Land and Power from Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England?

Abstract

Archaeology, and in particular the study of ceramics, lies at the heart of the interpretive schemes that underpin Framing the Early Middle Ages. While this is to be welcomed, it is proposed that even more extensive use of archaeological evidence -especially that generated through the excavation of prehistoric burial-mounds and rural settlements, as well as the study of early medieval coins -would have produced a rather more dynamic and nuanced picture of the transformations in social and political structures that marked the passage from late Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England.

Livestock and animal husbandry in early medieval England

“…None the less, some influential voices have seen the fall of Roman Britain as nothing less than catastrophic (e.g. Wickham, 2005), whilst others, such as John Moreland (2011), see a process of change that began in the 4th century and led to a shift in power from the state to elite individuals situated in their local communities. A similar point is made by Lewit (2009), who sees a general trend away from cattleraising in western Europe in the 5the6th centuries as a response to the removal of a taxation system based on cattle and cereals, and an adjustment to local terrain and opportunities.…”

Animal husbandry between the Roman times and the High Middle Ages in central Europe: a biometrical analysis of cattle, sheep and pig

“…Current theoretical models dealing with medieval economies have emphasised the role that the rural world had on the development of historical dynamics between the Late Roman times and the Early Middle Ages (e.g. Barceló and Sigaut 2004;Wickham 2005;Henning 2009;Moreland 2011;Hodges 2012), and in fact, for instance, several recent works have highlighted the huge potential of investigating agricultural change during this key historical period in light of archaeological perspectives (such as various papers in the special journal issues Quirós Castillo 2014; Pigière et al 2019 and, for the later part of this period, Hamerow et al 2019 and.…”