Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs

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Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs
Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs.jpg
The first edition cover of the book, depicting a triple Anglo-Saxon burial uncovered in the town of Staines.
Author Andrew Reynolds
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAnglo-Saxon archaeology
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date
2009
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages324
ISBN 978-0-19-954455-4

Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs is an archaeological study of atypical burial practices in Anglo-Saxon England. It was written by the English archaeologist Andrew Reynolds of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, based on the work which he had undertaken for his PhD, completed in 1998. The book was first published by Oxford University Press in 2009 as a part of their series on "Medieval History and Archaeology", edited by John Blair and Helena Hamerow.

Contents

The book has been acknowledged as providing archaeological data to back up the historical records regarding Medieval European beliefs in the undead.

Background

Reynolds' investigation into Anglo-Saxon deviant burials emerged from his PhD thesis, which he undertook at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and completed in 1998. He decided not to publish his findings immediately afterward, because more information on this issue was coming to light as a result of further excavation. From 2002 to 2003, Reynolds undertook a year of study leave to undertake new research in this area. [1]

Synopsis

"In the pre-Christian centuries Early Anglo-Saxon communities arguably marked the burials of people considered somehow different, and perhaps dangerous to the living, in distinctive ways, and certain of these locally determined but widely understood modes of treating social 'others' can be observed to continue until the nineteenth century in England. A further argument of this book is that it is possible to observe a gradual process whereby local practices for marking out wrongdoers and others of whom their peers were wary came under increasing influence of emerging political authorities, namely kings and their councillors."

Andrew Reynolds, 2009. [2]

The first chapter, "Sources, approaches, and contexts", takes an interdisciplinary approach by examining the literary evidence from the Anglo-Saxon period regarding the execution and burial of those "individuals deemed social outcasts and even feared among the living for their malevolent qualities." Reynolds examines the references to punishment for deviancy within the Anglo-Saxon law codes, before looking at the evidence from charters and place-names referring to places of execution and burial sites. [3]

Chapter two, "Burials, bodies and beheadings", focuses on the archaeological evidence for deviant burials in Anglo-Saxon England, identifying eight specific causes for such funerary deposits: victims of battles, judicial executions, massacres, murder, plague, sacrifice and suicide. For each of these, Reynolds looks at the archaeological evidence that these would each leave behind, before attempting to identify any Anglo-Saxon grave sites that fit into these categories. [4]

In the third chapter, "Social deviants in a pagan society", Reynolds looks at the evidence for deviant burial practices from the fifth to the eighth centuries. Dismissing ideas that crouched, multiple, and shallow burials could be considered "deviant", he examines prone inhumations, decapitated and amputated bodies, and corpses with evidence of stoning, suggesting that these are best categorised as examples of deviant burial. [5]

Chapter four, "Social Deviants in a Christian World", examines evidence from the seventh to eleventh centuries. This covers the Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity and Reynolds identifies that deviant burials are restricted to execution cemeteries. [6]

Chapter five, "The Geography of Deviant Burial in Anglo‐Saxon England", combines archaeological and charter evidence to analyse the physical distribution of the evidence across the fifth to twelfth centuries. In doing so, Reynolds identifies that there was sometimes some physical separation between deviant burials and cemeteries used by communities. [7]

The book concludes with a chapter, "Themes and Trajectories: The Wider Social Context", that summarises the key findings and notes "Perhaps the most significant observation is that execution cemeteries developed in the period of the formation and expansion of the earliest English kingdoms, and not in the shadow of the late Saxon state as is often presumed". [8]

Reception and reviews

Academic reviews

Catherine Hills of the University of Cambridge positively reviewed Reynolds' book for the journal Antiquity , announcing it to be a "significant contribution" to the study of both Anglo-Saxon England and of the archaeology of burial and justice. She noted that Reynold's ideas appeared "less novel" than they should be because he had already presented many of his conclusions in published papers and talks, and that the tome contains a number of traces betraying its origins as a doctoral dissertation. Ultimately noting that its last two chapters represent "an impressive piece of scholarship", she considers his arguments to be "persuasive and original". [9]

