.  The 10th century settlement revealed fragments of silver arm bands, leather working tools, hack silver, pottery, coins, and a Viking style whetstone linking the settlement with Hiberno-Norse society."

"Wales fared the Viking years better than most northern regions. The Viking impact on Wales was limited to occasional raids, trading, isolated settlers and perhaps intermarriage with the Welsh but large territories were not lost to the Vikings. Further there is no archaeological evidence that the Vikings established major outposts in Wales."

The "apogee of this settlement occurred in the second half of the 9th and during the 10th century, when the interior contained rectangular long-houses and halls. . . . These developments must be linked to changes in the political and economic fortunes of the area and contact with the trading networks of the Hiberno-Norse world. The archaeological evidence from North Wales thus suggests the existence of pockets of strong contact between the Welsh and Vikings of Dublin and Man, with the adoption of some Viking fashions."

"During the summer, three skeletons were discovered in a roughly built burial pit on the site. Last year, two other skeletons had been discovered in the same burial group. The five skeletons represented three adults, as yet unsexed, and two infants, all dumped in a shallow grave located in a ditch outside the defensive wall of the settlement. The presence of the infants and the disordered array of the bodies suggests they were members of the settlement who were not buried by their families but rather by raiders or invaders. At least one of the victims appears to have had his hands tied behind his back at the time of his death. The adults, ranging in age from 25-35, do not show signs of violent deaths but Redknap suggests that their throats may have been slit, which would not leave a mark on the skeletal remains. The bodies have been radiocarbon dated to 770-950, a timespan that includes the Viking raiding period that began in the 850s. It is being suggested that the Vikings temporarily captured the settlement after a raid. This complicates the analysis of Viking-style artifacts dated to the tenth century found at the site."

"In the Greenland ice-core layers dated to “822 and 823,” GISP2 offers a peak reading of 83 ppb of SO4, the highest sulfate deposit of the ninth century. Because those layers fall within the 2.5 year chronological resolution of the individual strata, they must be considered as reflecting the same event. Even more significantly, a second sulfate peak at 62 ppb occurs in the GISP2 ice layer assigned to “827,” demonstrating that the volcanic aerosol was a multiyear phenomenon [image in 8th century section]. Conceivably, but not necessarily, the entire sequence from 820 to 824 could represent the fluctuations in one long period of some volcano’s activity. In other words, not only is the short interval since the preceding volcanic event and its correlate in the written sources correct within the margin of error of the GISP2 dating at this depth, but so, too, is its duration as a phenomenon of multiple events approximately spanning four years, with a decline in the middle."

"Two remarkably cold winters struck Europe over the period 855–60. Reports from both France and Ireland document the cold and dry winter of 855–56. The winter of 859–60 appears to have been much harsher still, affecting France, Germany, and northern Italy in extreme fashion. The description of celestial phenomena that are consistent with volcanic aerosols in the atmosphere reinforces the link of the 859–60 winter with a volcanic eruption.53"

"Comparison with sulfate sediments in GISP2 strongly suggests that both cold winters reflect volcanic emissions, conceivably, but not necessarily, from one long period of some volcano’s activity [image in the 8th century section]. The ice core provides a strong parallel, with a 68 ppb peak in SO4 in the layer dated to “854” and continuing with a high SO4 level at a maximum of 55 ppb in the layers assigned to “856” and “858.” Because those layers fall within the chronological resolution of individual strata, we consider them as reflecting the same event. Both the historical and glaciochemical records indicate multiyear phenomena."

"An exceptionally long and hard winter [occurred] in western Europe in 873–74 and possibly in Spain and North Africa [...] For “876” GISP2 shows a very steep peak to 70 ppb in SO4 sediment [image at lowest right in 8th century section], signaling a volcanic aerosol deposit on Greenland; the date falls within the ± 2.5 years bracket. In this case, then, the precision of the written sources works to fix the less precise GISP2 chronology."