Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association

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JAEMA is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal specialising in the history of the early medieval period - from late antiquity to the early eleventh century. https://aema.org.au/journal/

The late antique and early medieval periods were, like our own, was full of faces. Some faces of rulers, clergy, saints and villains, were recognisable locally and regionally. Other faces were relegated to obscurity but nonetheless left their marks in the literary and material records. Faces could be metaphorical, others literal. A pious public face might be presented to obscure a more sordid private life, or a face of foolishness to obscure secrets. Some faces were remembered and depicted through imagination and tradition, reflecting local practices of memory. Faces in art could convey emotion and spirituality, virtue and vice, while faces in manuscript illuminations could shape the visualisation of the reader, transforming the understanding of characters in a text. In keeping with the inclusive spirit of AEMA's annual international conferences, submissions may equally contain an absence of faces, as long as the submission is centred on the early medieval period (c. 400-1100 CE) in any geographical location or its reception in later contexts or media. Please submit your abstract for a standard 20-1ninute paper to aemaconference2026@gmail.com by 31 July 2026. Each proposal should include: the presenter(s), their academic affiliation(s) (if applicable), paper title, an abstract of 150-250 words, a short presenter(s) biography of 50 words, preferred mode of presentation (in-person or online), including the timezone if online. Graduate and ECR AEMA members presenting in person may apply for a limited number of modest travel bursaries. We also strongly encourage all prospective presenters to consider submitting a full version of their paper to our journal, JAEMA, for a themed issue in 2027. aemaconference2026@gmail.com
The mosaic portraits of Justinian I and Empress Theodora, from Ravenna
An Peruvian (Moche, I think?) mask from c600 CE
Fans fill a third century Ampitheatre to watch the world cup
Uzbek fans in historical armour
England fans in Crusader cosplay
A Scottish fan in Viking costume
Norweigan fans dressed as vikings
Norwegian fans rowing in a stadium following a victory at the World Cup.
A photo collage of various Latin American fans in pre-Columbian inspired costumes
A Peruvian fan dressed as the Sapa Inca arrives at a World Cup game in Mexico on a palanquin.
A Tufi menhir depicting a human face, and a Condorhausi offering plate in an anthropomorphic form.
Detail of a Visigothic column capital, from an 8th century church in Zaragoza, San Pedro de la Nave. The column depicts God's intervention during the Binding of lsaac episode from Genesis 22:1-19
Menkov Donyerth Ruw (King Doniert's Stone) is the remains of a 9th century stone cross near St Cleer on Bodmin Moor.
The remains of the tenth century Chateaux of Les Baux-de-Provence.
Artefacts from the La Ciénaga (left) and La Candelaria (right) cultures of early medieval Argentina
The Chessel Down brooch, early sixth century, discovered in a woman's grave on the Isle of Wight. It presents both Scandinavian and Roman influence.
The Cañada de Los Gatos site, on the Canary Islands
a funerary urn from the Aristé culture, c800–1200
Detail from the Basel Antependium, made in 1019 as a gift from Holy Roman Emperor St Henry II and his wife, St Cunigunde of Luxembourg.
The Ruins of Quilmes, in northwestern Argentina
La Tolita shaman statue
Detail of coins found in the Vale of York hoard, interred in the 10th century. This hoard includes coins from as far afield as Afghanistan.
Detail of a bucket discovered in the Osberg Ship burial, ninth century. The Osberg Ship burial was for two women.
Pre-Columbian La Tolita culture sculpture depicting a human-jaguar transformation, c 400 CE
The gold and garnet sword hilt and scabbard ornamentation of Childric I, found in his grave at Tournai
A sixth century Visigothic eagle fibula brooch, discovered at Badajoz, Spain.
Visigothic ring, discovered in Toulouse, dating to the sixth century
Charles Martel, who defeated the armies of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ghāfiqī at Tours. Here seen in a 14th century miniature, Grandes Chroniques de France. Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. fr. 2615, fol. 72.
The start of the 1,200 step staircase that leads to the Ciudad Perdida.