Reynold's work reviewed a more critical review in The English Historical Review , authored by Tom Lambert of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. [10] Lambert noted that he wished that clearer diagrams had been included in the section where Reynolds discusses family plots, and went on to criticise the book for what he argued was a circular argument, that Reynolds uses "his handlist to argue for the very criteria that were used to construct it." Lambert argued that the fifth chapter was unable to unite the separate analysis into a "coherent whole" and that, despite "some interesting ideas", Reynolds' ultimate conclusion was rushed and "inexplicably terse". Summing up his review, Lambert noted that this was an "important book" which represented a "necessary and stimulating" read, but that its flaws meant that it had to be read "very carefully". [11]

Wider influence

Writing a review of Claude Lecouteux's book The Return of the Dead for the journal Preternature, Stephen Gordon of the University of Manchester made reference to Reynold's book, noting that he "devotes considerable attention to the relationship between the revenant narratives and unusual burial practices", in this way providing supporting evidence for many of Lecouteux's claims. [12]

Reynolds' ideas were also positively discussed in the paper "Living On: Ancestors and the Soul", authored by Alexandra Sanmark, a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the Millennium Institute Centre for Nordic Studies and Lecturer at the University of Western Australia's Department of History. Published in the anthology Signals of Belief in Early England (2010), co-edited by Sanmark, Sarah Semple and Martin Carver, Sanmark noted that Reynold's work provided good archaeological evidence for a belief in the malevolent dead in Early Medieval England. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxons</span> Early medieval Old-English-speaking cultural group in Britain

The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Germanic settlers who became one of the most important cultural groups in Britain by the 5th century. The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain is considered to have started by about 450 and ended in 1066, with the Norman Conquest. Although the details of their early settlement and political development are not clear, by the 8th century a single Anglo-Saxon cultural identity which was generally called Englisc had developed out of the interaction of these settlers with the pre-existing Romano-British culture. By 1066, most of the people of what is now England spoke Old English, and were considered English. Viking and Norman invasions changed the politics and culture of England significantly, but the overarching Anglo-Saxon identity evolved and remained dominant even after the Norman Conquest. Late Anglo-Saxon political structures and language are the direct predecessors of the high medieval Kingdom of England and the Middle English language. Although the modern English language owes less than 26% of its words to Old English, this includes the vast majority of everyday words.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxon paganism</span>

Anglo-Saxon paganism, sometimes termed Anglo-Saxon heathenism, Anglo-Saxon pre-Christian religion, Anglo-Saxon traditional religion, or Anglo-Saxon polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, during the initial period of Early Medieval England. A variant of Germanic paganism found across much of north-western Europe, it encompassed a heterogeneous variety of beliefs and cultic practices, with much regional variation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxon dress</span> Clothing of Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon dress refers to the clothing and accessories worn by the Anglo-Saxons from the middle of the fifth century to the eleventh century. Archaeological finds in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries have provided the best source of information on Anglo-Saxon costume. It is possible to reconstruct Anglo-Saxon dress using archaeological evidence combined with Anglo-Saxon and European art, writing and literature of the period. Archaeological finds have both supported and contradicted the characteristic Anglo-Saxon costume as illustrated and described by these contemporary sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walkington Wold burials</span> Burial site

The Walkington Wold burials in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, comprise the skeletal remains of 13 individuals from the Anglo-Saxon period which were discovered in the late 1960s, during the excavation of a Bronze Age barrow. Subsequent examinations have concluded that they were decapitated Anglo-Saxon criminals, and that the site is the most northerly of its kind known in England.

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The settlement of Great Britain by diverse Germanic peoples led to the development of a new Anglo-Saxon cultural identity and shared Germanic language, Old English, which was most closely related to Old Frisian on the other side of the North Sea. The first Germanic speakers to settle permanently are likely to have been soldiers recruited by the Roman administration, possibly already in the fourth century or earlier. In the early fifth century, after the end of Roman rule in Britain and the breakdown of the Roman economy, larger numbers arrived and their impact upon local culture and politics increased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England</span> Conversion of Anglo-Saxon England to Christianity

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The archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England is the study of the archaeology of England from the 5th century AD to the 11th century, when it was ruled by Germanic tribes known collectively as the Anglo-Saxons.

Burial in Anglo-Saxon England refers to the grave and burial customs followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the mid 5th and 11th centuries CE in Early Mediaeval England. The variation of the practice performed by the Anglo-Saxon peoples during this period, included the use of both cremation and inhumation. There is a commonality in the burial places between the rich and poor – their resting places sit alongside one another in shared cemeteries. Both of these forms of burial were typically accompanied by grave goods, which included food, jewelry, and weaponry. The actual burials themselves, whether of cremated or inhumed remains, were placed in a variety of sites, including in cemeteries, burial mounds or, more rarely, in ship burials.

