The Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Southern Britain, AD 450-650: Beneath the Tribal Hidage

258 Pages·2014·85.87 MB·English

by  Sue Harrington

THE EARLY ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS
OF SOUTHERN BRITAIN
AD 450–650
Beneath the Tribal Hidage
Sue Harrington and †Martin Welch
Oxbow Books
Oxford & Philadelphia
Published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by
OXBOW BOOKS
10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW
and in the United States by
OXBOW BOOKS
908 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083
© Oxbow Books and the authors 2014
Hardcover Edition: ISBN 978-178297-612-7
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-613-4; Mobi: ISBN 978-1-78297-614-1; PDF: ISBN 978-1-78297-615-8
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harrington, Sue.
The early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern Britain, AD 450-650 : beneath the Tribal Hidage / Sue
Harrington and Martin Welch.
1 online resource.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
ISBN 978-1-78297-613-4 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-78297-614-1 (mobi) -- ISBN 978-1-78297-615-8 ( pdf) --
ISBN 978-1-78297-612-7 1. Anglo-Saxons--England--Antiquities. 2. Great Britain--History--Anglo-Saxon
period, 449-1066. 3. Tribes--Great Britain--History--To 1500. 4. Hidage--History--To 1500. 5. Civilization,
Anglo-Saxon. I. Welch, Martin G. II. Title.
DA152
942.01’4--dc23
2014017520
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
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Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
List of Plates x
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
1 The Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Southern Britain: evidence and questions 1
Introduction 1
The kingdoms in the written sources (text by Martin Welch, edited by Barbara Yorke) 3
Research questions 8
What are the data? 8
What is the landscape context of that data? 8
Why is the data located within this context – what were the criteria behind
site location selection? 9
How can this evidence be explained and interpreted – is this evidence of wealth creation
and state formation? 9
Methodology 10
Overview of the contents of this volume 11
2 The Early Anglo-Saxon Census 13
Southern Britain south of the Thames and the archaeological data 13
The database 14
Data-quality assessment 14
The dating framework 15
The sites 19
Populating the landscape 22
These individuals and their graves 26
Phasing the burials 28
The artefacts 29
Type 31
Provenance 31
Regional 32
Kentish; Saxon; Anglian; Wessex 32
Contents
Romano-British 32
British West 33
Curated/Roman; Curated/Jutlandic 33
Kentish/ 33
Imported 33
Imported/ 33
Position in grave 33
Material component 34
Object weights 34
Findspots and their contents 36
Other datasets used 39
Late Roman sites 39
Place-name evidence 40
Concluding remarks 40
3 The Environmental Context of Southern Britain 41
Introduction 41
Mapping the evidence 42
The geology of southern Britain 43
Definitions of landscape units 45
Soil types and fertility: the mapping of land use potential 48
A new definition of landscape units in southern Britain 50
Climate 52
Rivers and floodplains 53
Palaeo-environmental evidence 56
Woodland 56
4 Travelling and Using the Land- and Sea-Scapes 58
Coastal erosion and tide patterns 58
Changes to the southern coast of Britain 60
Roads, droveways and trackways south of the Thames 63
Agricultural practices 66
Pastoral practices 69
The environmental evidence from selected excavation reports for southern Britain 70
The Upper Thames Valley and chalklands to the south 70
Central chalk lands to the south coast 71
The eastern area of the Thames, the Weald and the coast 71
The western area 73
Conclusions 73
5 Sites, Locations and Soils 74
Introduction 74
Theories of site location 75
Settlement and wealth in the three kingdoms 78
Kent 78
Wessex 79
iv
Contents
Sussex 83
What was the spatial relationship between early cemeteries and their parent settlements? 84
Case study: The Lower Ouse Valley, East Sussex 84
Where were the sites with the earliest artefactual evidence? 87
What are the spatial relationships of the cemeteries and settlements to routeways
and other topographical features? 88
What kinds of soils do the cemetery/settlement communities occupy for their resource base
and how does this compare with those occupied by the Later Roman sites? Were there
spatial and temporal variations in site selection criteria? 90
Roman sites 90
Early Anglo-Saxon complexes 90
What relationships can be determined between the place-name data and the phase A
and early phase B sites (AD 450–600)? 91
Conclusions 93
6 Surrey: A Case Study 95
Surrey in the documentary sources 95
The archaeological evidence 96
Conclusions 103
7 A Common Wealth in Iron? 104
Introduction 104
Sources of iron ore 105
The regional settlement pattern and proximity to iron ore deposits 105
The processes of iron working 106
Iron working in Roman Britain 107
Iron working in the Western Roman Empire 109
Iron working in the northern European Barbaricum in the study period (AD 450–650) 110
Iron working in southern Britain AD 450–650 and later 113
Discussion 116
8 Community Wealth in Iron Compared 122
Iron case study 1: shield bosses (AD 450–700) 123
Iron case study 2: swords (AD 450–700) 124
Iron case study 3: knives (AD 450–700) 125
The iron-wealth over time and space (AD 450–700) 126
Phase A comparative study 129
Phase B comparative study 132
Phase C comparative study 133
Conclusions on the value of iron in the study region and period 135
9 A Restricted Wealth in Copper Alloys? 137
European copper alloy production 138
Copper alloy production in Britain 138
Weights of copper alloy artefacts 140
Community access to copper alloy material over time and space 141
v
Contents
Phase A comparative study 142
Phase B comparative study 144
Phase C comparative study 144
Copper alloy case study 1: buckle loops and plates 145
Copper alloy case study 2: bowls and escutcheons 148
Phase A distribution of copper alloy bowls 149
Phase B distribution of copper alloy bowls 150
