List of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries
Anglo-Saxon cemeteries have been found in England, Wales and Scotland. The burial sites date primarily from the fifth century to the seventh century AD, before the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England. Later Anglo-Saxon period cemeteries have been found with graves dating from the 9th to the 11th century. Burials include both inhumation and cremation. Inhumation burials before the late seventh century when pagan funerary rituals were the norm, often consisted of rectangular graves, with coffins or were lined with stones. High status burials, often held burial furniture, predominantly burial beds. Grave goods were often placed with the body, and included jewellery, especially Anglo-Saxon brooches, weapons, tools, and household items.
List of Anglo Saxon Cemeteries
This is a partial list of Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries.
Cemetery Name | Location | Time period of burials | No of burials | Discovery | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abingdon | Abingdon, Oxfordshire | 5th to early 6th century | 204 | 1934 | Bronze Age barrow discovered on cemetery site. Seventy-three inhumations had grave goods, including brooches, buckles, spears and knives.[1] |
Bergh Apton | Bergh Apton, Norfolk | late 5th to late 6th century | 63 | 1973 | Burial finds, including fragments of a lyre are held at the Norwich Castle Museum[2] |
Berinsfield | Berinsfield, South Oxfordshire | 5th to early 7th century | 118 | 1974 | Multiple brooches and a variety of brooch types found in female graves.[3][4] |
Blacknall Field | Pewsey, Wiltshire | late 5th century to mid 6th century | 110 | 1970 | 50 graves contained metalwork, including swords, scabbards, spears, hilts, knives, belts, buckels, bowls, jewellery[5] |
Bowl Hole | Bamburgh, Northumberland | 6th to 7th century | 100+ | 1997 | Final phase burial ground, cist burials[6] |
Buckland | Dover, Kent | late 5th century to mid 8th century | 170 | 1951 | Graves included examples of both pagan and Early Christian burial rituals.[7] |
Caister-on-Sea | Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk | ? | ? | 1954, 1979 excavation | Anglian cemetery with boat burials.[8] |
Cleatham | Cleatham, North Lincolnshire | 5th to early 7th century | 1508 | 1984-1989 excavation | 1204 cremation urns [9] |
Collingbourne Ducis | Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire | 5th to 7th century | 120 | 1974 | The largest number of burial remains in Anglo-Saxon Wiltshire. Includes a bed burial[10] |
Edix Hill | Barrington, Cambridgeshire | mid 6th to early 7th century | 300 | 1989-1991 excavation | Unusual furnished bed burial/skeleton determined to have leprous changes[3] |
Finglesham | Sandwich, Kent | 6th to 8th century | 216 | 1928 | Burial mound cemetery [3] |
Fordcroft | Orpington, London | 5th to 6th century | 71 | 1965 | Site of mixed cremations and inhumations. Evidence of Romano-British occupation at site.[11][12] |
Great Chesterford | Great Chesterford, Essex | 161 | 152 | An unusually large number of children's graves [13] | |
Great Ryburgh | Great Ryburgh, Norfolk | 7th to 9th century | 89 | 2016 | 81 rare hollowed out tree trunk coffins and 8 plank lined graves[14][15] |
Harford Farm | Markshall, Norfolk | late 7th century | 46 | 1932 | Multiple period site, multiple burials with grave goods.[3][16][17] |
Jarrow Monastery | Jarrow, Northumbria | 7th to 11th century | 132 | 1963-1969 Excavation | Predominantly male burials.[18] |
Lovedon Hill | Loveden, Lincolnshire | 5th to 7th century | 32+ inhumations, 1297+ cremations | 1925 | Glass claw beakers, bronze hanging bowls, coptic bowl[19] |
Mill Hill | Deal, Kent | 7th century | 112+ | 1940 | inhumation only cemetery.[3] |
Mucking | Mucking, Essex | 5th to early 7th century | 800 | 1965-1978 excavation | The cemetery is on the same site as Romano-British settlement.[20] |