Magic in Anglo-Saxon England refers to the belief and practice of magic by the Anglo-Saxons between the fifth and eleventh centuries AD in Early Mediaeval England. In this period, magical practices were used for a variety of reasons, but from the available evidence it appears that they were predominantly used for healing ailments and creating amulets, although it is apparent that at times they were also used to curse.

Andrew Reynolds is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of medieval Britain. He is a lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Reynolds worked as a field archaeologist from 1985 to 1990 before going on to gain a BA in Medieval Archaeology and a PhD from University College London.

<i>Signals of Belief in Early England</i> Book edited by Martin Carver, Alex Sanmark and Sarah Semple

Signals of Belief in Early England: Anglo-Saxon Paganism Revisited is an academic anthology edited by the British archaeologists Martin Carver, Alex Sanmark and Sarah Semple which was first published by Oxbow Books in 2010. Containing nine separate papers produced by various scholars working in the fields of Anglo-Saxon archaeology and Anglo-Saxon history, the book presents a number of new perspectives on Anglo-Saxon paganism and, to a lesser extent, early Anglo-Saxon Christianity. The collection – published in honour of the archaeologist Audrey Meaney – was put together on the basis of a conference on "Paganism and Popular Practice" held at the University of Oxford in 2005.

<i>The Viking Way</i> (book) 2002 book by Neil Price

The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia is an archaeological study of old Norse religion in Late Iron Age-Scandinavia. It was written by the English archaeologist Neil Price, then a professor at the University of Aberdeen, and first published by the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University in 2002. A revised second edition was published in 2017 by Oxbow Books.

<i>Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic</i> 1996 book by Bill Griffiths

Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic is a study of Anglo-Saxon paganism and the role of magic in Anglo-Saxon England that was written by the English poet and independent scholar Bill Griffiths. It was first published in 1996 by Anglo-Saxon Books, and later republished in a revised edition in 2003.

<i>The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic</i> Book by Ralph Merrifield

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<i>Anglo-Saxon Amulets and Curing Stones</i> 1981 work by Audrey Meaney

Anglo-Saxon Amulets and Curing Stones is an archaeological study of amulets, talismans and curing stones in the burial record of Anglo-Saxon England. Written by the Australian archaeologist Audrey Meaney, it was published by the company British Archaeological Reports as the 96th monograph in their BAR British Series. Prior to writing the work, Meaney had published several books dealing with Anglo-Saxon burials.

Audrey Lilian Meaney was an archaeologist and historian specialising in the study of Anglo-Saxon England. She published several books on the subject, including Gazetteer of Early Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites (1964) and Anglo-Saxon Amulets and Curing Stones (1981).

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<i>Medieval Archaeology</i> Journal

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References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Reynolds 2009, p. vii.
  2. ↑ Reynolds 2009, p. 1.
  3. ↑ Reynolds 2009, pp. 1–33.
  4. ↑ Reynolds 2009, pp. 35–60.
  5. ↑ Reynolds 2009, pp. 61–95.
  6. ↑ Reynolds 2009, pp. 96–179.
  7. ↑ Reynolds 2009, pp. 180–234.
  8. ↑ Reynolds 2009, pp. 235–250.
  9. ↑ Hills 2010.
  10. ↑ "College Fellows and Staff - Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University". www.sid.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-12-07.
  11. ↑ Lambert 2012.
  12. ↑ Gordon 2012, p. 160.
  13. ↑ Sanmark 2010, pp. 172–174.

Bibliography

  • Gordon, Stephen (2012). "Review of Claude Lecouteux's The Return of the Dead". Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural. 1 (1). Pennsylvania State University Press: 160–163. doi:10.5325/preternature.1.1.0160.
  • Hills, Catherine (2010). "Review of Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs". Antiquity. 84 (325): 910–911. doi:10.1017/s0003598x00100456. S2CID   163396882.
  • Lambert, Tom (2012). "Review of Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs". English Historical Review. 526: 678–670. doi:10.1093/ehr/ces107.
  • Reynolds, Andrew (2009). Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-954455-4.
  • Sanmark, Alex (2010). "Signals of Belief in Early England: Anglo-Saxon Paganism Revisited". Living On: Ancestors and the Soul. Oxford and Oakville: Oxbow Books. pp. 158–180. ISBN   978-1-84217-395-4.
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