On the Architecture of the Abbey Church of Dorchester

During 1984 and 1985 an area of over 1500 sq. m was excavated on Hartlepool Headland (NZ 528 336) by Cleveland County Archaeology Section. The results of this work will be presented in two parts, the Anglo-Saxon first, followed by the Medieval in a later volume of the Journal.

The excavations revealed two periods of Anglo-Saxon occupation, defined by a change from earthfast to free-standing structures. The earlier period, of earthfast construction, has been divided into four phases ranging in date from the mid seventh century to the first quarter of the eighth Century. Associated with the earlier period was a boundary complex of two phases of construction. This has been interpreted as a ‘vallum monasterii’. The backfill of the boundary was radiocarbon dated to c. ad 690 and contained metalworking moulds and crucibles. The latter included three decorated pieces which have added materially to the knowledge of early Northumbrian art and metalworking.

The later period of occupation saw the construction of free-standing, stone-footed structures. In some cases the footings had been inserted into earthfast structures of the earlier period. This site is interpreted as part of the Anglo-Saxon double monastery of ‘Heruteu’, comprising an area of workshops and living quarters. Occupation ceased in the last quarter of the eighth century.     

内蒙古南宝力皋吐鲜卑墓地发掘简报

2006年,内蒙古通辽市在国道304线改扩建工程配套专线施工时,在南宝力皋吐村发现一处鲜卑墓地。2007年,内蒙古文物考古研究所对该墓地进行了抢救发掘。发掘面积1000平方米,清理同时期鲜卑墓葬34座。出土少量陶器。根据发掘情况分析,认为该墓地经过迁葬。     

Ceramic Petrology and the Study of Anglo-Saxon and Later Medieval Ceramics

Abstract

A SURVEY of archaeological ceramic thin sections held by institutions and individuals in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the early 1990s by the City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit and funded by English Heritage. Over 6,000 thin sections of Anglo-Saxon or medieval date (or reports on their analysis) were located. For the Middle to Late Anglo-Saxon and the post-Conquest Periods, these studies have confirmed that pottery production was carried out in a limited number of centres and that most pottery, including handmade coarsewares, was therefore produced for trade. The distances over which pottery was carried vary from period to period but were actually as high or higher in the Middle to Late Anglo-Saxon Period as in the 13th to 14h centuries. However, for the Early Anglo-Saxon Period (and the Middle Anglo-Saxon Period outside of eastern England) the evidence of ceramic petrology is equivocal and requires more study. These 6,000–odd thin sections represent a resource which could be used for various future studies, some of which are discussed here, and as an aid to their further use a database containing information on the sampled ceramics, their location and publications of their analyses will be published online through Internet Archaeology.     

Some churches of the Anglo-Saxon missionaries in southern Germany: a review of the evidence

An historical introduction outlines the main events in the lives of the principal missionaries – Willibald, Wynnebald, Waldburga, Sola – during the central years of the eighth century, and argues that Willibald was consecrated bishop of Erfurt. A review of the topographical and archaeological evidence concentrates on Eichstätt, whose street pattern reveals the layout of the early town and monastery; new interpretations are suggested for unusual features uncovered by excavation at the cathedral/monastery site. The excavations at Solnhofen are similarly re-examined. Overall, no substantial evidence is found for Anglo-Saxon influence on the church archaeology of the area.     

Anglo-Saxon Economy and Ecology by a Downland Stream: A Waterlogged Sequence from the Anglo-Saxon Royal Settlement at Lyminge,Kent

Palaeoecological and geoarchaeological investigations which cover the Anglo-Saxon period are rare, particularly in chalk downland landscapes which are considered to have limited palaeoenvironmental potential. The present study explores a sequence which can be directly related to the occupation history of the major Anglo-Saxon settlement at Lyminge, Kent. This work demonstrated a sequence of palaeochannels and organic deposits associated with the latter part of an archaeological sequence which spans the 5th to the 11th centuries AD. A range of evidence for the environment and economic activity is presented which suggests landscape continuity, possibly stretching back as far as the Romano-British period. The sequence revealed worked wood and evidence for livestock management and cereal cultivation, some of which is contemporary with the final phases of occupation of a 7th century ‘great hall complex’ and its subsequent transformation into a royal monastery. Agricultural activity following the abandonment of the pre-monastic settlement area caused this stream margin to become gradually buried by ploughwash which displaced the channel over time and sealed the organic deposits. It is incredibly rare to find such organic preservation in direct association with an Anglo-Saxon downland rural settlement and this is the first time that such a sequence has been analysed in association with the latter phases of a known Anglo-Saxon royal and monastic centre.     

