Methodological Reflections and Theoretical Perspectives on Analysing Church and Cemetery Finds

Abstract

Archaeological investigations of the ground beneath church floors and cemeteries have un-covered extensive and varied artefactual material. Based on individual studies of four types of artefacts – coins, sticks with incised notches, dolls and hazel rods – in which the social signif-icance of the artefacts and their association with the church area are analysed and discussed, this article aims primarily to develop an overall perspective on this thematic field. This is done by summarizing my applied methods and analytical results from the individual studies, con-ducting a comparison with other and more recent research and placing all these elements in a larger theoretical perspective. Christopher Tilley’s concept of materiality, Alfred Gell’s agency theory and Jonathan Z. Smith’s place theory are used as theoretical inputs.