- The Early Medieval period was characterised by a hierarchical society, with marked differences in social status. The roots of this had its origins in the preceding Iron Age, where social differentiation appears to have been marked by the development of monumental roundhouse types like brochs, scooped settlements and crannogs, whose occupiers were able to acquire exotic items of material culture from the occupying Romans. As Roman influence waned, these monumental forms appear to have fallen out of use as those who built them lost power and status. This decline appears to have been a short-lived hiatus, with the contrast between the richest and most powerful members of society and the poorest becoming increasingly marked and entrenched by the Early Medieval period. This, of course, would have impacted how people lived their daily lives and how they viewed their place in the wider world.
- Evidence for this contrast comes primarily from the contemporary epic literature and historical annals. These suggest that following the withdrawal of the Roman legions, local leaders jostled for political and military supremacy, becoming warlords who in some cases were elevated to kinghood. The kingdom of Strathclyde had its royal centre at Dumbarton, to the north and east of our region on the north bank of the Clyde, while debate still continues about the extent of the kingdom of Rheged, with a powerful case put forward for the possibility that its heartlands may have been in Galloway, at Dunragit.
- Some hillfort sites – in particular the nucleated forts like Trusty’s Hill, Mote of Mark, and – potentially – Dundonald functioned as high status sites where elite individuals resided on either a permanent or peripatetic basis. At the top of the hierarchy was the warlord or chieftain (who might potentially be a king) and his family, served by members of their household and retainers. The warlord would be expected to be a visible protector to his community, settling disputes, maintaining order and responding to any border infiltrations. His retinue would require strong fighters – warriors – but also a variety of craftsmen who could convey the right impression of wealth and power. So far, all the evidence obtained from texts and grave finds suggests that these figures of authority were men, which marks a step away from the Iron Age, where females have occasionally been found buried with chariots and weaponry, suggesting that they enjoyed a similar status.
- Material culture also played an important role in supporting these claims to power and authority. Status might be maintained through the acquisition and perhaps redistribution of exotic items obtained from far distant lands, often linked with the Roman or Mediterranean world. But it may have been equally important for a leader to have skilled artisans amongst their retinue who could produce fine objects in distinct artistic styles that were familiar to their particular community and valued by them, too. Playing an important role in this respect were metalworkers skilled in producing fine decorative ornaments like the Hunterston Brooch. They might work variously in gold, silver or copper alloy. Evidence for other forms of craft production has also been recovered from these high-status sites, with iron working (smithing and smelting), antler and leather working, and also glass working all represented. Judging by the quality of these items, it is possible that some people were supported within the community so they could spend a significant part of their daily lives in specialist roles. Perhaps they might even have been sent elsewhere as part of a high-level gift exchange between elites, resulting in the intermingling of artistic traditions which is apparent in objects like the Hunterston brooch.
- In addition to the artisans, there were also specialists with more intangible qualities. These included the bards who could weave epic stories about the exploits of their leaders. Women, too, would have played an important though potentially intangible role in their communities. Senior and high-ranking women in particular – especially those linked to the lord or chieftain through marriage or close kinship – would have been responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the household.
- While it might be inferred that these high-status women of the chieftain’s house (and perhaps his retinue) would have spent much of their time spinning wool and weaving yarn into cloth, there is no evidence, to date, that this was indeed the case. Spindle whorls – which played a crucial role in transforming wool into yarn – still only occur in very small numbers across the region, and they are invariably recovered from the vicinity of religious communities with links to the Anglian or Northumbrian conquest of the region. This suggests that it was a more specialised practice that was fairly restricted in its distribution.
- Maintaining an elite household – held together through gift-giving and acts of conspicuous consumption like feasting – would have required resources, and it would have been down to the rest of the community to provide those resources. The wider community would have been composed primarily of farmers, whose daily lives revolved around the agricultural cycle. They would have practised a mixed agricultural regime, producing arable crops and raising livestock, passing a portion on to the king and his household in return for protection.
- It is likely that individuals embedded within these agricultural communities would have engaged in the production of the day-to-day items required for everyday life to function properly. Individuals skilled in ironworking, leather, wood and bone-antler working– all would have played an important role in keeping local communities well supplied. It is likely, however, that these more specialised roles would have been undertaken on a supplementary basis, perhaps as a seasonal task, with agriculture still figuring prominently in their lives. Evidence of such small-scale industrial activities can be found at several sites across the region. These include the large bloomery site at Glenlee and the iron-smelting hearth at Blairhall Burn. The hearth at Blairhall Burn was identified close to a contemporary settlement, with similar activities hinted at in the chunks of heated soil – or ‘cramp – recovered during developer-led works at Balmaghie. It is entirely possible that some wealthier individuals – whether they had improved their fortunes through skilled craft production or other means – may have used enslaved persons for the most laborious and menial tasks. Slavery is something which we know was practised amongst the Anglians and the Hiberno-Norse, but it could also, potentially, have been occurring amongst the native British population.
