documented sources across much of northern and western Europe. In ceramics, the use of thin sections has been effective in identifying clay sources and trade patterns, and x-ray florescence and other analytical techniques have also been applied.

In some regions and countries, medieval archaeology has only developed as an activity with a separate identity in recent decades. A good example of this is Italy, where apart from nineteenth-century interests associated with major ruins, the Roman past was the dominant concern. The full development of medieval archaeology there has come about through a few significant academics and opportunities for rescue archaeology, and the publication of the national periodical Archeologia Medievale since 1974 has provided a vehicle for much innovative and important work. An even later start can be identified in Spain. Although some aspects were developed in the early part of the century, it was the foundation of the Spanish Association of Medieval Archaeology in 1980 that defined the subject, with Acta Medievalia being published from that year. Since 1985, a biennial conference has been held in Spain, and Boletin de Arqueologia Medieval has appeared since 1987.

The increasing European identity of medieval archaeology, confidence in its intellectual integrity, and the development of wide-ranging research themes have been manifested by several relatively recent developments. One initiative was the establishment of the European Symposium for Teachers of Medieval Archaeology, first held in Lund, Sweden, in 1990 and held regularly since. Another was the innovative international conference Medieval Europe held in york, England, in 1992. With a series of seven parallel thematic sessions, each headed by keynote papers, case studies and overviews were offered from all over Europe. A subsequent medieval Europe conference was held in Bruges, Belgium, again with major thematic strands, and it demonstrated the expanding and increasingly sophisticated nature of medieval archaeology.

As yet there is no substantial Europe-wide synthesis of early or late medieval archaeology, and even national syntheses have only recently appeared in a few countries. Medieval archaeology is a young aspect of archaeology in its present form, and a great deal was achieved in the last half on the twentieth century, but it is in the twenty-first century that it will mature into a coherent and fully confident section of the discipline.

Harold Mytum

See also

Novgorod

References

Andersson, H., and J. Wienberg, eds. 1993. The Study of Medieval Archaeology: European Symposium for Teachers of Medieval Archaeology, Lund, 11–15 June 1990. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell International.

Barley, M. W., ed. 1977. European Towns: Their Archaeology and Early History. London: Academic Press.

Fehring, G. 1991. The Archaeology of Medieval Germany, an Introduction. London: Routledge.

Klindt-Jensen, O. 1975. A History of Scandinavian Archaeology. London: Thames and Hudson.

Renaud, J.G. N., ed. Rotterdam Papers: A Contribution to Medieval Archaeology. Rotterdam: ROB.

Melanesia

See Papua New Guinea and Melanesia

Mercati, Michele

(1541–1593)

Although Greek and Roman writers had been aware that some people had made and used stone tools, this knowledge was lost during the Dark Ages after the fall of Rome. It was rediscovered during the Renaissance as scholars began to have access to ancient documents and to question medieval oral and written knowledge.

Michele Mercati was superintendent of the Vatican Botanical Gardens in Rome and physician to Pope Clement VII. He also created one of the first mineralogical collections in Europe, which distinguished between minerals and metals in its display. A contemporary of the antiquarians william camden, johan bure, and ole worm, Mercati was interested in new interpretations of evidence rather than the acceptance of traditional explanations of it. And like them, too, he was interested in chorology and geography.