Norton-on-Tees | Norton-on-Tees, County Durham | 6th to early 7th century | 120 | 1982 | In 2012, the skeletal remains from the burial site were loaned to the University of York for stable isotope analysis to determine the origin of the individuals.[21] |
Ozengell | Monkton, Thanet, Kent | 5th to 11th century | 94 | 1846 | Several graves included post holes, which indicate timber structures related to the burials.[22] |
Polhill | Sevenoaks, Kent | 7th to 8th century | 200-220 | 1984-1986 excavation | See Polhill Anglo-Saxon cemetery |
Raunds Furnells | Northamptonshire | 10th century | 363 | 1975 | Christian burial rituals, no grave goods[23] |
Saltwood Tunnel | Saltwood, Kent | 6th to 7th century | 217 | Three separate inhumation cemeteries[24] | |
Sarre | Sarre, Kent | 5th to 7th century | 400 | 1860 | Site part of earlier Iron Age settlement. Sarre brooch.[25] |
Scremby | Skegness, Lincolnshire | 5th to 6th century | 20 | 2018 | Furnished graves[26] |
Shrubland Hall Quarry, | Coddenham, Suffolk | 7th century | 50 | 1999 | Multiple bed burials[27] |
Snape | Aldeburgh, Suffolk | 6th to 7th century | ? | 1827 | Boat Burial, Snape Ring[28] |
Spong Hill | North Elmham, Suffolk | 5th century | 2600 | 1970's excavation | The largest early Anglo-Saxon burial site excavated in England.[29] |
Stanton | Ixworth, Suffolk | 5th to 7th century | 70 | 2013 | Cemetery built on earlier site of Bronze Age round barrow.[30] |
Street House | Loftus, North Yorkshire | Mid to late 7th century | 109 | 2005-2007 excavation | The cemetery included a female bed burial, which contained cabochon pendants and a gold shield-shaped pendant.[31] |
Stretton-on-Fosse | Stretton-on-Fosse, Warwickshire | Late fifth to sixth centuries | 53 | 1968—1970 excavation | The cemetery included a variety of brooches in different styles, amber and glass beads, spears, and shield bosses[32] |
Sutton Hoo | Woodbridge, Suffolk | 6th to early 7th century | ? | Ship uncovered in 1939 | Burial site contains undisturbed ship burial, execution burials, multiple important artifacts. See Sutton Hoo |
Swallowcliffe Down | Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire | 7th century | ? | 1966 | Archaeologists discovered the richest and most complex female grave, bed burial ever discovered in England[3] |
Trumpington | Trumpington, Cambridgeshire | Mid 7th century | 4 | 2011 | Bed burial of teenage girl, which included a rare gold pectoral cross inlaid with garnets, the three other burials were all females.[33] |
Walkington Wold | Walkington, Yorkshire | 12 | 1967 | Execution cemetery[3][34] | |
Wasperton | Wasperton, Warwickshire | 5th century | 140 | 1980 | Roman/Anglo Saxon Cemetery. 116 inhumations and 24 cremations were determined to be Anglo-Saxon. 40 inhumations have been determined to be Roman, 44 inhumations could not be dated. The graves included spears, shields, knives, brooches and beads.[35][36] |
Worthy Park | Kings Worthy, Hampshire | 7th century | 140 | excavation 1961-1962 | 46 urned cremation burials which included primarily combs and grooming tools[3] |
External links
Further reading
- Buckberry, Jo; Cherryson, Annia (2010). Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England c 650—1100 AD. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1842179659.
- Bayliss, Alex; Hines, John, eds. (2013). Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th Centuries AD: A Chronological Framework (Society for Medieval Archaeology Monographs). Routledge. ISBN 978-1909662063.
- Lucy, Sam (2000). The Anglo-Saxon Way of Death. Sutton. ISBN 978-0750921039.
Worthy Park
- Hawkes, Sonia Chadwick; Wells, Calvin (1975). "Crime and Punishment in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery?". Antiquity. 49 (194): 118–122. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00063481.
Berinsfield
- Lacy, Sam; et al. (2014). "Anglo-Saxon origins investigated by isotopic analysis of burials from Berinsfield, Oxfordshire, UK". Journal of Archaeological Science. 42 (1): 81–92.
