Calm down about the Pipe Lady

A photo of an Anglo-Saxon skeleton skewered by a pipe has gone viral. But it’s not the scandal you’re looking for. 
Can we all please calm down about the pipe lady?

Recently a photo of an intact early Anglo-Saxon skeleton absolutely skewered by a modern cable or pipe, has gone viral. It’s a powerful photo emblematic of the trampling of heritage by modernity, and brutal disrespect of human remains. Except it isn’t.....

Early Anglo Saxon burial (Oakington, Cambs) bisected by modern utility pipe

There are FIVE Anglo-Saxon Helmets

Only five helmets; and the Staffordshire Helm isnt one of them. -------------------
 Opinion: There are FIVE Anglo-Saxon Helmets (and the Staffordshire Helm isn’t one of them) 
- A corpus review & quibbling rant by Æd Thompson

Sutton Hoo Helmet (reconstr.) - Wikimedia Commons

Few archaeological finds are as evocative as helmets - many items of war-gear can help paint a picture of ancient battlefields, but in framing (or in some cases directly representing) the face, helmets help to humanise warriors from centuries past. This is particularly ironic given that, at least in some cases, helmets in antiquity were designed to create an intimidating sense of “otherness”, occupying the “uncanny valley” between metalwork and man. It is in our nature to recognise and emotionally respond to faces, and it is hard to stare into the eyes of the Sutton Hoo helmet and not feel as though you have, in some sense, met a person, rather than simply viewed an archaeological artefact. No surprise then, that over and above all the other treasures in that unprecedented burial panoply (including some with considerably higher bullion value) it is the helmet from Sutton Hoo that has become emblematic of the assemblage, and the most enduring symbol both of Anglo-Saxon material culture, and even of British history itself.

The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain spanned six centuries, and although it is unfairly reductive to characterise it purely as a time of war, it is undoubtedly true that regular clashes between well-equipped armies peppered the period and dictated the convoluted path taken from locally identifying post-Roman communities to a coherent united England. The scale of Anglo-Saxon armies continues to be debated, and it is not entirely clear how well equipped they were, but archaeological discoveries in recent decades have provided abundant examples of war-gear – especially weapons – to inform our image of Anglo-Saxon warriors. Such gear is most abundant from the early period (5-7th centuries) thanks to grave goods from the ultimately doomed furnished-burial rite, but even from these centuries, that most evocative item of war-gear, the helmet, is exquisitely rare. We just don’t have many examples. There’s a bigger problem though; we don’t even know how many examples we have. Almost all running totals are wrong.

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Men's Hairstyles

"Anglo-Saxon" and "Viking" Mens Hairstyles

Æd Thompson

"Criticise our haircuts one more time. I dare you..."

In our presentations we endeavour to create convincing and well-researched impressions of the dress and accoutrements of people of particular cultures, sub-periods (ideally century, half-century or even decade) and of particular status or societal role. Recently there has been a trend towards re-creation of assemblages from specific graves, though most such contexts fall well short of providing sufficient evidence on which to entirely base all details of costume, let alone other more ephemeral aspects of appearance.  

One such matter is that of hairstyle. We very frequently encounter individuals with very strong opinions on the matter of what hairstyles the people of late antiquity or early medieval period would have had, and are keen to point out how wrong we are, for our variously either “too modern” or “too clichéd” haircuts. Such criticism raises two questions; 

• What do we really know about the hairstyles of nominally “Anglo-Saxon” and “Viking” period peoples?   
• What is our group’s authenticity policy with respect to this issue?

In this article we hope to address both questions with respect to male hairstyle and grooming, with a further article on womens’ hair and head-wear to follow. 

Art Styles - Part 3; Insular Art

Art of the Anglo-Saxon and Vikings -

                 Part 3: Insular Art

-Dr Andrew Thompson

In Part 1 of this series we discussed the rudimentary decorative styles which were used by craftspeople throughout the Migration Period and "Viking Age" to decorate everyday objects, while, in Part 2, we discussed the origins and evolution of animal style art (glossed as Salin Style I and II) which dominates the sophisticated archaeological material of the Early Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, and of contemporaneous Germanic tribes across North and western Europe.   

