Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon ‘Home Farm’

THE LAST TWO DECADES have witnessed a marked rise in middle Anglo-Saxon settlement research, as archaeologists have become increasingly aware of the way in which this transformative period in English history can be recognised through habitation sites. Though a period during which individuals and institutions seemingly wielded unprecedented new power, archaeologists have struggled to identify many of the processes or ‘motors’ by which such authority was articulated in the landscape. This paper concerns itself with understanding one such driver, demonstrating how early medieval kings shifted power from tribute-orientated regimes to ones rooted in agricultural exploitation. The Church was fundamental to this shift in authority, and was used as a means of consolidating new power relations. In order to sustain more permanent clerical communities, the Church developed core agricultural areas surrounding their centres, known as inland, upon which were established early types of ‘home farm’. In addition to their functional purpose middle Anglo-Saxon ‘home farms’ were subject to exceptionally high degrees of spatial ordering. Such definition of settlement space, which now included property plots and houses defined by boundaries of unprecedented permanence, allowed elites to shape and consolidate perceptions of social order in the landscape. Power was now being materialised, not only through agricultural production but also through the lived experience of rural communities, as a social hierarchy which considered the place of kings as divinely appointed became firmly established.     

An Archaeological Review of Western New Guinea

Western New Guinea constitutes a frontier zone physically, politically, culturally and conceptually between Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Despite this pivotal position, archaeological information for the region is scarce due to limited investigations, limited publication and the multilingual nature of publications. Consequently, little archaeological information about western New Guinea has percolated into the mainstream literature. This paper aims to fill this gap and provides a detailed review of archaeological research, including rock art, published in Dutch, English, French, German and Indonesian. The resultant findings are discussed in terms of continuities and discontinuities with Papua New Guinea and Island Southeast Asia.     

Book reviews

New works in geography

Empire Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalism. Gregory A. Barton. Pp. xiii + 192. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0 521 81417 0 (hbk).

Claiming Rural Identities: Dynamics, Contexts, Policies. Tialda Haartsen, Peter Groote &; Paulus P.P. Huigen (eds). Pp. viii + 166. Assen: Van Gorcum, 2000. Price €17.02, ISBN 90 232 3567 3 (pbk).

Geographies of Health. Anthony C. Gatrell. Pp. xv + 294. Oxford: Blackwell. 2002. Price £16.99 (pbk), ISBN 0 631 21985 4 (pbk).

The Peopling of Britain: The Shaping of the Human Landscape. Paul Slack and Ryk Ward (eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press 2002. Price £50.00 (hbk), ISBN 0 19 829759 9 (hbk).

Focus on Scotland

William Speirs Bruce: Polar Explorer and Scottish Nationalist. Peter Speak. Pp. 144. Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland Publishing, 2003. Price £9.99 (pbk), ISBN 1 901663 71 X (pbk).     

Reviews

Australian. Robert Manne, The Petrov Affair: Politics and Espionage, Sydney, Pergamon, 1987, pp.310. $28.50 (cloth), $19.00 (paper).

P. Loveday and D. Wade‐Marshall (eds), Economy and People in the North, Australian National University & North Australia Research Unit, Darwin, 1985, pp. 294. $18.00 (paper).

Barry M. Coldrey, Critical Issues in Peace Studies, Melbourne, Edward Arnold, 1987, pp. 151. $15.95 (paper).

G. Zdenkqwski, C. Ronalds and M. Richardson, The Criminal Injustice System, Volume 2, Pluto Press, Sydney and London, 1987, pp.325. $19.95 (paper).

Drew Hutton (ed.), Green Politics in Australia, Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1987, pp. 245. $14.95 (paper).

Philip Ayres, Malcolm Fraser: A Biography, Melbourne, Heinemann, 1987, pp. 518. $39.95 (cloth).

Denis White & David Kemp (eds), Malcolm Fraser on Australia, Melbourne, Hill of Content, 1986, pp. 240. $19.95 (paper).

Comparative and International. Gavan McCormack & Yoshi Sugimoto (eds), Democracy in Contemporary Japan, Sydney, Hale & Iremonger, New York, M.E. Sharpe Inc.; 1986, pp.272, $14.95 (paper).

Richard Robison, Indonesia: the Rise of Capital, Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1986, pp. 425. $19.95 (paper).

Frederic Spotts and Theodor Wieser, Italy: A Difficult Democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986, pp.329. $32.00 (paper).

Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller, Doomsday or Deterrence? On the Antinuclear Issue, New York, Sharpe, 1986, pp.153. U.S.$12.95 (paper).

Rasul B. Rais, The Indian Ocean and the Superpowers, London, Croom Helm, 1986, pp. 215. £25.00 (cloth).

Neil Harding (ed.), The State in Socialist Society, Oxford/London, St Antony's/Macmillan, 1984, pp.316. $18.95 (paper).

Peter Raina (ed.), Poland 1981: Towards Social Renewal, London, Allen & Unwin, 1985, pp. 472. $55.00 (cloth).

Rasma Karklins, Ethnic Relations in the USSR: The Perspective from Below, Boston, Allen & Unwin, 1986, pp. 256. $54.00 (cloth).

A.E. Holmans, Housing Policy in Britain, London, Croom Helm, 1987, pp. 489. £29.95 (cloth).

William H. Flanigan and Nancy H. Zingale, Political Behavior of the American Electorate. Boston, Allyn and Bacon, sixth edition, 1987, pp. 221. $33.95 (paper).

Political Theory and Methodology. Andrew Cox. Paul Furlong and Edward Page, Power in Capitalist Society: Theory, Explanations and Cases, Brighton UK, Wheatsheaf Books, 1985, pp. 235. $29.95 (paper).

Harry Beran, The Consent Theory of Political Obligation, Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987, pp.167. £25.00 (cloth).

John Dunn, The Politics of Socialism: An Essay in Political Theory, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1984, pp.103. $13.25 (paper).

John Gyford, The Politics of Local Socialism, London, Allen & Unwin, 1985, pp. 124. $16.95 (paper).

Andrew Levine, Arguing For Socialism: Theoretical Considerations, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984, pp.241. $39.95 (cloth).

Peter Beilharz, Trotsky, Trotskyism and the Transition to Socialism, London and Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987, pp. 197. $82.95 (cloth).

William Borman, Gandhi and Non‐Violence, Albany, N.Y., State University of New York Press, 1986, pp. 287. US$39.50 (cloth), US$12.95 (paper).

Women. Judith Evans et al., Feminism and Political Theory, London, Sage, 1986, pp.155. £5.95 (paper).

Colleen Burke, Doherty's Corner, Sydney, Sirius Books, 1987, pp.154. $9.95 (paper).