A number of techniques capable of generating descriptions of data have been developed in the area of Artificial Intelligence. Their suitability for use with a data set compiled to record the details of Anglo-Saxon structures in Britain is considered. An appropriate method which describes the data by means of decision trees is chosen and, after some adaptation, is used to generate descriptions of this data in the form of decision trees. The resulting descriptions compare favourably with interpretations obtained by archaeological analysis.

The Literary Evidence for the use of fetters in the ancient world, both for prisoners of war and slaves, is fairly plentiful and has recently been examined by the writer in preparation for a study of the archaeological evidence for slavery in the ancient world (Thompson 1993). Three well-attested cases of the dedication of fetters in Greek history which have been noticed in passing by translators and commentators (e.g. Rouse 1902, 233), but which have not received in total the attention they deserve, are of particular interest.

In 1985, a stone-built tomb of the second or third centuries AD was found in the Samtavro cemetery on the outskirts of Mtskheta, the ancient capital of the Caucasian kingdom of Iberia. Its rich contents included a Mesopotamian cylinder- and an Achaemenid pyramidal stamp-seal, three sardonyx vessels, several pieces of silver plate bearing Greek and Parthian inscriptions, Roman coins and bronze vessels, and distinctive jewellery inlaid with carnelian and turquoise. The Society of Antiquaries is pleased to offer the hospitality of its pages to its Georgian colleagues

This paper reports excavations in 1977 and 1978 at the chapel and adjoining cemetery of St Patrick's, Heysham, and an architectural survey of the nearby church of St Peter's. The chapel initially comprised a single-celled, stone-built structure, plastered inside and out. Associated with it were pieces of painted plaster, two bearing letters, and, in all probability, a stone carved with a bird's head, perhaps of late seventh- to late eighth-century date. The chapel was subsequently enlarged. One burial included a bone comb of Anglo-Scandinavian type, and calibrated radiocarbon dates for three skeletons range between AD 960 and 1185.

This report was submitted for publication in March 1992.

Bede, writing about St Cuthbert, quotes Psalm 16:10 ‘neither wilt Thou [i.e. God] suffer thine Holy One to see corruption’ (Jaager 1935, 121 line 821; Rollason 1989, 38). It was believed in the medieval west that incorruption of the body after death was a sign of especial sanctity. Ælfric remarked that England was rich in the incorrupt bodies of saints (Skeat 1900, 333 lines 250–63). Bede dwells on the incorruption of St Æthelthryth of Ely (Plummer 1896, i, 245–6, Book iv ch. 1), besides that of St Cuthbert (ibid., 1, 276–7 Book iv ch. 30), and also mentions the incorruption of St Æthelthryth's sister, Æthelberga (ibid., i, 144 Book iii ch. 9), and of St Fursey (ibid., 1, 168 Book iii ch. 19). Felix alleges that the body of St Guthlac of Crowland (died AD 715) was incorrupt (Colgrave 1956, 160–2 ch. 51; see below), and Abbo of Fleury claimed the same distinction for St Edmund, king of East Anglia (AD 841–69; Winterbottom 1972, 82 ch. 14 lines 1–11, 85 ch. 15 lines 58–61).

An examination of at least six views of Lindisfarne Priory dating from the late eighteenth century, at which time most of the nave was still standing, led to the surprising conclusion in an earlier study that the nave was covered by groin vaults. Because of the unequivocal evidence of ribbed vaults in the choir, transept arms and crossing, as well as in the nave aisles, it would be expected that the form of the nave vault was the same. Since the evidence provided by the early views has been greeted with some scepticism, this study documents the collapse and restoration of the nave during the nineteenth century, closely examines the only two points at which the springing of the former nave vault is preserved, and, finally, considers the continued use of groin vaults in England after the appearance of ribbed vaults at Durham Cathedral, c. 1093–-1100. None of these further investigations produced any evidence that contradicts the conclusions based on the early views as initially presented, nor does a consideration of other views from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, during which time the nave elevations were gradually collapsing. Whether ‘logical’ or not, the nave of Lindisfarne was covered by groin vaults. This finding leads to the suggestion that groin vaults, not ribbed vaults, may have been used over the choir of Durham.

This paper was submitted for publication in November 1992.

The chapter house (figs, i, 2) is the most puzzling of the buildings that survive at Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire — the Cistercians's first foundation in the north of England. A reconstruction based on the ruined remains shows a two storey interior supported on cylindrical columns, lower flanking aisles, and an apsed termination with a hemicycle and surrounding ambulatory (figs. 3, 4). No other chapter house in England or France shares these features. As a consequence the building has been ignored in the literature for the most part, or drawn criticism on account of its divergence from Cistercian norms. Gardner (1976, 106 n. 103), for example, in his wide-ranging study of English chapter houses categorized it as ‘bizarre’ and Gilyard-Beer (1978, 34) judged it a ‘remarkable lapse’ from Cistercian austerity. Yet the building merits greater attention. It survives as the oldest example in England of a Cistercian chapter house, a building type which, except for the conventual church, ranked as the most important in the entire monastic complex. Moreover, the visible remains can be dated to the brilliant rule of Rievaulx's third abbot, Ælred (1146–67), the pre-eminent pastoral master and spiritual writer of the High Middle Ages in Britain, under whom the community grew to the largest in the country with 640 men. Ælred's role as patron raises important questions, therefore, about the building's sources and meaning.

St Mary's Abbey, York was one of the richest Benedictine monasteries in the country and its buildings reflected its wealth and status. The quality of its architectural remains is of the highest order, and the collection of medieval sculpture from the site is outstanding. Indeed, the set of life-size column-figures brought to light in 1829 must count as one of the most exciting discoveries ever made in the field of the history of sculpture in this country. Nor is the later history of the site any less interesting. At the Dissolution it became the seat of the King's Council in the North and acquired the name of King's Manor, which part of the complex retains to this day. The principal monastic buildings came down within a few years, and their demolition can be followed in considerable detail, as we shall see; but the centuries of Crown ownership prevented the division of the property until the nineteenth century, and it remains one of the best-preserved urban (albeit extra-mural) monastic precincts in Britain.