Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs PDF
Preview Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs
Medieval History and Archaeology GeneralEditors JOHN BLAIR HELENA HAMEROW Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs MEDIEVAL HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY GeneralEditors John Blair Helena Hamerow Thevolumesinthisseriesbringtogetherarchaeological, historical,and visualmethodstooffernewapproachestoaspectsofmedievalsociety, economy,andmaterialculture.Theseriesseekstopresentandinterpret archaeological evidence inwaysreadilyaccessible tohistorians,while providingahistoricalperspectiveandcontextforthematerialcultureofthe period. PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN THIS SERIES BEYOND THE MEDIEVAL VILLAGE TheDiversification ofLandscapeCharacterinSouthernBritain StephenRippon WATERWAYS AND CANAL-BUILDING IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND EditedbyJohnBlair FOOD IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND DietandNutrition EditedbyC.M.Woolgar,D.Serjeantson,andT.Waldron GOLD AND GILT, POTS AND PINS PossessionsandPeopleinMedieval Britain DavidA.Hinton THE ICONOGRAPHY OF EARLY ANGLO-SAXON COINAGE AnnaGannon EARLY MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTS TheArchaeologyofRuralCommunities inNorth-WestEurope400–900 HelenaHamerow ANGLO-SAXON DEVIANT BURIAL CUSTOMS ANDREW REYNOLDS 1 1 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork ©AndrewReynolds2009 Themoralrightsoftheauthorshavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2009 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Reynolds,Andrew(AndrewJ.) Anglo-Saxondeviantburialcustoms/AndrewReynolds. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978–0–19–954455–4(acid-freepaper)1. Anglo-Saxons—Funeralcustomsandrites. 2. Anglo-Saxons—Sociallifeandcustoms.3. Deviantbehavior—England—History.4. Great Britain—History—Anglo-Saxonperiod,449–1066.5. Funeralritesand ceremonies—England—History—To1500.6. England—Sociallifeandcustoms—To1066. 7. England—Moralconditions—History.8. England—Socialconditions—To1066.I. Title. DA152.2.R492009 942.01—dc22 2008053814 TypesetbyLaserwordsPrivateLimited,Chennai,India PrintedinGreatBritain onacid-freepaperby MPGBooksGroup,King’sLynn,Norfolk ISBN978–0–19–954455–4 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 To my mother and father This page intentionally left blank Preface and Acknowledgements A large number ofindividuals and institutions havecontributed to the writing of this book. The project began life as Ph.D research at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, successfully concluded in 1998 with the support of a three-year studentship from the British Academy. The Ph.D was supervised with great care and judicious direction by James Graham- Campbell, initially a great teacher, now a great friend. Martin Carver and Wendy Davies examined the thesis, and I have benefited from knowing them bothinsomanyways. This book is offered as a new perspective on a neglected aspect of Anglo- Saxon society. Burial evidence of the period is much studied, yet this volume differs significantly from what has gone before in that an attempt is made to chart how social others were treated in a society that developed from one organizedapparentlyatcommunityleveltothatofacomplexnationstate.Early Anglo-Saxon communities ofthe fifth to seventh centuries applied avariety of burial rites to those who were apparently regarded as social others, and this materialhasmuchtoaddtoourunderstandingofdevelopingmodesofdealing with social outcasts both during the process of kingdom-formation and later in Middle and Late Anglo-Saxon England. This research has revealed a high degreeofcomplexityamongstthearchaeologicalmaterial,andseveralbroader strands are pursued here, not least the poorly understood, but remarkably varied, patterns of burial apparent in the landscape of Christian Anglo-Saxon England. The approach taken throughout is interdisciplinary, and it is intended that there will be material of interest to