Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs

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Andrew Reynolds (Reader in Medieval Archaeology, Reader in Medieval Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University College London)

Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs

Andrew Reynolds (Reader in Medieval Archaeology, Reader in Medieval Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University College London)

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English

Oxford University Press
30 October 2014

British & Irish history; Medieval history; Medieval European archaeology; Ethical issues: capital punishment

Series: Medieval History and Archaeology

Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs is the first detailed consideration of the ways in which Anglo-Saxon society dealt with social outcasts. Beginning with the period following Roman rule and ending in the century following the Norman Conquest, it surveys a period of fundamental social change, which included the conversion to Christianity, the emergence of the late Saxon state, and the development of the landscape of the Domesday Book.

While an impressive body of written evidence for the period survives in the form of charters and law-codes, archaeology is uniquely placed to investigate the earliest period of post-Roman society - the fifth to seventh centuries - for which documents are lacking. For later centuries, archaeological evidence can provide us with an independent assessment of the realities of capital punishment and the status of outcasts.

Andrew Reynolds argues that outcast burials show a clear pattern of development in this period. In the pre-Christian centuries, 'deviant' burial remains are found only in community cemeteries, but the growth of kingship and the consolidation of territories during the seventh century witnessed the emergence of capital punishment and places of execution in the English landscape. Locally determined rites, such as crossroads burial, now existed alongside more formal execution cemeteries. Gallows were located on major boundaries, often next to highways, always in highly visible places.

The findings of this pioneering national study thus have important consequences on our understanding of Anglo-Saxon society. Overall, Reynolds concludes, organized judicial behaviour was a feature of the earliest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, rather than just the two centuries prior to the Norman Conquest.

By: Andrew Reynolds (Reader in Medieval Archaeology Reader in Medieval Archaeology Institute of Archaeology University College London)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 244mm, Width: 174mm, Spine: 19mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780198723158
ISBN 10: 0198723156
Series: Medieval History and Archaeology
Pages: 340
Publication Date: 30 October 2014
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Andrew Reynolds is Reader in Medieval Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

Reviews for Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs

`This scholarly and accessible study, which recognises the stark and often brutal reality of social power and judicial process, is recommended to anyone with an interest in early English society or the evolution of the English landscape.' Chris Scull, British Archaeology