Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England c. 650-1100 AD

153 Pages·2010·0.4 MB·English

by  Jo Buckberry

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:
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(Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone])
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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