References
- "Abingdon Anglo-Saxon cemetery". Ashmolean Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- Green, Barbara; Rogerson, Andrew. "The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Bergh Apton, Norfolk: Catalogue". Archaeological Data Service. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- Williams, Howard (2006). Death and Memory in Early Medieval Britain. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521840194.
- "The Anglo Saxon Cemetery at Wally Corner, Berinsfield". Ashmolean Museum. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Collingbourne Ducis and its place in early Anglo-Saxon Wiltshire". The Salisbury Museum. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- Craig, Elizabeth (2009). Burial Practices in Northern England c. A.D. 650-850: A BioCultural Approach (PhD). University of Sheffield.
- "Dover: Buckland Anglo-Saxon Cemetery". Archaeology Data Service. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Caister on Sea Late Roman 'Saxon Shore' fort and Middle to Late Saxon cemetery". Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Norfolk Historic Environment Service. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- Leahy, Kevin. "The Excavation of the Cleatham Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, North Lincolnshire". Archaeological Data Service. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire: an Early Saxon cemetery with bed burial". Wessex Archaeology. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- Historic England. "Romano-British masonry building and Saxon cemetery, Fordcroft, Orpington (1001973)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- Tester, P.J. "An Anglo Saxon cemetery at Orpington" (PDF). Kent Archaeology. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- Evison, Vera. "An Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Great Chesterford, Essex". Archaeology Data Service. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Exceptional Survival of Rare Anglo-Saxon Coffins". Historic England. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Great Ryburgh: A remarkable Anglo-Saxon cemetery revealed". Current Archaeology. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- Penn, Kenneth. "Excavations on the Norwich Southern Bypass, 1989–91 Part II: The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Harford farm, Markshall, Norfolk". archaeology data service. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Multi-period site at Hartford Farm". Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- "Jarrow Priory". Historic England. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "MONUMENT NO. 325833". Historic England. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- Hirst, Sue. "The Mucking Anglo-Saxon cemeteries". Archaeological data service. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "A Pagan Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Norton-on-Tees". Tees Archaeology. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- "Exploring Kent's Past. Monument". Kent County Council. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- Boddington, Andy (1996). Raunds Furnells: The Anglo-Saxon Church and Churchyard. By A. Boddington. English Heritage. ISBN 978-1850745204.
- "Saltwood Tunnel, Integrated site report". Archaeological data service. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- Historic England. "Anglo-Saxon cemetery, parish church of St Giles and associated remains immediately east of Sarre Mill (1018879)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
- "Lincolnshire Anglo-Saxon cemetery burials unearthed". BBC News. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
- Penn, Kenneth (2011). The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Shrubland Hall Quarry, Coddenham, Suffolk (East Anglian Archaeology Monograph East Anglian Archaeology). East Anglian Archaeology. ISBN 978-0956874702.
- Bruce-Mitford, R.L. "The Snape Boat Grave" (PDF). Suffolk Institute. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- "The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Spong Hill: Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Migration?". Wuffing Education Centre. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- "A Bronze Age round barrow and Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Upthorpe Road, Stanton, Suffolk" (PDF). stanton.onesuffolk.net. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- "Street House, Loftus. In-depth Information". Tees Archaeology. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- "EARLY ANGLO-SAXON SETTLEMENT SITE AND CEMETERY AT STRETTON ON FOSSE SITE 1". Warwickshire.org. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- Kennedy, Maeve. "Cross and bed found in Anglo-Saxon grave shed new light on 'dark ages'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- Buckberry, Jo (2008). "Chapter 9: Off With Their Heads: The Anglo-Saxon Execution Cemetery at Walkington Wold, East Yorkshire". In Murphy, Eileen M. (ed.). Deviant Burial in the Archaeological Record. Oxbow Books. pp. 148–168. ISBN 978-1842173381.
- "Excavation of Anglo Saxon Cemetery at Wasperton". Aridadne Digital Resources. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- Carver, Martin. "Wasperton Anglo-Saxon Cemetery". Archaeological Data Service. Retrieved 17 December 2019.