Monastic Magic and Healing

Abstract

The dataset was created during research for Professor Roberta Gilchrist’s Rhind Lectures in 2017 and subsequent publication on Sacred Heritage (R. Gilchrist, 'Sacred Heritage and Monastic Archaeology: Interpreting Medieval Identities and Beliefs', Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). The Rhind Lectures are hosted annually by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Part of this research concentrated on establishing the range of archaeological evidence for magic and healing practices from later medieval monastic and church contexts in Scotland (c. 1000 AD – c. 1600 AD). This was collected from published excavation reports and from Historic Environment Scotland’s Canmore Database, and was recorded in a Microsoft Access database. Evidence was chosen for inclusion in the database based on current understandings of medieval magic and healing, and the potential forms this could take in the archaeological record. It is comprised of burials, objects and environmental data, such as medicinal plant remains, amulets, evidence for surgery and pathology on human skeletal remains. This is the first regional synthesis of the archaeology of magic and healing from medieval Scotland and marks a first step towards understanding this under-researched area of archaeology.