Accumulating Kingship: the archaeology of elite assembly in medieval Scotland

In this paper the archaeological evidence for pre-eminent elite assemblies in medieval Scotland is explored. The paper presents the first accurate reconstructed layout of an important medieval royal complex at Scone in Scotland. A chronological framework for the royal assembly mound is discussed in relation to new dating evidence. Evidence for augmentation and enclosure of the mound is highlighted to illustrate how managed adaptations of space may have been used to organize and change the performative and political functions of temporary elite gatherings. These new results are compared with examples of royal space from western Europe, citing similarities with imperial Carolingian models that were rooted in late antique architectures of governance. Abbreviations: PoMS: Beam, A., J. Bradley, D. Broun, J. R. Davies, M. Hammond, M. Pasin (with others). 2012. The People of Medieval Scotland, 1093 - 1314. Glasgow and London. www.poms.ac.uk [accessed 30 May 2018]. RPS: Brown, K. M. et al. (eds). 2007-2017. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707. University of St Andrews, http://www.rps.ac.uk [accessed November 2017].