Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England STUDIES IN FUNERARY ARCHAEOLOGY Vol. 1 Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains Edited by Rebecca Gowland and Christopher Knüsel Vol. 2 Deviant Burial in the Archaeological Record Edited by Eileen M. Murphy Vol. 3 Th e Archaeology of the Dead Henri Duday Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England . – AD C Edited by Jo Buckberry and Annia Cherryson OXBOW BOOKS Oxford and Oakville Published by Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK © Oxbow Books, Jo Buckberry, Annia Cherryson and the individual authors, 2010 ISBN 978-1-84217-965-9 Th is book is available direct from: Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK (Phone: 01865-241249; Fax: 01865-794449) and Th e David Brown Book Company PO Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA (Phone: 860-945-9329; Fax: 860-945-9468) or from our website www.oxbowbooks.com Cover image Burial in a lead coffi n, Staple Gardens, Winchester Courtesy of Winchester Museums Service A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Burial in later Anglo-Saxon England c. 650-1100 ad / edited by Jo Buckberry and Annia Cherryson. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-84217-965-9 1. Funeral rites and ceremonies, Medieval--England. 2. Burial--England--History. 3. Civilization, Anglo-Saxon. 4. Human remains (Archaeology)--England. 5. Anglo-Saxons--England--Antiquities. 6. Great Britain--Civilization--To 1066 I. Buckberry, Jo. II. Cherryson, Annia. GT3243.B87 2010 393.90942--dc22 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Short Run Press, Exeter Contents List of Contributors ................................................................................................................................................................vii Introduction Annia Cherryson and Jo Buckberry ............................................................................................................................................ix 1 Cemetery Diversity in the Mid to Late Anglo-Saxon Period in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Jo Buckberry ......................................................................................................................................................................1 2 Engendered Bodies and Objects of Memory in Final Phase Graves Howard Williams ............................................................................................................................................................26 3 Burial Practice in Seventh-Century Hampshire: St Mary’s Stadium in Context Nick Stoodley ..................................................................................................................................................................38 4 “Such a resting-place as is necessary for us in God’s sight and fi tting in the eyes of the world”: Saxon Southampton and the Development of Churchyard Burial Annia Kristina Cherryson ................................................................................................................................................54 5 An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Worcester Cathedral Christopher Guy ..............................................................................................................................................................73 6 Material Symbolism and Death: Charcoal Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England James Holloway ...............................................................................................................................................................83 7 Diff erentiation in the Later Anglo-Saxon Burial Ritual on the Basis of Mental or Physical Impairment: a Documentary Perspective Sally Crawford ................................................................................................................................................................93 8 Burying the Socially and Physically Distinctive in Later Anglo-Saxon England D.M. Hadley ................................................................................................................................................................103 9 Th e Bowl Hole Burial Ground: A Late Anglian Cemetery in Northumberland Sarah Groves .................................................................................................................................................................116 10 Investigating Social Status Using Evidence of Biological Status: A Case Study from Raunds Furnells Elizabeth Craig and Jo Buckberry ..................................................................................................................................128 List of Contributors Jo Buckberry Christopher Guy Biological Anthropology Research Centre Chapter Offi ce Archaeological Sciences 8 College Yard University of Bradford Worcester, WR1 2LA Bradford, BD7 1DP Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] D. M. Hadley Annia Cherryson Department of Archaeology 45 Horseshoe Drive University of Sheffi eld Romsey Northgate House Hants, S051 7TP West Street Email: [email protected] Sheffi eld, S1 4ET Email: D.M.Hadley@sheffi eld.ac.uk Elizabeth Craig Department of Archaeology James Holloway University of Sheffi eld 76 Milton Road Westcourt Cambridge, CB4 1LA 2 Mappin Street Email: [email protected] Sheffi eld, S1 