The Anglo-Saxon Settlement and Cemetery at Bloodmoor Hill, Carlton Colville, Suffolk (East Anglian Archaeology Monograph)

With contributions by Sue Anderson, Rachel Ballantyne, James Barrett, Alex Bayliss, Nancy Beavan-Athfield, Mark Blackburn, Steve Boreham, Diana Briscoe, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Adrian Challands, Jane Cowgill, Natasha Dodwell, Lorrain Higbee, Steven Laurie, Andrew Lawler, Peter Marshall, Gerry McCormac, Karen Milek, Tamsin O’Connell, Rog Palmer, Rachel Parks, Jennifer Price, Ian Riddler, Richard Sabin, Christopher Scull, Robin Standring, Cathy Tester, Johannes van der Plicht and Penelope Walton Rogers. Principal illustrations by Jane Matthews, Mike Court, Matthew Brudenell and Andrew Hall, with Iain Forbes, Letty Ten Harkel, Vicki Herring and Jacqui Hutton. Artefact photographs by Dave Webb. Excavations at Bloodmoor Hill, Carlton Colville, Suffolk, by the CAU have revealed a well-preserved and almost complete early Anglo-Saxon settlement, dating from the 6th to early 8th centuries AD, and a mid to later 7th-century cemetery, which lay within the settlement itself, and included high status female graves. The total excavated area exceeded 30,000m2, and produced the remains of thirty-eight sunken-featured buildings (SFBs or 'Grubenhäuser'), at least nine well-defined post-buildings (including one post-in-trench), four extensive 'midden' heaps or surface spread concentrations, and approximately 270 pits, as well as five hearth or oven bases. The site is remarkable for the amount of metalworking debris in evidence: over 160kg of metalworking slag, including hearth bottoms, crucibles and moulds, together with extensive collections of apparently scrap metal, which was found in concentrations indicative of distinct industrial areas. The site also produced large assemblages of Anglo-Saxon pottery, fired clay, animal bone and other materials. The structures and other features from the site are fully described, and the finds assemblages analysed by category, in order to characterise the status and nature of the settlement and its associated activities. The excavation methodology employed, whereby a proportion of features, including the surface deposits, were dug in spits and metre-squares, has enabled a detailed analysis of artefactual and soil movement across the site through time. Thus, the formation and growth of surface deposits, and the collection and dispersion of rubbish deposits from surface to subsoil feature, is outlined through a series of distribution plots. The end result is a multi-facetted study of one of the most complete early Anglo-Saxon settlements yet to be excavated, which concludes that it may have been an early form of estate centre, with associated high status burial and industrial activity. List of Colour Plates vi List of Plates vi List of Figures vi List of Tables viii List of Contributors ix Acknowledgements x Foreword xi Summary/Résumé/Zusammenfassung xii Chapter 1. Introduction and Background I. Introduction 1 II. Geology, topography and landscape use 1 III. Evidence from aerial photography, with Rog Palmer and Robin Standring 4 IV. Bloodmoor Hill in its Anglo-Saxon context 7 V. Evaluation and excavation history 12 VI. Research aims 15 VII. Excavation methods 17 VIII. Layout of the volume 20 Chapter 2. Pre-Saxon Activity I. Introduction 22 II. Prehistoric activity 22 III. Roman activity 22 Chapter 3. The Settlement Remains I. Introduction 38 II. Sunken-featured buildings (SFBs) 38 III. Wall-post buildings 101 IV. Surface deposits 116 V. Pits 121 VI. Hearths and oven bases 150 VII. Site formation processes 152 VIII. Discussion 162 Chapter 4. The Settlement: Material Culture Assemblages I. Introduction 171 II. Dress and personal possessions 171 III. Household furnishings and equipment 191 IV. Pottery, by Jess Tipper 202 V. Buildings 243 VI. Occupations, industry and crafts 249 VII. Horse equipment and weaponry 275 VIII. Discussion 278 Chapter 5. Economic Resources I. Introduction 279 II. Mammal and bird bone, by Lorrain Higbee 279 III. Fish bone, by Rachel Parks and James Barrett 304 IV. Botanical evidence, by Rachel Ballantyne 305 V. Associated material culture 316 VI. Stable isotope analysis of human and faunal remains, by T. C. O’Connell and A. Lawler 317 VII. Discussion 321 Chapter 6. Phasing, Analysis and Site Organisation I. Introduction 322 II. Absolute dating, by P. Marshall, J. Tipper, A. Bayliss, F. G. McCormac, J. van der Plicht and C. Bronk Ramsey 322 III. Site phasing 329 IV. Site modelling 357 V. The organisation of activities within the settlement 366 Chapter 7. The Human Burials, by Christopher Scull I. Introduction 385 II. Stratigraphy: relationships with Structure 44 and Surface Deposit F159/182 385 III. Post-depositional disturbance and grave robbery 387 IV. Catalogue of inhumations, by Sam Lucy (stratigraphy), Natasha Dodwell (human bone), Christopher Scull (grave-goods) et al. 387 V. Material culture: dating and comparanda 404 VI. Dating and phasing 414 VII. Burial practice 416 VIII. Summary and overview 419 IX. Demography and population size 420 X. Social identities and social structures 422 XI. Cemetery organisation and development 423 XII. Burial and community 424 Chapter 8. Local, Regional and National Contexts I. The Anglo-Saxon settlement: a summary 427 II. The local context 428 III. The regional context 429 IV. The wider context 430 Bibliography 435 Index, by Sue Vaughan 452 Excavations at Bloodmoor Hill, Carlton Colville, Suffolk, by the CAU have revealed a well-preserved and almost complete early Anglo-Saxon settlement, dating from the 6th to early 8th centuries AD, and a mid to later 7th-century cemetery, which lay within the settlement itself, and included high status female graves. The total excavated area exceeded 30,000m2, and produced the remains of thirty-eight sunken-featured buildings (SFBs or Grubenhauser), at least nine well-defined post-buildings (including one post-in-trench), four extensive 'midden' heaps or surface spread concentrations, and approximately 270 pits, as well as five hearth or oven bases. The site is remarkable for the amount of metalworking debris in evidence: over 160kg of metalworking slag, including hearth bottoms, crucibles and moulds, together with extensive collections of apparently scrap metal, which was found in concentrations indicative of distinct industrial areas. The site also produced large assemblages of Anglo-Saxon pottery, fired clay, animal bone and other materials. The structures and other features from the site are fully described, and the finds assemblages analysed by category, in order to characterise the status and nature of the settlement and its associated activities. The excavation methodology employed, whereby a proportion of features, including the surface deposits, were dug in spits and metre-squares, has enabled a detailed analysis of artefactual and soil movement across the site through time. Thus, the formation and growth of surface deposits, and the collection and dispersion of rubbish deposits from surface to subsoil feature, is outlined through a series of distribution plots. The end result is a multi-facetted study of one of the most complete early Anglo-Saxon settlements yet to be excavated, which concludes that it may have been an early form of estate centre, with associated high status burial and industrial activity.