Whithorn's Early Medieval Sculptured Stones

惠索恩被称为“苏格兰基督教的摇篮”，也是苏格兰最早的基督教手工艺品的所在地，这是五世纪的“拉丁”刻石。它以与圣尼尼安的联系而闻名，是英国早期基督教的主要中心之一。这所英国修道院在爱尔兰以圣徒学校而闻名，但在7世纪惠索恩成为诺森伯兰郡主教的所在地和朝圣中心后被取代。在20世纪80年代和90年代的重大考古发掘中，它作为诺森伯兰时期和随后的北欧时代重要而富有的制造业和贸易中心的作用得到了新的认识。每一个阶段都在惠索恩的雕塑记录中留下了痕迹。有64座纪念碑来自惠特森本身，另外17座来自附近的隐密遗址圣尼尼安洞穴，还有大约30件独特的“惠特森学派”风格的作品在当地其他地方发现，但几乎可以肯定是在惠特森自己的车间里制作的。这一大批早期基督教雕塑，是英国最重要的雕塑之一，以包括拉丁文和盎格鲁符文的铭文而闻名。这些材料的年代范围从5世纪到12世纪/是不列颠群岛最长的连续序列/但在这个范围内，几乎90%的纪念碑可以追溯到一个狭窄的年代：10世纪和11世纪。这恰好是惠索恩的历史文献完全缺乏的时期，因此，尽管雕塑在所有时期都为其他形式的证据提供了重要的平衡，但在这个后期，它对我们理解惠索恩的发展至关重要。在地区方面，德里克·克雷格发表的“惠索恩学派”雕塑作品展示了它是如何体现一个主要的教会中心与其附属机构之间的权力关系，以及世俗和教会当局之间的权力关系。因为它包含了非常多的来自一个高度独特的当地风格的工作室的近当代纪念碑，惠索恩收藏提供了一个前所未有的机会来分析雕塑生产的组织和技能的传播。我对惠特thorn早期铭刻纪念碑的研究使我成为苏格兰历史（HS）的学术顾问，参与了一个保护和重新展示惠特thorn雕塑的重大项目。我花了18个月的时间在一个创新的工作安排上（2003-4）。我能够借鉴德里克·克雷格以前未发表的关于出处和风格的作品，以及新委托的关于地质学和符文铭文的专家报告。除了整理现有资料外，我还贡献了大量自己的原创工作，包括对出处和历史背景的进一步研究，以及对十字形状、装饰和铭文的分析。结果是一份未发表的研究报告，这是他们解释策略的基础。我还为博物馆的展板提供文字，为视听解说提供脚本。该博物馆于2005年7月开放，代表了这项研究的广泛传播。然而，至关重要的是，它以学术出版物的形式结出进一步的果实。我打算利用我的研究假期完成一个关于惠索恩及其腹地中世纪早期雕塑的文集。我得到了利益攸关方机构的支持和包括克雷格博士在内的专家贡献者的同意。HS将提供照片和图纸，并承诺提供出版资助。基础研究已经到位，我的任务将是把已经收集到的原材料汇集在一起，并以目录的形式呈现。大部分的分析和引论章节的框架已经存在于我未发表的报告中。因为这个项目是如此的先进，我有信心，剩余的工作可以在拟议的时间范围内完成。

Whithorn is known as the 'cradle of Scottish Christianity' and is home to the earliest Christian artefact from Scotland, the fifth century 'Latinus' inscribed stone. Famous for its connection with St Ninian, it was one of the key centres of early Christianity in Britain. The British monastery, renowned in Ireland as a school for saints, was superseded in the seventh century when Whithorn became the seat of a Northumbrian bishopric and a centre of pilgrimage. Major archaeological excavations in 1980s and 90s threw new light on its role as an important and wealthy manufacturing and trading centre in this Northumbrian period and in the subsequent Norse era.Each of these phases has left its trace in the sculptural record at Whithorn. There are about 64 monuments from Whithorn itself, a further 17 from a nearby eremitic site, St Ninian's Cave, and about 30 pieces in a distinctive 'Whithorn School' style found elsewhere in the local region but almost certainly produced in a workshop at Whithorn itself. This large collection of early Christian sculpture, one of the most significant in Britain, is notable for including several inscriptions, in both Latin and in Anglian runes. The material ranges in date from the 5th to 12th centuries/the longest continuous sequence in the British Isles/yet within this range almost 90% of the monuments date to a narrow chronological period: the 10th and 11th centuries. This happens to be the period when historical documentation for Whithorn is entirely lacking and so, while the sculpture provides an important counterweight to other forms of evidence in all periods, in this later period it is crucial to our understanding of Whithorn's development. In regional terms, Derek Craig's published work on the 'Whithorn School' sculpture has shown how it manifests relationships of power between a major ecclesiastical centre and its dependants, and between secular and ecclesiastical authorities. Because it includes an exceptionally large number of near contemporary monuments from a single workshop in a highly distinctive local style, the Whithorn collection presents an unprecedented opportunity to analyse the organisation of sculpture production and the transmission of skills.My work on the early inscribed monuments from Whithorn led to my involvement as academic consultant to Historic Scotland (HS) on a major project to conserve and re-display the Whithorn sculpture. I spent 18 months on the project in an innovative working arrangement (2003-4). I was able to draw on previous unpublished work by Derek Craig on provenance and style, and on newly commissioned specialist reports on geology, and runic inscriptions. In addition to marshalling existing data I contributed substantial original work of my own, including further work on provenance and historical context, and analysis of cross form, decoration and inscriptions. The result was an unpublished research report to HS which formed the basis of their interpretative strategy. I also provided text for panels in the museum and script for audio-visual interpretation. The museum opened in July 2005 and represents the popular dissemination of this research. It is vital, however, that it bear further fruit in the form of an academic publication. I propose to spend my research leave completing a corpus of the early Medieval Sculpture from Whithorn and its hinterland. I have the support of stakeholder institutions and agreement from specialist contributors, including Dr Craig. HS will provide photographs and drawings and have pledged a publication grant. The basic research is already in place, and my task will be to draw together the raw material already gathered and present it in catalogue format. Much of the analysis and the framework for the introductory chapters exists already in my unpublished report. Because the project is thus far advanced I am confidentthat the remaining work can be completed within the proposed time-scale.