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Accepted Paper:

The past in the past at the Pillar of Eliseg  
Howard Williams (University of Chester)

Paper short abstract:

Based on new research and fieldwork by ‘Project Eliseg’, a new interpretation of the prehistory and history of the Pillar of Eliseg is presented that questions recent approaches to the past in the past linking monumentality and memory.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing on recent research and fieldwork by 'Project Eliseg' (a collaborative recent venture by Nancy Edwards and Gary Robinson of Bangor University together with Dai Morgan Evans and Howard Williams of the University of Chester), I suggest a new interpretation of the prehistory, life-history and afterlife of the Pillar of Eliseg. This ninth-century fragment of stone sculpture is situated near Llangollen in North Wales upon what seems a far-older mound and utilises a range of sophisticated commemorative technologies to promote the myths and genealogies of the kings of Powys. Subsequently, the monument attracted later medieval religious devotion, antiquarian interest and has become a heritage attraction.

Superficially, the Pillar of Eliseg might be regarded as an instance of the long-term link between myth, memory and monumentality where archaeology can traces 'persistent memories' through the 'biography' of the monument over the centuries. I aim to illustrate that such an approach would be an intellectual fallacy that conceals not only our fragmentary knowledge of the monument but also evidence that can be clearly interpreted to the contrary. My reading of the Pillar of Eliseg reveals that this classic instance of the persistent linkage of myth, memory and monumentality is more profitably interpreted in a contrary manner. This in turn leads us into new terrain for understanding the social and political nature of both remembering and forgetting through material culture with implications for both prehistoric and historical archaeologies.

Panel S08
'Memories can't wait' - memory, myth, place and long-term landscape inhabitation
  Session 1