In accessible language and compelling prose, Roberta Gilchrist applies a substantial corpus of archaeological evidence and anthropological theory on material culture to the social construction of the medieval life from c. 1050 to 1540. This book is essential reading for medievalists already working with material evidence, and provides an elegant example for historians and religious scholars of all periods interested ... Read morein how material theory can shape their own projects.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW
A significant book that has potential to open new areas of study and to bring innovative approaches to a wide audience of medievalists from different disciplines.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, vol. 170
Gilchrist draws from an impressively wide range of evidence with skill. The volume is a detailed interrogation of the personal objects that furnished Medieval life [and] as a result it is a notable contribution to a growing body of complex interdisciplinary social archaeologies.
CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY
A vital and innovative contribution to our understanding of how medieval people interacted with and comprehended the world they inhabited. . [It] is an exemplary model of interdisciplinary history.
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY HISTORY
If you prefer your medieval studies written with sustained brilliance, elegant, concise prose and frequently ravishing insight, then this is the book for you.
MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY
This important book is well written and supports every conjecture with evidence and citations. By organizing the book along thematic questions as opposed to categories of objects, Gilchrist gives a stimulating new perspective on the interdisciplinary topic of life cycles in medieval England.
MEDIEVAL REVIEW
This is an important book. The scope of the work is impressive [and] the presentation is excellent.
ANTIQUITY
A very original work of analysis and synthesis. [...] An unusual, and unusually interesting study.
NORTHERN HISTORY
Vivid and rich in humanity. [...] For anyone who wishes to sense what being medieval meant, it is a key text.
BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGY
The great merit of Roberta Gilchrist's volume is that it shows us a past that was infinitely more complicated, and often complicated by people whose voices have left no articulate trace.
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
A wonderful bringing-together of archaeology with standard history.
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