Of saints,sows or smiths? Copper-brazed iron handbells in Early Medieval England

ABSTRACT

Copper-brazed iron handbells were a distinctive feature of monastic life in Early Medieval Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Handbells were used in liturgy, prayer, worship, and later as reliquaries. In England, brazed bells of the seventh to ninth centuries take on a greater range of sizes and forms and are found on a wider variety of sites. As a consequence, their roles within Christianity have been questioned, and associations with animals and itinerant smiths have been emphasised instead. Recent archaeological investigation of an Anglo-Saxon marsh-island at Little Carlton, Lincolnshire has resulted in one of the largest assemblages of copper-brazed iron bells from any site in England, comparable to similar collections from Flixborough and Brandon. Taking into consideration the inclusion of brazen bells in some ritualistic ‘closure hoards’, this paper argues that whilst Anglo-Saxon plain iron bells may have fulfilled a range of profane functions, those that were copper-brazed, regardless of their size, were important objects amongst early Christian communities in England, and the Northumbrian church in particular.     

An Outstanding Hoard of Gold Objects Deposited in the Late Saxon Period

Abstract

A HOARD OF FOUR GOLD FINGER-RINGS and other items discovered in West Yorkshire by a metal-detectorist is remarkable for the superb quality of the objects, their occurrence as a group and because some of the rings were probably never worn. Each piece is introduced and discussed against the relevant Anglo-Saxon, continental and Viking background, and a link to 10th-century Danelaw elites is proposed.     

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.     

An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Greenbank,Darlington

NORTH of the R. Tees pagan Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are only conspicuous by their virtual absence; and, from the ten undoubted examples known,¹ both the quality and quantity of the objects recovered do little to illuminate the Anglo-Saxon element in the culture of Bernicia—a kingdom which probably owed much of its numerical strength to native British survival.² In view of the scant evidence available, it is surprising that the finds from Darlington, the richest cemetery N. of the Tees, have never been fully published before.³ This paper seeks to make good this omission.     

A Holiday Journal of 1774

Abstract

Early illustrations of Ledsham church do not show carvings around the Anglo-Saxon doorway into the tower, and examination of the physical condition of the stonework suggests that it is unlikely that the carvings could have survived from the Anglo-Saxon period. The peculiar features of the doorway and its carvings are best explained by the work being a nineteenth-century replacement by the Victorian architect, Henry Curzon.     

An 18th-Century Mansion,a Fishpond,and Post-Medieval Finds from St. Neots,Huntingdonshire

Abstract

The remains of Hall Place, St. Neots, a late 17th- or early 18th-century house facing Church Street, were encountered during the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon settlement in 1961. Hall place had been built over the site of a large timber-lined cutting, perhaps a fishpond, which had been filled up with domestic rubbish and demolition debris during the course of the 16th century. The fishpond contained a large group of finds including both local and imported pottery, metalwork and leather objects. Pits, wells and other late and post-medieval structures and features were also found in the garden areas behind Hall Place and other Church Street houses.     

Communication of Discoveries of Medieval Paintings,Etc

Abstract

Until 1965 Holy Trinity parish church, Much Wenlock (Shropshire), was believed to be wholly Norman and later. In that year it was proposed that the south chancel chapel and south nave aisle were Anglo-Saxon. Two vertical strips of squared stones, built into the upper part (a later heightening) of the aisle's south wall, were interpreted as Anglo-Saxon pilaster strips of the type later classified by Dr H. M. Taylor as ‘long-and-short’. If the upper part of that wall was Anglo-Saxon, the lower part must have been earlier Anglo-Saxon, and so must the chapel south wall, which is integral with the lower part of the aisle wall. The Norman nave and chancel must have been added to an-existing Anglo-Saxon structure.

We believe, however, that the aisle and chapel must have been added to an existing Norman structure, for the Norman nave had originally a south-east external clasping buttress. Structural and documentary evidence shows that the strips are probably of the later thirteenth or earlier fourteenth century. Moreover similar strips occur in another part of the church that is probably of that date or later. ‘Pilaster strips’ of ‘long-and-short’ appearance may evidently be looked for elsewhere in twelfth-century or later contexts, especially in the heightened parts of unsupported rubble walls.     