Phase C distribution of copper alloy bowls 150
Sheet vessel fragments 150
Escutcheons 152
Conclusions on copper alloy bowl distributions 154
10 Esoteric Materials: Amber, Amethyst, Gold and Silver 155
Case study: amber beads 155
Case study: amethyst beads 159
Conclusions concerning amber and amethyst bead usage and distribution 161
The role of precious metals: gold and silver 162
Gold 164
Phase A gold distribution 167
Phases B and C gold distribution 168
Silver 168
Phase A silver distributions 171
Phase B silver distributions 171
Phase C silver distributions 172
Conclusions 173
11 External Forces? A Review of the Frankish Influence within Southern Britain 174
12 The Frankish Data Examined 183
Research questions 183
Phase A Frankish data 184
Frankish artefacts in Kent and Surrey 192
Isle of Wight 192
Westwards from the East Sussex coast 193
Central Wiltshire and the Salisbury Plain 194
Upper Thames Valley 194
Conclusions relating to Phase A 195
Phase B Frankish data 196
Phase C Frankish data 197
Frankish weapon burials 201
Conclusions 204
13 Synthesis: Beneath the Tribal Hidage 206
Bibliography 211
Index 227
Plates 235
vi
List of Figures
1. The study region with modern counties 14. Roman roads, with Margary numbers, and
2. The study region in the major Anglo-Saxon areas prehistoric trackways of the study region
and the British West 15. View west up Saxton Road Abingdon, Berkshire
3. View towards the south west from Camerton, (now Oxfordshire) from the River Thames: the
Somerset, Anglo-Saxon cemetery: the Roman site of the mixed rite cemetery
road from Bath to Radstock runs along the hedge 16. Case study area: the Lower Ouse Valley, Sussex,
line showing the floodplain, routeways, burial sites
4. View towards the south west from Kingston and find spots in Phase A
Down, Kent, Anglo-Saxon cemetery: the Roman 17. View north west from the lower slopes Chessell
road from Canterbury to Dover runs along the Down, Isle of Wight, Anglo-Saxon cemetery,
hedge line overlooking the entrance to the Solent
5. The major geological features of the study region, 18. The excavation at Apple Down, Sussex mixed rite
together with the study region outline cemetery (image courtesy The Welch Archive)
6. The pays of Kent, from the work of Alan Everitt 19. View south east from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery
(1986) at Bradford Peverell, Dorset, towards the Roman
7. The revised soil fertility map of the study region road from Dorchester as it approaches the
(level 5 is the greatest fertility) crossing point of the River Frome
8. The soil Ph values of the study region 20. Surrey case study area landscape block with
9. The rivers and flood plains of the study region, Roman roads radiating out from the London
with the rivers flowing either southwards into the River Thames crossing points
sea or northwards into the River Thames 21. Surrey case study area soil fertility assessments
10. The site of the Cuxton, Kent, Anglo-Saxon with Roman villas and field systems
cemetery from the River Medway 22. Surrey case study area earliest burial sites and
11. View north east from the plateau above Chatham settlements
Lines, Kent, Anglo-Saxon cemetery, towards 23. View northwards towards the middle Thames
the estuary of the River Medway and the Isle of basin from Guildown Anglo-Saxon cemetery,
Grain Surrey
12. The waves and tides of the North Sea and 24. Surrey case study area burial sites in Phases B and
the English Channel (derived from Cresswell C
1959) 25. Surrey case study area with Portable Antiquity
13. View south west from Highdown, Sussex, Anglo- Scheme findspots and regional coin finds
Saxon cemetery, towards the Channel and the Isle 26. Study region earliest burials in relation to iron
of Wight ore deposits
vii
List of Figures
27. Undated and medieval bloomery sites on the 44. The distribution of all copper alloy bowl types in
Wealden iron deposits three phases
28. An iron shield boss 45. The distribution of hanging bowl escutcheons in
29. An iron sword with pattern welding the study region
30. Iron knives 46. An example of a hanging bowl escutcheon
31. Percentages of the study region population with 47. The distribution of amber beads in all phases
iron, over all three phases 48. The distribution of amethyst beads in Phases B
32. Inverse distance weightings of iron consumption and C
in Phase A, showing eleven regional high spots 49. The distribution of gold bracteates
33. View south west towards Bitterne and the 50. The distribution of gold artefacts in Phase A
Channel coast from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery 51. The distribution of silver artefacts all phases
on St Giles Hill, Winchester, Hampshire 52. Northern Europe around the North Sea
34. Phase A concentrations of iron consumption in 53. An overview of the distribution Frankish material
relation to Late Roman sites, as potential sources in the study region
of scrap iron for recycling 54. The distribution Frankish and Kentish finds in
35. Inverse distance weightings of iron consumption Phase A
in Phase B, showing ten regional high spots 55. An example of a francisca
36. Inverse distance weightings of iron consumption 56. The distribution of franciscas in the study
in Phase C, showing seven regional high spots region
37. Inverse distance weightings of iron consumption 57. Activity corridors through the study region
in Phase C and Late Roman sites 58. The Frankish and Kentish artefact distributions
38. A copper alloy great square headed brooch in Phase B
39. Inverse distance weightings concentrations 59. The Frankish and Kentish artefact distributions
of copper alloy (white areas have the highest in Phase C
concentrations) in Phase A 60. The distributions of imported and regional coins
40. Phase A copper alloy concentrations and Late in Phase C
Roman sites 61. A comparison of Phase A Frankish and Kentish
41. Inverse distance weightings concentrations of artefacts with Phase C coin distributions
copper alloy in Phase B 62. The distribution of burials with spears in the
42. A copper alloy buckle loop reversed position in all phases
43. A copper alloy and garnet inlaid buckle loop and
belt plate
viii