Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, Volume 14: Early Medieval Mortuary Practices

Volume 14 of the Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History series is dedicated to the archaeology of early medieval death, burial and commemoration. Incorporating studies focusing upon Anglo-Saxon England as well as research encompassing western Britain, Continental Europe and Scandinavia, this volume originated as the proceedings of a two-day conference held at the University of Exeter in February 2004. It comprises of an Introduction that outlines the key debates and new approaches in early medieval mortuary archaeology followed by eighteen innovative research papers offering new interpretations of the material culture, monuments and landscape context of early medieval mortuary practices. Papers contribute to a variety of ongoing debates including the study of ethnicity, religion, ideology and social memory from burial evidence. The volume also contains two cemetery reports of early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries from Cambridgeshire. Table of Contents Introduction ( Howard Williams ) I: New Perspectives in Early Medieval Mortuary Practices Ethnicity, 'Race' and Migration in Mortuary Archaeology: An Attempt at a Short Answer ( Heinrich Hrke ) Situational Ethnicity and Nested Identities: New Approaches to an Old Problem ( Susanne E Hakenbeck ) Charting Conversion: Burial as a Barometer of Belief? ( Rik Hoggett ) Social Memory, Material Culture and Community Identity in Early Medieval Mortuary Practices ( Zo Devlin ) Early Medieval Burial Studies in Scandinavia 1994-2003 ( Martin Rundkvist ) II: Studying Early Medieval Graves Beyond Ethnicity: Symbols of Social Identity from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries in England ( Rebecca Gowland ) Transforming Body and Soul: Toilet Implements in Early Anglo-Saxon Graves ( Howard Williams ) Social Memory, Material Culture and Community Identity in Early Medieval Mortuary Practices: Early Anglo-Saxon Horse Burial of the Fifth to Seventh Centuries AD ( Chris Fern ) Soft Furnished Burial: An Assessment of the Role of Textiles in Early Anglo-Saxon Inhumations, with Particular Reference to East Kent ( Susan Harrington ) On Sacred Ground: Social Identity and Churchyard Burial in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, c. 700-1100 ( Jo Buckberry ) Disturbing the Dead: Urbanisation, the Church and the Post-Burial Treatment of Human Remains in Early Wessex, c. 600-1100 AD ( Annia Kristina Cherryson ) III: Death, Burial and the Early Medieval Landscape Walking with Anglo-Saxons: Landscapes of the Dead in Early Anglo-Saxon Kent ( Stuart Brookes ) New Perspectives on Cemetery Relocation in the Seventh Century AD: The Example of Portway, Andover ( Nick Stoodley ) De Situ Brecheniauc and Englynion y Beddau : Writing About Burial in Early Medieval Wales ( David Petts ) Separated from the Foaming Maelstrom: Landscapes of Insular 'Viking' Burial ( Stephen Harrison ) A Question of Priority: The Re-use of Houses and Barrows for Burials in Scandinavia in the Late Iron Age (AD 600-1000) ( Eva Thte ) The Garden Gives Up its Secrets: The Developing Relationship between Rural Settlements and Cemeteries, c. 750-1100 ( Dawn Hadley ) IV: Excavating the Dead Rescue Excavation of an Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Gunthorpe, Peterborough ( Philippa Patrick, Charles French and Christine Osborne ) Minerva: An Early Anglo-Saxon Mixed-Rite Cemetery in Alwalton, Cambridgeshire ( Catriona Gibson ) 02Cohen Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 3 Foreword 4 Contents 5 Preface 7 Contributors 8 Introduction: Themes in the Archaeology of Early Medieval Death and Burial 10 Chapter 1: Ethnicity, ‘Race’ and Migration in Mortuary Archaeology: an Attempt at a Short Answer 21 Chapter 2: Situational Ethnicity and Nested Identities: New Approaches to an Old Problem 28 Chapter 3: Charting Conversion: Burialas a Barometer of Belief? 37 Chapter 4: Social Memory, Material Culture and Community Identity in Early Medieval Mortuary Practices 47 Chapter 5: Early Medieval Burial Studies in Scandinavia 1994–2003 56 Chapter 6: Beyond Ethnicity: Symbols of Social Identity from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries in England 65 Chapter 7: Transforming Body and Soul: Toilet Implements in Early Anglo-Saxon Graves 75 Chapter 8: Early Anglo-Saxon Horse Burial of the Fifth to Seventh Centuries AD 101 Chapter 9: Soft Furnished Burial: An Assessment of the Role of Textiles in Early Anglo-Saxon Inhumations, with Particular Reference to East Kent 119 Chapter 10: On Sacred Ground: Social Identity and Churchyard Burial in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, c. 700–1100 AD 126 Chapter 11: Disturbing the Dead: Urbanisation, the Church and the Post-Burial Treatment of Human Remains in Early Medieval Wessex, c. 600–1100 AD 139 Chapter 12: Walking with Anglo-Saxons: Landscapes of the Dead in Early Anglo-Saxon Kent 152 Chapter 13: New Perspectives on Cemetery Relocation in the Seventh Century AD: The Example of Portway, Andover 163 Chapter 14: De Situ Brecheniauc and Englynion Y Beddau: Writing about Burial in Early Medieval Wales 172 Chapter 15: Separated from the Foaming Maelstrom: Landscapes of Insular ‘Viking’ Burial 182 Chapter 16: A Question of Priority: The Re-use of Houses and Barrows for Burials in Scandinavia in the Late Iron Age (AD 600–1000) 192 Chapter 17: The Garden Gives up its Secrets: The Developing Relationship between Rural Settlements and Cemeteries, c. 750 –1100 203 Chapter 18: Rescue Excavation of an Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Gunthorpe, Peterborough 213 Chapter 19: Minerva: An Early Anglo-Saxon Mixed-Rite Cemetery in Alwalton, Cambridgeshire 247