A Donkey (Equus asinus L.) Partial Skeleton from a Mid-Late Anglo-Saxon Alluvial Layer at Deans Yard Westminster,London SW1

Abstract

A domestic donkey (Equus asinus) partial skeleton has been recovered from a mid-late Anglo-Saxon alluvial deposit situated below the present Westminster School at Deans Yard, Westminster, London. The remains have been radiocarbon dated to the 8th-9th century AD and, therefore, pre-date both the abbey of Edward the Confessor and the earlier foundation of St Dunstan. The skeleton is of particular importance as it is the only well dated specimen of its species recovered thus far in England from the Anglo-Saxon and Medieval periods.     

Normanising the North: The Evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian Sculpture

Abstract

This Study Probes the destruction of material culture to illuminate the introduction of Norman political authority into northern England. A brief overview of Norman destruction of churches provides the background to a review of the potential relationship of Anglo-Saxon monuments with memory and identity, in the context of recent discussions of monument reuse. Durham and York, the Anglo-Saxon monastic sites at Wearmouth/Jarrow, Lindisfarne and Jedburgh, and a selection of local churchyards provide case studies. It argues that some monuments seem to have been deliberately targeted, but a wider range of factors, all ultimately derived from changing political circumstances, can be identified that explain why sculpture was removed and reused. The paper serves as a platform for further debate about the significance of monuments in the Middle Ages, and as a contribution to the broader discourse within archaeology about their social meanings.     

Early ironworking in Iron Age South India: New evidence for the social organization of production from northern Karnataka

Abstract

Iron production was integral to political and ritual practices during the South Indian Iron Age (ca. 1200–300 b.c.), yet the investigation of the social relations of metals production during this period has been overshadowed by studies of iron consumption, particularly of iron objects in megalithic mortuary contexts. Recent archaeological research in the Tungabhadra River Corridor, Karnataka, has revealed iron production debris within and between settlements in more ephemeral occupational contexts, such as rockshelters. One notable discovery is the earliest ironworking facility in South India at Bukkasagara. The regional pattern suggests that iron production involved at least two classes of specialist producers—smelters and smiths—who exercised varying degrees of control over the practice and products of their craft. It also suggests that iron production was an important component in the construction and negotiation of Iron Age social differences, affiliations, and inequalities.     

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.     

Inaugural Address at Durham

Abstract

The documented gift of Kilpeck church to St Peter's Abbey (now the Cathedral), Gloucester, is taken as the starting-point for the examination of sculptural and architectural links between Gloucester and Gloucestershire churches, on the one hand, and Kilpeck and Herefordshire churches, on the other. Technical aspects of the so-called Dymock School of Sculpture emphasise its importance in the formation of the Herefordshire School. Aspects of Roman and Anglo-Saxon heritage are also considered.     

TRACING THE RESOURCES OF IRON WORKING AT ANCIENT SAGALASSOS (SOUTH‐WEST TURKEY): A COMBINED LEAD AND STRONTIUM ISOTOPE STUDY ON IRON ARTEFACTS AND ORES*

Lead and strontium isotope analyses were performed by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) on Roman to Byzantine iron artefacts and iron ores from the territory of ancient Sagalassos (south‐west Turkey), to evaluate Pb and Sr isotopes for provenance determination of ores for local iron production. It can be demonstrated that for early Roman artefacts and hematite iron ore processed in early Roman times from Sagalassos proper, as well as for magnetite placer sands and early Byzantine raw iron from the territory of the city, Sr isotopes are much less ambiguous than Pb isotopes in providing clearly coherent signatures for ore and related iron objects. Late Roman iron objects were produced from iron ores that as yet remain unidentified. Early Byzantine iron artefacts display more scatter in both their Pb and Sr isotope signatures, indicating that many different ore sources may have been used. Our study demonstrates that iron objects can be precisely analysed for their Sr isotopic composition, which, compared to Pb isotopes, appears to be a much more powerful tool for distinguishing between chronological groups and determining the provenance of raw materials.     

Excavations at Lismahon,Co. Down

Abstract

There is a Growing recognition that introduced species are direct records of cultural activity and that studies of their biogeography have the potential to tell us about patterns of human migration, trade and even ideology. In England the fallow deer (Dama dama dama) is one of the earliest and most successful animal introductions, whose establishment has traditionally been attributed to the Normans. However, recent investigations of Old English place names have raised the possibility that the term *pohha/pocca relates to fallow deer, suggesting that the species was widely established in the Anglo-Saxon landscape. This suggestion deserves serious consideration as it has implications for our understanding both of AngloSaxon society and the impact of the Norman Conquest. This paper therefore presents a critical review of the literary, iconographic, place-name and zooarchaeological evidence for fallow deer in early medieval England and beyond.     

