Memories of migration? The ‘Anglo-Saxon’ burial costume of the fifth century AD

Harland, James M.

doi:10.15184/aqy.2019.60

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…This therefore adds further weight to calls to abandon ethnic terms and classifications for this period as they are unhelpful in describing the complexity of human experience in England during the early Middle Ages and how identities were formed and transformed across the period. This necessitates a serious rethink of over-simplified traditional narratives of migration and cross-cultural contact in post-Roman Britain which are heavily politicised and embedded in the English national curriculum (Harland, 2019;Hills, 2017; History programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale Isotopic Data Reveal Gendered Migration into early medieval England c AD 400-1100

Leggett¹,

Hakenbeck²,

O’Connell³

2022

Preprint

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Biomolecular evidence has great potential to address unanswered questions about the nature and scale of migration into early medieval England. Previous isotopic studies of early medieval mobility and migration have mostly been site specific, focussing on the identification of outliers, occasionally comparing to a baseline or other sites for context. Here we present the results of a large-scale synthetic analysis of isotopic data for mobility in early medieval England, utilising both published and new data. We show gendered and regionally specific mobility histories in early medieval England for the first time at scale, and demonstrate chronological fluctuations linked to events such as the Adventus Saxonum and Scandinavian settlements of the 9th century AD onwards. First generation migrants and their possible regions of origin are identified, and narratives of migration from the end of the Roman period to the 11th century AD are re-framed considering the new evidence presented.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale Isotopic Data Reveal Gendered Migration into early medieval England c AD 400-1100

Leggett¹,

Hakenbeck²,

O’Connell³

2022

Preprint

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“…Theune 2004, 355-56), and some questioning whether or not it is even possible to access ethnic identities in the archaeological record (e.g. Brather 2002, 174-5;Harland 2019). This article deliberately does not take an ethnic approach; although the analysis necessitates dividing the study area into different regions, these should not be equated with groups with distinct ethnic identities.…”

Section: Furnished Inhumation In the 5th And 6th Centuries Cementioning

confidence: 99%

Grave Goods in Early Medieval Europe: regional variability and decline

Brownlee

2021

Internet Archaeol.

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This article analyses the use of grave goods in burials across early medieval Europe and how that use changed over the course of the 6th to 8th centuries CE with the widespread transition to unfurnished burial. It uses data gathered from published cemetery excavation reports from England, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The grave good use in these cemeteries was analysed using GIS methods to visualise regional differences, as well as statistical methods to analyse how grave good use evolved over time in those regions. This analysis revealed clear regional distinctions in grave good use, with England and Alamannia appearing similar, with relatively high levels of grave good use. Meanwhile, parts of Frankia and of Burgundy had considerably lower levels of grave good use. Distributions of individual artefact types tended to match those of overall numbers, but there were a few key exceptions, such as vessels, which followed a quite different pattern, being found in high numbers along the Frankish coast, but in much lower numbers elsewhere. Despite these overall trends, there was still considerable intra-regional and intra-cemetery variation that suggests communities and individuals had the ability to make highly individual choices about the way to bury their dead, along with the ability to subvert local norms. It also revealed that while there was a general decline in the use of grave goods across this period, and everywhere eventually reached the point of almost completely unfurnished burial, this decline occurred at different rates. In particular, there was a zone around the North Sea, including Kent, western Frankia, and the Low Countries, where there was little change in grave good use until it was suddenly abandoned in the early 8th century. Different types of objects declined at different rates across different regions, with few clear trends, suggesting that only personal accessories held a common significance across Europe; the meanings of all other object types were negotiated on a local basis.

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“…They advocate the potential for open public engagement through these funerary contexts, both regarding contemporary cultural identities and themes relating to disease, dying and death. Harland (2017) has also noted how popular perceptions and media reporting of the early Anglo-Saxon period have lagged far behind archaeological research (see also Harland 2019;Williams 2007;cf Shipley 2015). Crucially, he helps to afford a context for the persistence of this narrative.…”

Section: Introduction: Interpreting Early Anglo-saxon Weapon Burialsmentioning

confidence: 99%