Mead-Halls of theOiscingas: A New Kentish Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Great Hall Complex Phenomenon

Abstract

THE GREAT HALL complex represents one of the most distinctive and evocative expressions of the Anglo-Saxon settlement record, and is widely cited as a metaphor for the emergence of kingship in early medieval England. Yet interpretation of these sites remains underdeveloped and heavily weighted towards the excavated findings from the well-known site of Yeavering in Northumberland. Inspired by the results of recent excavations at Lyminge, Kent, this paper undertakes a detailed comparative interrogation of three great hall complexes in Kent, and exploits this new regional perspective to advance our understanding of the agency and embodied meanings of these settlements as 'theatres of power'. Explored through the thematic prisms of place, social memory and monumental hybridity, this examination leads to a new appreciation of the involvement of great hall sites in the genealogical strategies of 7th-century royal dynasties and a fresh perspective on how this remarkable, yet short-lived, monumental idiom was adapted to harness the symbolic capital of Romanitas. 262

Practice, Power and Place: Southern British Perspectives on the Agency of Early Medieval Rulers’ Residences

“…A similar longevity is indicated at Lyminge by the excavations on a centrallylocated plateau overlooking the source of the River Nailbourne (Fig. 2, Thomas 2017, Thomas 2018. By the time a great hall complex was established here around AD 600 the site had witnessed a least a century of sustained occupation represented by significant building remains (post-built structures and Grubenhäuser) accompanied by massive, finds-rich midden deposits attesting the lavish consumption of material and animal resources together with an impressive array of craft activity spanning iron smelting, nonferrous metalworking and possibly the manufacture of glass vessels.…”

“…such investment in the archaeological record but what does survive, including plastered wall-renderings from Yeavering, Sutton Courtenay, Lyminge and Eynsford and the opus signinum flooring from Lyminge and Dover, demonstrates that that the physical and sensory experience of these buildings was defined as much by special materials, colours and textures as it was by scale (Thomas 2018).…”

“…In the last few years a new level of interest in the great hall complexes has been fuelled by fresh schemes of archaeological research and investigation that have significantly enriched the evidence base, ranging from targeted investigation of cropmark sites focusing on individual buildings (Sutton Courtenay, Long Wittenham), to area excavation of hall arrays (Lyminge) and landscape-scale investigation (Rendlesham). This has informed a major synthetic account of early medieval building culture (Blair 2018) and generated more focused studies that have defined hitherto unrecognized levels of chronological and regional complexity within the great hall tradition (Austin 2017, Thomas 2018, McBride 2020.…”

Hillforts and Power in the British Post-Roman West: A GIS Analysis of Dinas Powys

“…Excavated evidence comprising fine metalworking residues and imported pottery and glass, in congruence with occasional documentary references, attest to high-status occupation and in some instances ceremonial activity associated with sacral kingship (Lane & Campbell, 2000; Noble et al, 2019). These sites are interpreted as the seats of potentates (land-holding rulers) rather than community settlements and can be seen as theatres of power akin to the great hall complexes of Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia (Blair, 2018: 114–25; Thomas, 2018: 263).…”

Halls of Mirrors: Reflections on the Social Meanings of Early Medieval Rulers’ Residences

“…500-507, 609, Zadora-Rio 2009, p. 89, Nicolay 2014. Unless the archaeological picture changes dramatically, then it seems very unlikely that these areas provided direct inspiration for great hall complexes, although we acknowledge that continental impulses may lie behind some of the distinctive architectural traits associated with Kentish expressions of the idiom (Thomas 2018). While tempting, it is unsatisfactory to fill the gap by invoking Carolingian Pfalzen as these post-date southern British sites by as much as a century.…”