On Medieval Earthenware Vessels

Abstract

Anglo-Saxon architecture was first securely identified in the early 19th century, after which its characteristics were progressively defined and discussed. At the beginning of the 20th century, Gerard Baldwin Brown assembled a corpus of the surviving structures, analysing their architectural styles and attempting to date them; this process was continued and refined by Harold Taylor, culminating in his three-volume opus (1965–78). Since then, many new discoveries have been made and detailed studies of individual buildings carried out, together with major excavations at Winchester, Wells, Gloucester, Jarrow, Wearmouth, Barton-upon-Humber and other locations. Research has also been directed towards the remains of painted decoration on stone and plaster, and on the small amount of carpentry surviving from the period. Consequently, the volume of evidence relating to Anglo-Saxon churches, their construction and decoration has increased enormously. In particular, there has been a growing realisation that these churches were not the ‘rude structures’ that they were dubbed by early antiquaries, but sophisticated in design and execution. Moreover, they were highly decorated internally, and probably externally too. This paper reviews some of the evidence gathered over the last forty years, mainly through archaeological investigation, both above and below ground. It concludes that we have hitherto underestimated the physical complexity and the architectonic and artistic qualities of Anglo-Saxon churches. It is now possible to reconstruct from ephemeral evidence a much greater understanding of the three-dimensional form and decoration of these buildings.     

On Early Church Windows

Abstract

Anglo-Saxon garnet cloisonné composite disc brooches form a small but important group of jewellery, representing an extremely high level of design and craftsmanship. While a good deal has been written about them in various contexts, this paper sets out to analyse the brooches in terms of their construction. All eighteen known examples (with the exception of one now lost) were examined in detail, from a practical manufacturing point of view, and a number of their components classified: cloisonné work, rims, back-plates, brooch fittings and general construction. On the basis of this examination, clear distinctions could be drawn between two groups — those with gold cloisonné work and those with copper-alloy. Within these groups, it is further possible to draw parallels between three sets of brooches (two pairs with gold cloisonné and a trio with copper alloy) which appear likely to have had a common manufacturing source.

Very little is known of the Anglo-Saxon jewellers, but there can have been only a small number of them. Because of this, and the high level of skill needed to make both types of brooch, it would not be safe to assume that the copper alloy cloisonné examples necessarily represent a degenerate form of the gold. The Sarre brooch illustrates levels of accomplishment comparable with that seen on many gold cloisonné brooches.     

Fowler's Type G Penannular Brooches Reconsidered

Abstract

Analysis of coin finds in an area of NE. England employs and modifies methods developed for Iron-age and Romano-British assemblages alongside quantitative analysis developed specifically for Anglo-Saxon coinages. The results illustrate that observed patterns of coin loss do represent the overall coin loss for the study area, and sites can be confidently compared to each other and the region as a whole. The role and function of coinage apparently changes dramatically over the period from a medium of long-distance trade in the early period to a cash currency by the Viking takeover of York. A review of 'productive sites' suggests that these sites can only be adequately interpreted through analysis of their assemblages against the background of the regional circulation of coinage and artefacts.     

Symmetry and Perfection of Form

Abstract

Objects in space are here considered from the point of view of geometrical symmetry. Accordingly, only their shape or form is important, and their size or position in space may be ignored. By comparing the symmetry of a given object with that of nearby objects of the same kind, we can identify those objects that are 'perfect' of their kind in a precise, technical sense. Among convex polyhedra with given incidence structure, there are exactly nine instances of such perfection of form.     

Insect invaders of reconstructed Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow,Suffolk, England

Abstract

The insect fauna, particularly beetles (Coleoptera), of four modern reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow, Suffolk, UK, has been investigated by pitfall trapping. Modest numbers of insects were recovered from each structure. The overlap with the fauna recovered from archaeological floor deposits of about the same period was notable, being greater than predicted, since the reconstructions lacked the litter and waste believed to have been available as insect habitats in the past.