Memories of migration? The ‘Anglo-Saxon’ burial costume of the fifth century AD (original) (raw)
Related papers
2013
This paper examines the prospect of identifying native graves in early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. A brief discussion introduces Romano-British funerary customs before four aspects of the burial record are considered: grave orientation, body position, inclusion of Celtic artefacts and incidences of unfurnished burial. Early Medieval scholars have previously considered these aspects of the burial record to various extents, but there has been limited debate since Crawford’s 1997 paper. A reassessment is provided and new evidence is considered from excavations at Wasperton, Warwickshire (Carver, Hills & Scheschkwitz 2009) and Buckland, Dover (Parfitt & Anderson 2012). Whilst the scope is broad, and the remarks are general, it is concluded that there is tangible evidence for a minority of graves in early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries that expressed a different identity in death. Whether we can interpret these as British or not is the subject of the final remarks.
Forgetting the Britons in Victorian Anglo-Saxon Archaeology
We derive our antiquities of the period of Anglo-Saxon paganism from one source, the graves. 1 H OW we explain the origins and development of furnished burial rites in southern and eastern England dated to the fifth and sixth centuries AD is the focus of ongoing debate and controversy. Currently, archaeologists and historians have various answers to this question, from the adoption of Germanic 'fashions' by indigenous Britons to a mass-migration of Germanic settlers. Many scholars opt for different points on a spectrum between these extremes, including the settlement, accommodation and interaction of Germanic groups with Britons on a local level and the invasion and subsequent imitation of Germanic warrior elites. In contrast, some writers opt out of the debate by arguing that furnished burial is unequivocally 'Germanic', whether this be in terms of biological origins, linguistic connections, cultural affiliations or political hegemony. 2 yet even if archaeologists and historians sometimes have different answers, they share a common interest in the same question, but it is a question that has two sides. While traditionally we have used furnished graves to address the question 'When and where did the Anglo-Saxons settle?', the flip-side of the same question is 'What happened to the Britons?' As a contribution to this ongoing historical and archaeological research, this paper aims to return to the very origins of this debate: the study of early medieval * I would like to thank Elizabeth Williams for commenting on an earlier version of this paper. All errors remain my responsibility.
Landmarks for the dead: exploring Anglo-Saxon mortuary geographies
To move forward with a robust framework for understanding early medieval mortuary geographies, scholars must escape the romantic dichotomy of regarding the early medieval dead as either confined to the dead pagan ‘communities’ situated on the periphery and borders of the living world, or safely bounded within churchyards under Christian pastoral care. This chapter offers a new introduction and framework for just such an approach to early medieval mortuary geography. Here we regard burial places as active locales, laden with meaning and potentially serving many functions and roles across space and time. Burial grounds are argued as fluid phenomena in terms of their form and significance, attracting changing and complex biographies from inception to abandonment. For instance, some burial sites might have very short histories of use — whether by design or by chance — restricted to a single burial or a small group of graves in rapid succession before falling into disuse.
Bone and antler combs are one of the most commonly recovered artefacts in burials from the late Roman to later medieval period in Britain. They are one of very few objects to be associated with individuals of both sexes, all ages and every level of society. Unusual treatment of combs, including what appears to be deliberate breakage and selective burning, can be identified in many archaeological assemblages. Additionally, combs are frequently included into the design schemes of ceramics and stone carvings from the period, and references to their use and importance often appear in literary sources. They continue to feature in burials from the 5th century through to the 7th century, despite significant social, economic, political and ideological change taking place but, despite all of these compelling characteristics pointing to a powerful social symbolism, exploration of their role in embodying and signifying identity in this period has been somewhat limited. The research presented here explores the manner of their deposition in burials across early medieval England in order to understand their function in the creation of Anglo-Saxon personhood. To do this, combs recovered in previous archaeological excavations were analysed in relation to various burial attributes, such as sex, gender, age, burial rite, type, associated grave goods and their spatial placement to reveal correlations between combs, burial spaces and bodies. The results show that their deposition changed over time to reflect a shift in the significance of combs from one of conspicuous identity to a private, protected symbolism of personhood and the ‘lifecourse’ in the 6th and 7th centuries.