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Apr 3, 2024

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Chapter 5 Project Practicing Burial Analysis Background: During the early seventh century AD , the Kingdom of East Anglia was among the many Anglo Saxon kingdoms of England. This period of England’s history is, quite literally, the stuff of legends: Anglo Saxon kingship straddles the boundaries of myth and history when rulers not unlike King Arthur held power over various warring domains. One such ruler was Raedwald, son of Tytila, who was king of the East Angles from around AD 600 until his death in around AD 624. During his reign, Raedwald was one of the most powerful men in all of England. His influence was far reaching and he is, perhaps, best known for becoming the first Anglo Saxon king to convert to Christianity. In 1939, a fantastic archaeological discovery was made in East Anglia at a site called Sutton Hoo. The remains of a 90-foot-long early seventh-century Anglo Saxon ship were found at the site, far from the sea. Among the many spectacular artifacts recovered were several spears, a wand with a wolf motif, a drinking horn, a sword with a harness and belt, and various other objects of personal adornment crafted out of gold and decorated with garnets. Perhaps the most compelling artifact recovered was a ceremonial helmet made of gold, silver, and garnet, with a faceguard made to represent the visage of a bearded Anglo Saxon warrior. As you learned in Chapter 5, the analysis of burials and the grave goods contained within them is one of the primary ways that archaeologists assess the status or rank of an individual in society (see pp. 175, 177–79). It is assumed that individuals buried with valuable objects held positions of greater importance in society. You also learned that the remains of large-scale public works are considered to be a clue about how a society was organized; someone in the society had to be powerful enough to command the construction of something big. While we may never know the true identity of the Anglo Saxon man buried at Sutton Hoo, one thing is clear: he was very important. He was buried with the finest, most expensive objects of his day and his burial beneath a massive ship far from the sea indicated that he had the power to inspire large-scale public works. Because of this, it is very likely that the face on the ceremonial helmet from Sutton Hoo is that of King Raedwald himself. Few others would be worthy of such a stunning burial. Your Project: You are an archaeologist who lives in eastern England and you have just been notified that some amazing burials have been found outside of the city of Ely. You know that Ely, which is in East Anglia, has a strong Anglo Saxon history and reports confirm that the artifacts associated with the bodies are characteristic of the late seventh-century Anglo Saxons. You are given the following plan of this Anglo Saxon cemetery:

Burial 1 : Male; around twenty-five years old; no grave goods Burial 2 : Male; around forty years old; buried with undecorated ceramic pot Burial 3: Female; early teens; buried with a bronze bracelet and a ceramic pot Burial 4 : Female; around forty years old; buried with a gold and garnet necklace; two blue glass bowls from France in a wooden box; a carved bone comb; three gold rings; an intricate gold-and- garnet crown; found beneath a burial mound (also known as a barrow) Burial 5 : Unknown sex; infant; no grave goods Burial 6 : Male; around forty years old; buried with an iron sword, leather sheath, and the remains of a shield

Questions (5 points each): 1. What do the grave goods tell us about the status of the buried people? That is, which are higher status and which are lower status? 2. What does the location of the burials relative to each other tell us about the status of them? 3. What place might individuals 4 and 6 may have had in Anglo Saxon society based on their associated grave goods? 4. Based on the content and context of these burials would you conclude that these were members of a mobile hunter-gatherer group, a segmentary society, or an early state? Why? 5. Although the sex of many of the individuals in this cemetery can be determined archaeologically, their gender is not immediately obvious. What is the difference between sex and gender? How would we know these things in archaeology? 6. Burial 4 contained glass bowls from what is now France. This could mean nothing at all, or it could be a clue about her ethnicity . For example the individual could be at the end of a trade network that starts in France, they could be from France originally, or they could feel ‘French’ even if they had never been to France. Why is ethnicity so difficult to recognize in the archaeological record?

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