4DT Email: lizzyfl [email protected] Nick Stoodley Department of Archaeology Sally Crawford University of Winchester Th e Institute of Archaeology Winchester 36 Beaumont Street Hants, SO22 4NR Oxford, OX1 2PG Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Howard Williams Sarah Groves Department of History and Archaeology Department of Archaeology University of Chester Durham University Parkgate Road South Road Chester, CH1 4BJ Durham, DH1 3LE Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Introduction Annia Cherryson and Jo Buckberry Th e last ten to fi fteen years have seen major breakthroughs by demonstrating that the transition to churchyard burial was in the way later Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are studied. Th ese far from rapid or straightforward (Hadley 2000a, 199; Hadley developments follow the publication of several important 2000b, 160; Blair 2005, 245). Furthermore, the decline in the cemeteries (Phillips and Heywood 1995; Boddington 1996; use of grave goods did not lead to a uniformity of burial practices Heighway and Bryant 1999; Rodwell 2001; Cramp 2005; Mays but instead the expression of individuality through other et al. 2007), but more importantly a number of synthetic works aspects of the burial rite, such as the use of funerary furnishing that draw together this wealth of primary archaeological data and above-ground markers (Hadley 2000a; Buckberry 2007; (Hadley 2000a; Hadley 2001; Blair 2005; Reynolds 2009). Hadley 2007). It is no coincidence that the increasing interest Th is book aims to bring together a range of papers that give an in burials of the later Anglo-Saxon period, and indeed the overview of current research on later Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dead of the medieval and post medieval period, came at time from a number of diff erent perspectives. Th e overarching theme when an increasingly holistic approach is being taken to the of the book is diff erential treatment in death, which is examined study of mortuary behaviour. Grave goods dominated many at the site-specifi c, settlement, regional and national level. of the early studies of early medieval burials and still remain Twenty years ago, later Anglo-Saxon funerary archaeology an important aspect of any analysis, yet the last few decades was the poor relation to the study of earlier cemeteries, which has seen the scope of enquiry widen to encompass personal contain a high proportion of individuals accompanied by grave and group identity, the body, the grave and the placement of or pyre goods. Th e seminal volume ‘Anglo Saxon Cemeteries, the dead within the landscape (for example see Pader 1982; 1979’ (Rahtz et al. 1980) contained 25 papers. Just three of Stoodley 1999; Gowland 2006; Williams 2006). these papers considered later cemeteries. Th e chronological Several broad themes run through the papers in this imbalance seen in the earliest studies can be attributed in volume. Th e development of churchyard burial and the part to the absence of grave goods in later Anglo-Saxon impact of the church on mortuary practice is key to any burials but perhaps even more so to the traditional view that study of later Anglo-Saxon burial, however recent work has the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to Christianity demonstrated that mortuary behaviour during this period was during the seventh century led to the rapid abandonment shaped by a multiplicity of factors including social structure, of furnished burial and ushered in an era of homogenous status and political developments, as well as religion. Th is churchyard burial (Meaney and Hawkes 1970, 51). Christian variability is addressed directly by Buckberry, in her study cemeteries and the burial practices within them were viewed, of cemetery variation in the northern Danelaw (Chapter 1) at least nominally, as comparable to that of modern society and by Cherryson in her analysis of burial in early medieval (Watts and Rahtz 1985, 128), in which (Christian) burial Southampton (Chapter 4). Th e use of grave goods in the expresses ‘an ideal of equality, humility and non-materialism seventh and eighth centuries is discussed by Williams (Chapter which is blatantly in contrast with the way we live our lives 2), who stress the biography of objects and their role in in practice’ (Hodder 1980, 168). Th is sentiment has led to constructing a commemorative identity, and by Stoodley the view that later Anglo-Saxon burials were uniform and (Chapter 3), who discusses the unusually well furnished egalitarian, following the Christian ideal, despite the evident weapon graves at St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton, and the stratifi cation in society at that time (Geake 1997, 127; Tarlow importance of these objects as symbols of status and identity. 1997, 139; Carver 1999, 8). Th ese views meant that Christian Many authors discuss variation in grave type; in particular, burials were perceived as having a lower research potential and Holloway (Chapter 6) discusses the meaning of charcoal signifi cance than earlier accompanied burials. burials at a national level, whereas Guy (Chapter 5) discusses Recent work has questioned many of the assumptions that the range of variation in burial practice seen within a partially had underpinned the study of later Anglo-Saxon cemeteries excavated cemetery at Worcester Cathedral. Several papers use