Recent discoveries at Ely Cathedral,Cambridgeshire: Aetheldreda’s Gate,the church of Holy Cross and the possible boundary of the Anglo-Saxon monastery

Recent fieldwork ahead of construction in Ely Cathedral precinct has identified two documented but ‘lost’ medieval buildings, in addition to a large boundary ditch and other deposits which potentially relate to the monastery founded by St Aetheldreda in the late seventh century. The excavations provide an opportunity to review the currently limited state of knowledge regarding the location and layout of the Anglo-Saxon monastery at Ely and to put forward some models to be tested through future fieldwork.     

AN ANGLO-SAXON EXECUTION CEMETERY AT WALKINGTON WOLD, YORKSHIRE

Summary.   This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a 'Celtic' head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper.     

湖北郧县乔家院春秋殉人墓

乔家院墓地位于郧县西部山区,东距郧县县城约40公里。墓地座落在汉江上游南岸的台地上,北与郧西县的天河口隔江相望,现隶属于郧县五峰乡肖家河村。墓地中     

河南鹤壁市刘庄遗址下七垣文化墓地发掘简报

刘庄遗址位于河南省鹤壁市淇滨区大赉店镇刘庄村南地。2005年7~12月,为配合南水北调中线工程的建设,河南省文物考古研究所等单位对遗址进行了考古发掘,揭露面积7700平方米。遗址上层为较大规模的下七垣文化墓地,发现墓葬338座,墓地布局清楚、保存完整,随葬品较为丰富,填补了下七垣文化发掘研究工作的一项空白,对下七垣文化墓葬制度、社会结构、商人渊源、夷夏商关系等重要学术问题的研究将会起到一定的推进作用。     

湖北丹江口市八腊庙墓群第二次发掘简报

2011年6～7月,为配合南水北调工程,湖北省文物考古研究所对湖北丹江口市八腊庙墓群进行了第二次抢救性发掘。共清理墓葬23座,其中东周墓18座、唐墓2座、明清墓3座。东周墓主要为长方形竖穴土坑墓,随葬器物有以鬲、盂、罐为主的日常生活用品组合,墓葬时代约在春秋中、晚期,以鼎、敦、壶为主的仿青铜礼器组合,墓葬时代为战国中晚期。本次发掘为探讨丹江口库区楚文化以及该地区楚文化与中原文化的交融提供了新的研究资料     

湖北荆门十里铺土公台西汉墓发掘简报

土公台墓地位于荆门市沙洋县十里铺镇王场村八组一南北向的岗地上。为配合襄荆高速公路建设,湖北省文物考古研究所会同荆门市博物馆,在此共发掘西汉中晚期墓葬21座,出土了一批西汉时期文物,为研究该地区的汉代墓葬提供了新材料。     

A leprous skeleton of the 7th century from Eccles,Kent, and the present evidence of leprosy in early Britain

A male skeleton of 7th century date from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Eccles, Kent, is described. Certain skeletal changes associated with leprosy are manifest. The disease is discussed in its palaeopathological context and this case in relation to the few other cases of the disease hitherto diagnosed in Great Britain.     

山西芮城清凉寺史前墓地

清凉寺史前墓地位于山西省芮城县东北部,在中条山脉南麓、黄河北侧,为山前丘陵坡地(图一)。由于遗址地跨西陌乡寺里和陌南镇坡头村,所以称为寺里—坡头遗址,面积约200万平方米。最早发现于1955年,1965年公布为山西省重点文物保护单位。1975和1984年,当地村     

Monks on the move? An assessment of mobility at the medieval Nubian monastery of Ghazali,Sudan (ca. 680–1,275 CE)

The location of Ghazali monastery away from the Nile valley within the relatively isolated environs of the Bayuda desert presents a landscape suggestive of mobility toward the monastery by those who chose to reside there as monks. To assess this potentiality, a sample of 37 individuals from the monastic cemetery (Cemetery 2) were analysed for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O to assess residency during dental enamel formation. The data generated bring into question the nature of mobility to Ghazali monastery, particularly in regard to the potential movement of people from the Nile valley, adjacent desertic landscapes, and further afield.     

