Image and Performance, Agency and Ideology: Representations of the Human Figure in Funerary Contexts in Anglo-Saxon Art, AD 400–680: Representations of the Human Figure in Funerary Contexts in Anglo-Saxon Art, AD 400–680

This book investigates the topic of human imagery and hybrid human imagery rendered on metalwork of early Anglo-Saxon date recovered within eastern England (Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Norfolk), AD 400-680. It presents the first definitive catalogue of its kind for this region and timeframe. Taking inspiration from recent transitions in thinking on early medieval mortuary archaeology and art, the author considers such topics as the interrelationship between image, object and the user, the changing portrayal of human representation and the social implications of such developments and the emergence of new bodily gestures in representational art. These key themes may provide an understanding of how and why human imagery changed as it did, how and by whom it was deployed in life and death and the role that this type of imagery performed in the construction and presentation of social identity. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Perspectives and Approaches 3. Methodology 4. Human Motifs and Designs in Eastern England 5. The Archaeological Context of Human Imagery in Eastern England 6. Object, Art and the Human Body 7. Human Representation and its Changing Portrayal 8. Gesture and Art 9. Conclusion Bibliography Appendix 1. Catalogue of Objects Appendix 2. Objects from Inhumation Only, Cremation Only and Mixed Rite Cemeteries Appendix 3. Image-Carrying Objects from Graves with Signs of Wear/Repair Appendix 4. Tables of Designs Appendix 5. Archaeological Context