Seven papers which aim to place early medieval insular sculpture more firmly in its social and cultural context, emphasising aspects of production and patronage, as well as the importance of monuments in the construction and maintenance of social memory. Contents: Approaching pre-Conquest stone sculpture: historiography and theory (Michael F. Reed); Another perspective on the origins and symbolic interpretations of animals in Early Medieval sculpture in Northern England and French Burgundy (Nicole M. Kleinsmith); Putting memory in its place: sculpture, cemetery topography and commemoration (Zoe L. Devlin); A cross-head from St Mary Castlegate, York, and its affiliations (Victoria Whitworth); Commemoration at York: the significance of Minster 42, Costauns grave-cover (Heather Rawlin-Cushing); Aspects of the Anglo-Saxon tradition in architectural sculpture and articulation: the overlap and beyond (Malcolm Thurlby); Laser scanning of the inscribed Hiberno-Romanesque arch at Monaincha, Co. Tipperary, Ireland (Orla Murphy).