Rural Settlement, Lifestyles and Social Change in the Later First Millennium AD: Anglo-Saxon Flixborough in Its Wider Context

238 Pages·2007·5.289 MB·English

by  Christopher Loveluck

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RURAL SETTLEMENT, LIFESTYLES
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SOCIAL CHANGE U
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IN THE LATER FIRST MILLENNIUM AD A
RURAL SETTLEMENT,
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Anglo-Saxon Flixborough in its Wider Context S
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LIFESTYLES SOCIAL
Between 1989 and 1991, excavations adjacent to the abandoned medieval settlement of North Conesby, T AND
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in the parish of Flixborough, North Lincolnshire, unearthed remains of an Anglo-Saxon settlement
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associated with one of the largest collections of artefacts and animal bones yet found on such a site. The
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Anglo-Saxon settlement was situated on a belt of windblown sand, overlooking the floodplain of the
River Trent, eight kilometres south of the Humber estuary. Analysis has demonstrated that the excavated E
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part of the settlement was occupied, or used for settlement-related activity, throughout what have been
termed the ‘Mid’ and ‘Late’ Anglo-Saxon periods. In an unprecedented occupation sequence from an T
Anglo-Saxon rural settlement, six main periods of occupation have been identified, with additional sub- , IN THE LATER FIRST MILLENNIUM AD
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phases, dating from the seventh to the early eleventh centuries; with a further period of activity, between
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the twelfth and fifteenth centuries AD. F
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S Anglo-Saxon Flixborough in its Wider Context
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The publication of the remains of the Anglo-Saxon settlement is achieved in four volumes, and will be
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supported by an extensive archive on the Archaeological Data Service (ADS) for the United Kingdom.
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The excavation, post-excavation analysis and publication phases of the project have been funded principally
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by English Heritage, and the project has been run through the Humberside Archaeology Unit and its
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successor, the Humber Archaeology Partnership.
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Volume 4 offers a series of thematic analyses which integrate all the forms of evidence from Flixborough
to reconstruct the lifestyles of the inhabitants, looking at relations with the surrounding landscape and
region, trade and exchange, and specialist artisan activity. Some of the wider themes considered include C
Christopher Loveluck
approaches to the interpretation of settlement character, the social spectrum of its inhabitants, changing h
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relationships between rural and emerging urban centres, and the importance of the excavated remains i
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within contemporary studies of early medieval settlement and society in western Europe. t
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Humber Archaeology Partnership
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EXCAVATIONS AT FLIXBOROUGH VOLUME 4
Oxbow Books

EXCAVATIONS AT FLIXBOROUGH VOL. 4
Rural Settlement, Lifestyles and Social Change
in the Later First Millennium AD:
Anglo-Saxon Flixborough in its wider context
ii
EXCAVATIONS AT FLIXBOROUGH
Vol. 1 The Early Medieval Settlement Remains from Flixborough, Lincolnshire: The Occupation Sequence,
c. AD 600–1000 by Christopher Loveluck and David Atkinson
Vol. 2 Life and Economy at Early Medieval Flixborough, c. AD 600–1000: The Artefact Evidence
edited by D. H. Evans and Christopher Loveluck
Vol. 3 Farmers, Monks and Aristocrats: The Environmental Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon Flixborough
by Keith Dobney, Deborah Jaques, James Barrett and Cluny Johnstone
Vol. 4 Rural Settlement, Lifestyles and Social Change in the Later First Millennium AD: Anglo-Saxon
Flixborough in its Wider Context by Christopher Loveluck
iii
EXCAVATIONS AT FLIXBOROUGH VOL. 4
Rural Settlement, Lifestyles and Social Change
in the Later First Millennium AD:
Anglo-Saxon Flixborough
in its wider context
by
Christopher Loveluck
with contributions by
James Barrett, Kenneth Cameron†, John Carrott, Richard Darrah, Keith Dobney,
Sarah Foot, Geoff Gaunt, Allan Hall, Jerry Herman, Deborah Jaques,
Cluny Johnstone, David Roffe, David Slater and Penelope Walton Rogers
Principal Illustrators
Mike Frankland and Penny Copeland
OXBOW BOOKS
Published by
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK
© Oxbow Books, Humber Archaeology Partnership and the authors 2007
ISBN 978-1-84217-256-8
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
This book is published with the aid of a grant
from English Heritage.
