Blurb:

Providing a further case study of the overt and covert influence of religious belief on archaeological (and philological) practice, this chapter is a discourse analysis of the antiquarian interpretations of the runic inscriptions of Maes Howe (Orkney). In particular it exemplifies the interrelationship of the subject areas as the different disciplinary identities emerged in the nineteenth century and identifies the enduring contemporary legacy of these early studies.