The Beginnings of Reading and Writing in Scotland

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In modern times education is almost synonymous with Scottishness, but where did it all begin? This project would draw together and evaluate material and textual evidence of the first centuries of literacy in Scotland/northern Britain. Its aim would be to address key questions concerning the extent of literacy (and whether it was confined to monastic circles), the character and function of literacy (including conditions governing the use of inscriptions), and the 'economics' of literacy - how, in practical terms, a literate culture was maintained and resourced. The overarching aim would be to arrive at a nuanced understanding of the implications for Scotland of the introduction of literacy in the middle of the first millennium AD.The evidence relating to early literacy in Scotland has been intensively studied, of course, in order to address linguistic and epigraphic questions and to help date the conversion and christianization of the country. However, there are broader social and cultural questions yet to be addressed, which relate to, and require the mobilization of material evidence concerning the extent, the functions, and the economic 'footprint' of literacy. These questions would be a major concern of the project, and would involve going beyond inscriptions themselves to undertake holistic examination of inscribed objects as objects. Allied with sensitive and close reading of textual evidence, the project would aim to understand the beginnings of reading and writing in Scotland as a social, economic, and cultural phenomenon.Key aspects of the project would include:(1) case studies from the corpus of surviving inscribed monuments, with an eye for what they show/imply about the value and function(s) of public displays of writing and about audience reception and education. The implications of word choice, monumental form, layout, choice of language, choice of script and 'visual impact' (the relationship between object and viewer) would all merit consideration as factors which potentially reveal things about target audiences and the reception of writing in different social 'registers', as well as its generation/production.(2) drawing together the evidence provided by texts concerning literacy, its extent, and its role. There is a surprising amount of such evidence, albeit fragmentary and uneven, relating for example to the extent of literacy among kings/princes and the functions and power of written as against oral testimony. Although material culture would be central to the project, its success would depend in no small part on the effective and sophisticated marshalling of texts according to current standards of textual criticism.(3) case-study analysis of graffiti, cave etchings, and inscribed portable items, or a relevant selection of such 'vulgar' manifestations of literacy. Manifestations of writing at different levels of sophistication and complexity have been examined in other contexts for clues about the overall health and vitality of literate culture (for example Ward-Perkins's work on 'the end of civilization' at the close of late Antiquity). Moreover, contextualizing the use of text on objects by studying the relationship between it and objects' other features (e.g. decoration), or by exploring why some objects are inscribed and others of similar form (or from the same site) are not, or by comparing use of text with use of other technologies of communication (e.g. symbols), may lead to greater understanding of the function of inscriptions on particular object types and the overall significance of literacy.(4) drawing together evidence relating to vellum and ink production, individual styli, wax tablets, and the technology and techniques of inscribed monuments, in order to reflect on the 'economics' of literacy - the extent to which there was, as it were, a literacy 'industry' which made a 'foot