English Heritage is now Historic England
This book is available to download from
https://books.casematepublishing.com/Rural settlements, Lifestyles and Social Change, Flixborough.pdf
Front cover: Detail from an eleventh-century calendar illumination showing an aristocrat hunting
cranes and wildfowl in a wetland habitat (British Library, BL, MS Cotton Tiberius BV, f. 7v)
Rear cover: Detail from an eleventh-century manuscript depicting feasting in the hall
(British Library, BL, MS Cotton Claudius BIV, f.63v)
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Contents
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................................ viii
List of Contributors to the Flixborough Volumes...........................................................................................................xi
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................................................xiii
Zusammenfassung...........................................................................................................................................................xvii
Résumé ............................................................................................................................................................................xxi
Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................................................xxv
1 INTRODUCTION by Christopher Loveluck
1.1 Background.................................................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Structure and inter-relationship of the Flixborough publications...........................................................................2
1.3 Topographical setting of the settlement and the circumstances of discovery ........................................................3
1.4 Approaches to the interpretation of the settlement remains....................................................................................5
2 THE EXCAVATED ANGLO-SAXON SETTLEMENT REMAINS AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR
WIDER INTERPRETATION by Christopher Loveluck
2.1 The excavated Anglo-Saxon occupation sequence – a summary............................................................................8
2.2 To what extent are the excavated remains representative of the Anglo-Saxon settlement and its
inhabitants?...............................................................................................................................................................21
2.2.1 The seventh century (Period 1)........................................................................................................................................22
2.2.2 Late seventh to mid eighth century (Periods 2 to 3a)....................................................................................................23
2.2.3 Mid eighth to early ninth century (Period 3, Phase 3b)................................................................................................25
2.2.4 Early to mid ninth century (Period 4).............................................................................................................................26
2.2.5 Mid to late ninth to early tenth century (Period 5)........................................................................................................28
2.2.6 The tenth century (Period 6)............................................................................................................................................29
2.3 Summary: limits of inference for comparative analysis.........................................................................................30
3 THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: THE BUILDINGS, ASPECTS OF SETTLEMENT MORPHOLOGY
AND THE USE OF SPACE by Christopher Loveluck and Richard Darrah
3.1 Introduction by Christopher Loveluck....................................................................................................................31
3.2 The buildings, their parallels and functions, based on foundations and associated deposits
by Christopher Loveluck..........................................................................................................................................31
3.3 Identifying the architectural features of the Anglo-Saxon buildings at Flixborough, and understanding
their structures by Richard Darrah.........................................................................................................................51
3.4 Aspects of settlement morphology and the use of space by Christopher Loveluck.............................................66
vi Contents
4 ENVIRONMENT AND LANDSCAPE IN THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
by Geoff Gaunt, Christopher Loveluck and Kenneth Cameron †
4.1 The Anglo-Saxon settlement and its contemporary topography by Geoff Gaunt................................................75
4.1.1 Sea level.............................................................................................................................................................................75
4.1.2 Drainage features – the Humber river systems and settlement location......................................................................76
4.1.3 The nature of the low-lying ground around Flixborough...............................................................................................78
4.2 Landscape descriptions and place-names as evidence for the environment around Anglo-Saxon
Flixborough and North Conesby..............................................................................................................................80
4.2.1 Descriptions of the landscape and natural resources by C. Loveluck...........................................................................80
4.2.2 Place-names and field-names as indicators of settlement and environmental history
by K. Cameron† (collated with introduction and concluding synthesis by C. Loveluck).....................................................83
5 THE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY AND RESOURCE PROCUREMENT
by Keith Dobney, Deborah Jaques, Cluny Johnstone, Allan Hall, James Barrett, Jerry Herman,
John Carrott, and David Slater
5.1 Pastoral strategies – animal husbandry by Keith Dobney, Deborah Jaques and Cluny Johnstone...................87
