Abstract :
To deepen our understanding of early medieval exile, the present study characterizes ways
in which scholars have studied cave use in Britain and Ireland. As key figures in the history of
archaeology, Sir Daniel Wilson and Sir James Young Simpson were crucial for establishing
Scotland’s cave sites as subjects for study. Triggered by these two, a century and a half of research
has related these places to the flowering of Gaelic monasticism. Nonetheless, fundamental
similarities between early Christian communities in Britain and Ireland are at odds with this
northern distribution, and bring the question of cave use beyond Scotland sharply into focus.
Our paper therefore targets two questions: (1) to what extent were cave sites used by early
Christian communities elsewhere in the Insular world; and (2) is our perception of cave use
as a particularly north British phenomenon skewed by the long history of Scottish interest in
the topic?