archaeologists working on burial, land- scapes,socialmeaning,andperceptionandtohistoriansofstate-formationand legalandsocialhistorywhohavestudiedsimilartopicsfromdifferentperspect- ives.Thereismuchofinterest,Ithink,toanthropologistsalso,butlimitationsof space have precluded pursuing cross-cultural and cross-chronological avenues ofresearch. With hindsight, to have published the thesis immediately after examination would have been an unfortunate course of action, not least because so much new, and especially scientifically dated, information has come to light since to necessitate complete revision of the Ph.D. Completion of this book therefore required extensive new research, facilitated by a year of study leave 2002–3 fundedbyKingAlfred’sCollege,Winchester,andtheformerArtsandHuman- ities Research Board under their Research Leave Scheme. As an archaeologist, I have benefited immeasurably from the responses to various seminar papers viii PrefaceandAcknowledgements I have given over the years, in particular in the company of historians at the Institute of Historical Research in London and the Department of Medieval HistoryinStAndrews,amongothers. Forprovidinginformation,assistance,andfordiscussionduringtheprepar- ationofmyPh.Dthesisandultimatelythepresentbook,Ishouldliketoextend mywarmestthankstoMaryAlexander,MichaelAllen,MaureenBennell,John Bleach, Stuart Brookes, Don Brothwell, Jo Buckberry, Martin Carver, Craig Cessford, Annia Cherryson, Judie English, Helen Geake, Dawn Hadley, Alan Hardy, David Hill, Robin Holgate, John Hudson, Joy Jenkyns, Stuart Laid- law, Alex Langlands, Paul McCulloch, Audrey Meaney, Richard Mortimer, Gabriel Pepper, Tim Pestell, Rob Poulton, Jeanette Ratcliffe, Richard Reece, Jane Roberts, Andrew Rogerson, Nesta Rooke, Edwin Rose, Jane Sidell, Nick Stoodley,RuthTaylor,ChrisTod,MartinWelch,JohnB.Weller,SallyWhite, ChristopherWhittick, andHowardWilliams. For reading and commenting on drafts of various chapters and appen- dices I am indebted to John Baker (Appendix 4), John Blair, Megan Brickley (Chapter 2), Bruce Eagles (Chapter 3), Guy Halsall (Chapter 1), Helena Hamerow,ChrisKnu¨sel(Chapter2),StephanyLeach(Chapter2),NickStood- ley (Chapter 3), and Barbara Yorke (Chapter 1); the end-result is better for thebenefitoftheirknowledgeandexperience.Twoanonymousreviewersalso read the text, which has benefited from their thoroughness and independence. Needless to say, I accept full responsibility for any shortcomings. I had the good fortune to first meet with Patrick Wormald in 1993, and he maintained an influential interest in the topic until his untimely death in 2004; he is much missed. Especial thanks for constructive comments and good advice go to John Blair and Sarah Semple. I am grateful to Martin Comey for assistance in preparingtheillustrations,andtoRupertCousens,SethCayleyandKateHind atOxfordUniversityPressfortheirhelpandadviceinseeingthebookthrough topublication. This book is dedicated to my parents, but especial mention should be made of those who have lived with its gestation—Elizabeth, Jacob, and Sarah. My mother,inparticular,encouragedmyinterestinarchaeologyasachildinmany ways,notleastwithacopyofEricWoods’sCollinsFieldGuidetoArchaeology asaChristmaspresentin1977;ithasservedmewell. A.R. Contents ListofFigures x ListofTables xiii Abbreviations xiv 1. Sources,approaches,andcontexts 1 2. Burials,bodies,andbeheadings:interpretation anddiscovery 34 3. Socialdeviantsinapagansociety:thefifthtoseventhcenturies 61 4. SocialdeviantsinaChristianworld:theseventhtoeleventh centuries 96 5. ThegeographyofdeviantburialinAnglo-SaxonEngland 180 6. Themesandtrajectories:thewidersocialcontext 235 Appendix1. AhandlistofAnglo-Saxonlaw-codes prescribing capitalpunishment,mutilation andburialinunconsecratedground 251 Appendix2. AhandlistofearlyAnglo-Saxondeviantburials 262 Appendix3. Ahandlistofselect burialsfromexecution cemeteries 266 Appendix4. Ahandlistofexecutionandrelatedsites,andburialplaces, inAnglo-Saxoncharterbounds 272 Bibliography 282 Index 313
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