5.2 Arable strategies and processing of arable crops by Allan Hall ...........................................................................90
5.3 Procurement strategies – fishing, hunting and environmental management by Keith Dobney,
Deborah Jaques, James Barrett and Jerry Herman..............................................................................................90
5.4 Reconstruction of the environmental habitats utilised by the inhabitants of the settlement by K. Dobney,
James Barrett, John Carrott, Allan Hall, David Slater, Deborah Jaques and Cluny Johnstone ......................94
5.5 Changing patterns of exploitation and their implications by Keith Dobney, James Barrett,
Deborah Jaques and Cluny Johnstone....................................................................................................................96
6 CRAFT AND TECHNOLOGY – NON-AGRARIAN ACTIVITIES UNDERPINNING EVERYDAY LIFE
by Christopher Loveluck and Penelope Walton Rogers
6.1 Introduction by Christopher Loveluck ....................................................................................................................99
6.2 Patterns of craft-working at Flixborough and comparison with contemporary Anglo-Saxon settlements
by Christopher Loveluck..........................................................................................................................................99
6.2.1 The eighth century: catering for the needs of the settlement........................................................................................99
6.2.2 Late eighth to mid ninth century: increased craft diversity, specialisation, and production for export?.................102
6.2.3 The later ninth and tenth centuries: limited artisan activity in support of daily life................................................104
6.3 The importance and organisation of textile production by Penelope Walton Rogers.......................................106
6.3.1 Textile production between the mid eighth and mid ninth century............................................................................106
6.3.2 Textile production between the late ninth and early eleventh century......................................................................110
7 TRADE AND EXCHANGE – THE SETTLEMENT AND THE WIDER WORLD
by Christopher Loveluck, Keith Dobney and James Barrett
7.1 Introduction by Christopher Loveluck ..................................................................................................................112
7.2 The settlement within East Midlands, Humber estuary and continental exchange networks,
AD 650–1000 by Christopher Loveluck...............................................................................................................112
7.2.1 Exchange contacts before AD 700.................................................................................................................................112
7.2.2 The eighth century..........................................................................................................................................................114
7.2.3 Late eighth to mid ninth century ...................................................................................................................................116
7.2.4 The later ninth and tenth centuries ...............................................................................................................................118
7.3 Evidence of regional and long-distance contacts from the faunal remains by Keith Dobney
and James Barrett ..................................................................................................................................................121
7.4 Comparative trends and contexts for exchange and commodity movement by Christopher Loveluck............124
Contents vii
8 HISTORICAL CONTEXT WITHIN LINDSEY AND POSSIBLE ESTATE STRUCTURES
by Sarah Foot and David Roffe
8.1 The historical setting of the seventh- to tenth-century settlement within northern Lindsey
by Sarah Foot.........................................................................................................................................................130
8.2 Flixborough – the later history by David Roffe ...................................................................................................136
9 CHANGING LIFESTYLES, INTERPRETATION OF SETTLEMENT CHARACTER AND
WIDER PERSPECTIVES by Christopher Loveluck
9.1 Frameworks of interpretation and dynamic settlement sequences......................................................................144
9.2 Lifestyles and interpretation of settlement character, AD 700–1000 .................................................................147
9.2.1 The eighth century: feasting, hunting and conspicuous consumption.........................................................................148
9.2.2 The early to mid ninth century: a settlement housing specialist artisans and a partly literate community............151
9.2.3 The mid to late ninth to early tenth century: diminished production on a ‘low-status’ settlement?.......................154
9.2.4 The tenth century: the return of conspicuous consumption and a rural elite identity at a manorial centre............155
9.3 Some wider perspectives........................................................................................................................................157
9.3.1 Patterns of discard and archaeological interpretation of early medieval settlement deposits..................................157
9.3.2 Lifestyle patterns and transformations..........................................................................................................................159
9.4 Final conclusions....................................................................................................................................................162
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................................................................165
INDEX .......................................................................................................................................................................181
COLOUR PLATES
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List of Figures
Figures with an asterisk (*) are colour plates and can be found in a separate section at the back of the volume.
