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

Abstract

Clonmacnoise 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.