Approaches to History:
Archaeology
Burials: Identity and Status
What can burials tell us about status and
power in early medieval Europe?
• What determined social status? Gender,
age-grades, descent, etc. – not profession
or ‘class’
• Early medieval social structure: written
sources
• The importance of gift-giving and portable
wealth in a non-monetised society
Earliest Frankish laws: the Lex Salica
Conspicuous consumption of surplus
through gift-giving:
The Staffordshire Hoard: c 7th century
Conspicuous consumption of surplus:
the Kingston brooch
Case Study I: The burial of Childeric I
(Merovingian ‘king’, d. 481-2)
Stilicho, leader of the western Roman army:
nb crossbow brooch
Childeric’s signet ring: ‘Childerici regis’, a
‘long-haired king’
Childeric: Romanitas
5th-century horse sacrifices near Childeric’s grave
(St Brice, Tournai)
Early Anglo-Saxon ‘kingdoms’
Case Study II: Sutton Hoo, SE Suffolk
(R. Deben)
Plan of the Sutton Hoo cemetery: 16 burial
mounds (barrows)
The Sutton Hoo ship burial (Mound 1) under
excavation, 1939
3 symbolic categories of finds hold the key
to ‘reading’ the status of ‘Mound 1 Man’
(Maybe Redwald d. 624-5?):
• Feasting and drinking equipment: symbolic of
the provision of hospitality/gifts
• Roman/Byzantine objects & imitations: symbolic
of ‘Romanitas’
• Objects symbolizing international connections
Byzantine silver bowls: for washing?
Preparing the feast: the cauldron
The drinking horns
Sutton Hoo: the drinking set
The drinking set: The burr wood cups
Sutton Hoo: the ‘tub’
Sutton Hoo: reconstruction of the lyre
Gifts of gold: the great gold buckle
‘Romanitas’: The ‘Coptic’ bowl from the Eastern
mediterranean
The ‘Anastasius’ dish
The Sutton Hoo Helmet
Late Roman helmets
Mound 1 Man
8th-century genealogy of the East Anglian kings
International connections:
the purse-lid, coins and blanks
The Sutton Hoo ship: links to the Svea region of
Sweden (a link to the Wylfings?)
The Sutton Hoo ship: half-size replica
Case Study III: Late Saxon execution burials
Late Saxon Execution Burials placed near
prehistoric/pagan Saxon burial mounds
Execution burials near boundaries