Landscapes across Europe were transformed, both physically and conceptually, as a result
of the conversion to Christianity and the development of ecclesiastical structures during the
early medieval period. This interdisciplinary conference will seek to illuminate this process
through case studies of particular landscapes. Speakers will consider a range of settlement and
ritual/burial sites as well as territorial divisions and routeways in order to explore where and how
people chose, or were obliged, to live, worship and be buried and how this changed over time.
Some papers will focus on the initial process of conversion while others will also consider
changes in the nature of people's relationships with ecclesiastical sites and structures over the
course of the period.T he conference forms part of the Making Christian
Landscapes Project (funded by the Heritage Council
through the INSTAR programme) and is the 2012 annual
conference of the Society for Church Archaeology. It is
organised by the Archaeology Department, University
College Cork, the School of Historical Studies, Classics
and Archaeology, University of Newcastle, and the
Society for Church Archaeology.