Review of periodical literature published in 2006

Abstract

Early Anglo-Saxon settlement sites have been revealed by several excavations. Dickens et al. report a substantial village and associated cemetery at Bloodmoor Hill, Suffolk. Finds included evidence for textile manufacture, but not specialist commodity production; occupation appears to have ceased in the late seventh or early eighth century. The settlement at Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, published by Murray and McDonald, yielded an enclosed farmstead and cemetery, both in use until c.800. Evidence for textile production and the presence of Ipswich ware suggests the site's participation in an active trading network. Wright, on Orton Waterville, Peterborough, reports a long-lived settlement generating relatively modest material remains. The site at Shepperton, Middlesex, described by Poulton, appears to have been regularly laid out in the later Anglo-Saxon period, replacing a flourishing earlier settlement. Parallel ditches point to the 'toft and croft' arrangement of medieval villages.Debate continues over early population movement. Casting doubt on the historicity of Irish migration to western Britain in the fourth or fifth centuries, Dark postulates the pre-existing presence there of spoken Irish. This would contrast with the evidence for Anglo-Saxon migration, particularly to 'Anglian' areas, considered more secure. Bartholemew offers grounds for identifying 'Angulus', Continental homeland of the Angli described by Bede, as modern Frisia. Possible connections with Procopius's account, usually treated with scepticism, might suggest Frisia as the starting-point for a substantial part of the Anglo-Saxon migration into Britain. Addressing the subject of river-names, generally considered a good indicator of Anglo-Saxon displacement in lowland areas, Yeates offers evidence from the Cotswolds area showing the loss of Brittonic river-names occurring over a far longer period.Though not necessarily incompatible with the orthodox view, this may suggest a greater survival of Brittonic nomenclature originally in the west.In funerary archaeology, Hamerow explores the 'special' deposition of human and animal remains within areas of occupation. The relatively high percentage of dogs and horses, together with cattle, strengthens the impression of ritualistic activity, possibly directed towards fertility, while an association with sunken-featured buildings would make sense if such structures had been used for storage. Reconstructing the ritual of human cremation, Williams places the deceased body at the centre of an elaborate visual spectacle. Rather than a mourner-centred approach to interpretation, the body itself may have had some agency in a complex interrelationship between the living and the dead. Chester-Kadwell, evaluating metal-detector finds in Norfolk, suggests that if used carefully these can supplement the existing corpus of known early cemeteries. Lee's study of textile evidence in funerary contexts shows its value not only in relation to gender but also as an indicator of social status. The model of a 'final phase' o...