A detail from the Löhningen Disc, discovered in a seventh century grave. It is thought that the central figure of the disc represents Odin.
One of the many mausoleums in the Fatimid cemetery of Aswan (9th 10th century)
A long distance photo of the Pucará de Tilcara, whose earliest elements date to c1000CE
Necklaces found as part of elite Merovingian female grave goods, c 500. Some beads in burials in Belgium have been found to have originated in India.
A piece of Mimbres black-on-white pottery, c 1000–1250. This piece is decorated with a stylised bat and geometric patterns on its wings.
The Church of Santa María del Naranco, originally constructed as a palace by Ramiro Iof Asturias in 842, before becoming a church in the twelfth century.
An 11th century fragment of architectural decoration, found at the Palácio das Varandas of Silves, Portugal. It shows a stylized vine and palmette decoration common to early medieval lberia.
Detail of the Bayeux Tapestry, showing a man with an arrow in his eye, traditionally understood to be Harold Godwinson. Medieval sources disagree with the popular belief that Harold was killed by an arrow through the eye.
A Remojadas "Smiling Man", or "Sonrientes", figure, c seventh-eighth century CE. These figures are particularly unusual as emotion is rarely depicted in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican art.
The sixth century Åkur buckle, with Norse-Germanic animal motifs and embedded garnets surrounding a man's face.
A phallic Marajoara figurine from the early medieval period (c400–1200), which some argue represents the importance of a female mythical ancestor in Marajoara culture
Archaeologists working in the forecourt of Notre Dame cathedral following the devastating fire of 2019. In June of this year, a number of intact pottery jugs and early medieval graves were discovered.
A Chané site, known as El Fuerte de Samaipata, occupied by Bolivian Chané from c 350 until they were conquered by the Inca in the late 15th and early 16th century. The Inca used the site as a provincial capital
The ruins of the Gate of Sijilmassa (founded 757CE), an important stopping point on the trans-Saharan trade routes.
An antler effigy comb, one of the oldest discovered thus far, from the Lawson Village site. This site is Iroquoian (c 1500); it is thought that the Point Peninsula peoples were the ancestors of the Iroquoian people.
Koma dolls from northern Ghana. The sites are dated between the sixth and thirteenth centuries, although little is known of the people who lived there during this period.
A Muisca offering vessel, c 600-1200. This one is significant not only because of its creepy looking form, but because it was found holding the golden Muisca Raft.
The Pelourinho of Cidade Velha, Cape Verde. It stands as a monument to the enslaved people of the Portuguese colony, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
An Aguada ceramic vessel, depicting a jaguar. c600–900 CE
The Mosque of Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn, constructed between 876 and 879, and, according to primary sources, was designed by a Christian architect.
An image of Ŋalarrk, or "Lonely Island", in Yolŋu Country, in Australia's Northern Territory
The minaret of the Great Mosque of Bounoura. When the Rustamids fell, they fled to this region, and converted the locals to their form of Islam.
A collection of sixth century beads, discovered in the grave of a child thought to be about twelve years old. These beads were found in a graveyard uncovered in Basel in 2021.
The Church of St. Donatus, a 9th-century pre-Romanesque church in Zadar, then under Frankish control. Zadar was one of the city-states of the Dalmatian Pale.
The central keep of Guimarães Castle, built in the 10th century to protect the town against Viking and Moorish attacks
An Avar period coat clasp, from late sixth to early seventh century. It was discovered in a large burial site in Mödling, within a woman's grave.
The pyxis of Zamora, a ninth century Iberian pyxis, carved of ivory. It shows elaborate natural scenes - here, two peacocks amid foliage.
The shell of the spiny oyster (Spondylus), which is red and white with spines.
The Blagaj Fortress, or Stjepan-grad, which has been a fortified settlement since prehistory. This fortress is mentioned in Byzantine sources, and played an important role in the development of Hum, a powerful state occupying much of modern Herzegovina and Dalmatia.
Cliff Palace, the largest of the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park. Cliff Palace was inhabited in roughly 1200, following migrations of other indigenous groups to the area.