Burials Through Time - Funeral Directors Of The Past - The Saxons
The term Anglo-Saxon is a relatively modern one. It refers to settlers from the German regions of Angeln and Saxony, who made their way over to Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire around AD 410.
The Anglo-Saxon settlers were effectively their own masters in a new land and did little to keep the legacy of the Romans alive, bringing their own religious beliefs, although the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597 converted most of the country to Christianity.
Early Saxon burial rites included both cremation and inhumation cemeteries, featuring a large number of grave goods. Cremation cemeteries were common in the first two centuries of Saxon settlement, although archaeologists use the inhumation sites as the major source of historical evidence.
Early Saxon graves were sometimes too big or too small for the individual, suggesting they were not custom dug, and there was no consistency with the alignment of graves, with some lying North-South as well as East-West. East-West burials were common in pre-Christian cemeteries and may simply have been adopted because it was the same orientation of the church.
The body positions of the deceased were mainly supine (lying on one's back) although flexed (crouched) and prone (face down) have also been discovered.
Dress fittings were a common accompaniment, suggesting individuals were fully clothed on interment. Women generally had two matching brooches at the shoulder, glass beads across the chest and a buckle at the waist. It was the inclusion of such adornments that led archaeologists to unearth a Saxon burial ground in Sussex. Two men who were out for the day pursuing their interest in metal detection called police after discovering brooches, weapons and a bronze bowl on farmland near Lewes.
Metal detector enthusiasts were also responsible for the discovery of a sword at Whitehall Farm in Nether Heyford, Northants. The archaeological excavation that followed unearthed two sets of human remains dating back to around the sixth century AD. Four years later the archaeological team returned to the site, by then referred to as the 'Saxon Warrior Burial', and excavated a cemetery, containing a further six burials and believed to be of a small family group. Their graves, carefully laid out in a single continuous line, contained jewellery, culinary items, a spear and personal knives.
By the middle Saxon period, c. 600AD, Christianity had largely overcome pagan religion in England, although changes in burial custom could not necessarily be attributed to this change in religious beliefs. Wealth, which was previously placed in the grave, may instead have been given to the church.
Anglo-Saxon rule came to an end in 1066, soon after the death of Edward the Confessor, who had no heir. With the arrival of the ensuing Norman period, churches were jealously guarding the right to burial as a source of income and thus began the intensive use of graveyards.
The Anglo-Saxon settlers were effectively their own masters in a new land and did little to keep the legacy of the Romans alive, bringing their own religious beliefs, although the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597 converted most of the country to Christianity.
Early Saxon burial rites included both cremation and inhumation cemeteries, featuring a large number of grave goods. Cremation cemeteries were common in the first two centuries of Saxon settlement, although archaeologists use the inhumation sites as the major source of historical evidence.
Early Saxon graves were sometimes too big or too small for the individual, suggesting they were not custom dug, and there was no consistency with the alignment of graves, with some lying North-South as well as East-West. East-West burials were common in pre-Christian cemeteries and may simply have been adopted because it was the same orientation of the church.
The body positions of the deceased were mainly supine (lying on one's back) although flexed (crouched) and prone (face down) have also been discovered.
Dress fittings were a common accompaniment, suggesting individuals were fully clothed on interment. Women generally had two matching brooches at the shoulder, glass beads across the chest and a buckle at the waist. It was the inclusion of such adornments that led archaeologists to unearth a Saxon burial ground in Sussex. Two men who were out for the day pursuing their interest in metal detection called police after discovering brooches, weapons and a bronze bowl on farmland near Lewes.
Metal detector enthusiasts were also responsible for the discovery of a sword at Whitehall Farm in Nether Heyford, Northants. The archaeological excavation that followed unearthed two sets of human remains dating back to around the sixth century AD. Four years later the archaeological team returned to the site, by then referred to as the 'Saxon Warrior Burial', and excavated a cemetery, containing a further six burials and believed to be of a small family group. Their graves, carefully laid out in a single continuous line, contained jewellery, culinary items, a spear and personal knives.
By the middle Saxon period, c. 600AD, Christianity had largely overcome pagan religion in England, although changes in burial custom could not necessarily be attributed to this change in religious beliefs. Wealth, which was previously placed in the grave, may instead have been given to the church.
Anglo-Saxon rule came to an end in 1066, soon after the death of Edward the Confessor, who had no heir. With the arrival of the ensuing Norman period, churches were jealously guarding the right to burial as a source of income and thus began the intensive use of graveyards.
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