- The hierarchical structure evident in secular society at the time was mirrored in the nascent ecclesiastical establishments that were developing in the region. Here we had a centralised centre of power presided over by a Bishop, with Whithorn arguably the best known example. Smaller churches operated throughout the wider area, ensuring that the Bishop was represented across the various communities within the mother church’s territory. The accepted hierarchical world was also represented physically at Whithorn itself, in the site’s use of space. The church itself occupied the highest levels, with the lay population living on lower ground. The most low-lying, poorly drained ground was occupied by less substantial housing, which led the excavators to suggest that the people who lived there were probably the poorest members of the community.
- While the hierarchical social structure remained consistent throughout the period, the character of the political elite changed as succeeding waves of migration impacted across the region. Reference to literary sources suggests the presence of people from native British, Irish, Pictish, Anglian, and Hiberno-Norse backgrounds, with a native British elite supplanted by Anglians from Northumbria. The Anglians, in turn, were displaced by a wave of Hiberno-Norse. To some extent, this is borne out archaeologically. Excavations have supported the possibility that certain high-status secular sites – like the Mote of Mark and Trusty’s Hill – were re-used by the Anglians after an earlier phase of native British occupation,
- Some degree of cultural distinction appears to have been maintained between these various groups. This is occasionally expressed through language. For example, Anglian runes feature in association with Latin script (used by the native British) on the Ruthwell Cross. More widely, cultural difference manifests through art, with good examples of fine metalwork and sculptured stones in particular occurring throughout the region. At the same time, some degree of cultural interaction is inferred through artistic traditions expressed in stone-carving and non-ferrous metalworking. Some examples of this interaction include the Hunterston brooch and the carved stones of Whithorn and Ruthwell. Stephen Harrison has also argued that the iron shield bosses recovered from Norse burials, falling within a group he terms the ‘Irish Sea’ form, demonstrate that some members of the Norse community were buried with an Anglo-Saxon form of shield boss, suggesting some degree of cross-cultural affinity. These shield bosses tend to show wear and breakage consistent with battle damage, which led Harrison to argue that they were probably actively used by the deceased prior to death (Harrison 2000).
- Of the various groups whose presence is inferred across the region, the Picts appear most elusive. The carved Pictish beast at Trusty’s Hill was initially viewed with scepticism and dismissed as a later forgery, but excavations undertaken on the site in 2012 confirmed it was a genuine Pictish carving. The excavators postulated some kind of link with the indigenous native British occupants of the region, with Trusty’s Hill perhaps forming a royal centre within the Kingdom of Rheged. There have even been suggestions that the Pictish beast at Trusty’s Hill is comparable with the celebrated Pictish carving of a bull at Dunadd in Argyll (Toolis and Bowles 2013, 47).
- The use of Pictish iconography has also been inferred on the Hunterston Brooch, an impressive piece of metalwork attributed to a metalworker working according to the Hiberno-Norse artistic tradition. A recent interpretation of the object by Alice Blackwell has proposed that the two animals which face one another across the terminals could in fact represent religious iconography, namely the presence of God in the space between two living things (Blackwell 2011). This form of iconography is used elsewhere by the Picts, who never depict God as a physical living being.
- Finally, any discussion about day-to-day life in the region must consider the fascinating insights into health and wellbeing that are now coming to light. The excavation of human remains under modern archaeological conditions at both Mountfode and Whithorn means that some understanding is now being made of how people lived and died at this time.
- At Mountfode, there was evidence of tooth loss due to abscesses and also some evidence of dental caries from the limited human remains that survived (Henderson 2009), amongst a group of 18 individuals who used the cemetery for over a century (Hatherley 2009, 209). The excavations at Whithorn have also revealed some indications of pathologies – including one with a cleft palate and another with an apparent indication of fracture of the tibiale, or ‘navicular’ bone in the heel, potentially indicative of flat feet – identified by Amanda Cardy (Cardy 1998).
- The excavation of human remains at Whithorn have also provided exciting insights into the individuals who lived and died at the monastic settlement. Through the use of state-of-the-art scientific techniques, it has been possible to learn more about the different lives and origins of those buried at the site. The methods used included the analysis of strontium levels and oxygen isotopes. Both are affected by diet and can vary markedly according to where a person spent their childhood and early adult years.
- The burials at Whithorn could be divided into a group of lower-status males who had originated locally. They appeared to have consumed more meat in their diet compared with a small number of males who could be identified as Bishops. These individuals had consumed a larger quantity of marine foods in their diet, although it is possible that some of these changes in diet may have reflected chronological differences (Műldner et al. 2009, 1125). Some individuals also appeared to have had origins outside the locality, perhaps from an inland area further to the east or from northeast Ireland (Montgomery et al. 2009). These men were – the investigators argued – more likely to be clerics, who had been raised on a better and more varied diet and who had travelled further than the lower status males in their lives, suggesting a greater degree of social mobility (Műldner et al. 2009). A female from the same site may have travelled even farther still, revealing results that suggested she had spent significant time in warmer, more southerly latitudes (Montgomery et al. 2009).