Chapter 1 2.8* Building 1b under excavation (Humber Field
1.1 Location Map – Flixborough within the trans- Archaeology).
Humber region (M. Frankland). 2.9 Plan of the excavated area, Period 3, Phase 3biii,
1.2* The Humber estuary and Trent Falls (the delta of mid to late eighth century (M. Frankland).
the River Trent) from the Lincolnshire Edge at 2.10 Plan of the excavated area, Period 3, Phase 3biv,
Alkborough, 5km north of Flixborough mid to late eighth century (M. Frankland).
(C. Loveluck). 2.11 Plan of the excavated area, Period 3, Phase 3bv,
1.3 Map of the solid-rock geology and Quaternary mid to late eighth century (M. Frankland).
geology of parts of northern Lincolnshire and the 2.12 Plan of the excavated area, Period 4, Phase 4i,
Humber estuary, after G. Gaunt (M. Frankland). early to mid ninth century (M. Frankland).
1.4* Topographic situation of Flixborough today, 2.13 Plan of the excavated area, Period 4, Phase 4ii,
looking east across the River Trent towards the mid ninth century (M. Frankland).
Lincolnshire Edge escarpment (C. Loveluck). 2.14* View of the excavated section of the boundary
1.5* Aerial photograph showing the sand spurs and ditch (50), with bones visible in its fill (T. P.
shallow valley running into the centre of the O’Connor).
excavated area (Humber Field Archaeology). 2.15 Plan of the excavated area, Period 5, Phase 5a,
1.6 Plan of the excavated areas and adjacent settlement mid to late ninth century (M. Frankland).
features (M. Frankland). 2.16* Paths across central refuse dumps, Phase 5a
1.7 Schematic plan of the development of the settle- (Humber Field Archaeology).
ment of North Conesby, within the modern parish 2.17 Plan of the excavated area, Period 5, Phase 5b,
of Flixborough (D. Atkinson and M. Frankland). late ninth to early tenth century (M. Frankland).
2.18 Plan of the excavated area, Period 6, Phase 6i,
Chapter 2 early to mid tenth century (M. Frankland).
2.1 Contour map of the excavated area, 1989–1991, 2.19 Plan of the excavated area, Period 6, Phase 6ii,
showing the sand spurs and the central shallow mid tenth century (M. Frankland).
valley (M. Frankland). 2.20 Plan of the excavated area, Period 6, Phase 6iii, mid
2.2* View of the excavations, showing the spurs and tenth to early eleventh century (M. Frankland).
buildings and refuse dumps in the central shallow 2.21* Sixth-century Great square-headed brooch from
valley (Humber Field Archaeology). the excavated area (B. Marsden; Humber Field
2.3 Plan of the excavated area, Period 1, Phase 1a, Archaeology).
seventh century, plus convention key (M. 2.22* Gilt-silver disc brooch with zoo-morphic decora-
Frankland). tion from refuse dump 3758, manufactured during
2.4 Plan of the excavated area, Period 1, Phase 1b, the late eighth – early ninth century, (B. Marsden;
seventh century (M. Frankland). Humber Field Archaeology).
2.5 Plan of the excavated area, Period 2, late seventh 2.23* Inscribed lead plaque dating from the end of the
to early eighth century (M. Frankland). eighth or early ninth century, recovered from a
2.6 Plan of the excavated area, Period 3, Phase 3a, late ninth- to early tenth-century refuse dump
early to mid eighth century (M. Frankland). (courtesy British Museum).
2.7 Plan of the excavated area, Period 3, Phase 3bii,
mid to late eighth century (M. Frankland).