河南上蔡县卧龙岗战国西汉墓发掘简报

卧龙岗位于上蔡县城西北部的黄土岗。驻马店市文物考古管理所为配合基本建设对墓葬区进行了发掘, 清理古代墓葬 50余座, 多为战国西汉墓。此次发掘, 对研究蔡国故地的社会形态及埋葬习俗提供了新的实物资料。     

The Reuse of ‘Antiques’ in Conversion Period Cemeteries

BETWEEN 2005 AND 2007, a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery was excavated at Street House, near Loftus in Cleveland in north-eastern England. The site was discovered during a programme of research into late-prehistoric settlement in the area and hosts a range of monuments dating from 3000 bc to ad 650. In the context of the conversion period, the Anglo-Saxon cemetery is of significant interest due to a range of reused prehistoric and Romano-British objects found as gravegoods. By ad 650, when some of the objects were buried, they were already antiques, and some may have been at least 250 years old when deposited. During the conversion period, furnished burial was a diminishing rite and the placement of objects within the grave may therefore have held a greater significance. This study considers reused artefacts recovered from conversion -period cemeteries. At a time when a number of cemeteries were being founded in relation to earlier monuments, some contained burials that reused artefacts and jewellery of prehistoric and Romano-British date. There is a compelling pattern for this practice at Street House, but this phenomenon also occurred at other sites of a similar date.     

重庆巫山县神女路秦汉墓葬发掘简报

神女路墓地位于重庆市巫山县巫峡镇高塘村,现为巫山县新城区,西北部为大巴山脉,东南面距长江1.5公里,是一处时代为秦、两汉时期的中小型墓地。为配合三峡工程和迁建的巫山新城区建设,2000年9月,武汉市文物考古研究所联合重庆市文物考古研究所、巫山县文物管理所,在此进行了抢救性考古发掘。共清理发掘墓葬15座,主要为竖穴土坑墓,竖穴砖室墓和土洞砖室墓三种形制。根据墓葬形制及随葬器物组合,这批墓葬可分为三期六段,是研究峡江地区秦、两汉时期丧葬制度及习俗等重要的考古资料。     

ANGLO-SAXON COPPER ALLOYS FROM LECHLADE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Summary. A range of copper-alloy artefacts from the early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Lechlade were analysed using X-ray fluorescence. There were few pure bronzes or brasses in the assemblage and most alloys contained significant amounts of zinc, tin and lead in variable ratios. In view of the current theory that supplies of new metals and ores were limited and Anglo-Saxon metalworkers normally used scrap metal, the compositions were used to assess the techniques of the craftsmen supplying this community. It is concluded that re-use of copper alloys was prevalent but that metals were selected quite carefully for particular applications, with regard to the metallurgical characteristics required.     

Sepulchral Brasses,and Incised Slabs

A Middle Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Chesterton Lane Corner, Cambridge, has been radiocarbon dated to the seventh to ninth centuries with its floruit in the eighth century and evidence that many of the individuals buried there were executed. Intriguingly, there is also a Late Roman decapitation burial at the site. The evidence for Middle Anglo-Saxon Cambridge is reviewed and the relationship between justice and central places is considered.     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Dark Age Naval Power—a Reassessment of Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Seafaring Activity. JOHN HAYWOOD
Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology Conference (Tuscon, Arizona 1990). TONIL.CARRELL(Ed.)
Building the Trireme. FRANK WELSH
Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail—the Evolution of Fighting Tactics 1650–1815. BRIAN TUNSTALL (NICHOLAS TRACY, Ed.)
Agatharchides of Cnidus—On the Erythraean Sea. STANLEY M. BURSTEIN (Ed. and translation)
Pandora —an Archaeological Perspective. PETER GESNER
L'Art de Batir les Vaisseaux. PIETER VAN DER MERWE