While this evolution of so-called "Germanic" art had been taking place, so-called "Celtic" art had continued to flourish and evolve, in a degree of isolation, in Ireland and the fringes of Britain. Cross-fertilisation of art between the "Germanic" world and the Hiberno/Celtic/Brythonic one appears to have been limited, following the Western Roman Collapse and on into the 7th century. However, as the elite of the emerging Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain converted to Christianity in the 7th century, strongly under the influence of Irish missionaries, a new cultural bridge was formed between these two very different artistic cultures. The result, in the 8th century, would be some of the most spectacular art in European history...

Art Styles - Part 2; Migration Animal Styles

Art of the Anglo-Saxon and Vikings -

     Part 2: Animal Styles of the Migration Period

-Dr Andrew Thompson 

In the previous chapter (link) we discussed a number of rudimentary decorative styles used throughout the Migration Period and Viking Ages by a range of north and western-European cultures. These styles represented efforts to personalize or embellish usually more every-day items, by non-elite craftspeople. In contrast, the more sophisticated art styles, used and developed by generations of elite, specialist artisans, have been the subject of more study. From the Migration Period through into the Viking Age, discussion of these sophisticated art styles is dominated by the so-called "animal styles", many of them quite abstract, which set apart the art of these periods from the more classical, or Romance artistic trends which dominated European fashions both before and after.

To some extent, these artistic styles were confined to particular crafts or materials, but by no means always, and while, for the sake of avoidance of embarrassing mistakes, many reenactor handbooks caution members against carrying decoration from one archaeological find to recreations in other materials, there is no doubt that extensive cross-fertilisation of artistic styles across different crafts and media did take place, especially moving into the Middle Anglo-Saxon period and Viking Ages.

This illustrated discussion of the various artistic styles of the period concerned, begins with the famous Animal Styles of the Migration Period. Springing principally from the material culture of southern Scandinavia and northern Germania during the late Iron Age, and the collision of their home-grown artistic styles with the prevalent decorative styles of the mid to late Roman Empire.  The fortunes of these artistic styles (themselves, at this time, almost exclusively focused on small portable, personal artworks and dress-items of metal and jewellery-work) would reflect the fortunes of the tribes who concieved them; flourishing, spreading, and diversifying, as the Western Roman Empire declined.  The styles which developed are so carefully applied, and distinct, that they can be used to confidently date archaeological finds.

As previously mentioned, it is not our intention, with this series, to advance the ever expanding, complex field of animal-art studies. For those wanting more authoritative, detailed analysis and discussion we recommend the references included at the end of each chapter. However, we hope that this series provides an accessible, entertaining and intelligible tour of the art these historic periods have to offer.

With the scene set, and taking a deep breath, let us dive into the typology of Migration-Age animal art.... 

Art Styles - Part 1

Art of the Anglo-Saxon and Vikings -

     Part 1: Introduction, and Rudimentary Decoration

-Dr Andrew Thompson

It is clear that the creation of art is one of the defining characteristics of humanity, and civilization. In its strictest sense ‘art’ refers to works made with the intention of being aesthetically pleasing rather than serving any other function, however, a broader definition would include the decoration of functional objects such as tools (what might now be referred to as “arts and crafts”), and the majority of works of ‘art’ from Northern Europe during the what we in England call the 'Anglo-Saxon' and 'Viking' periods would fall into this latter category.

In this context, decoration may have served to personalise objects, or have even greater significance - perhaps serving as an emblem for a particular group identity, or serve as a focus for story-telling, much as stained-glass windows did in later medieval churches. The Anglo-Saxons, 'Vikings' and associated Northern European cultures in this period seem to have enjoyed stories, riddles and puzzles, and it may be that their artwork often had a layer of meaning that would be easy for them to tease out, but is extremely difficult for us, who are not steeped in their mythology.

For those studying, or (like us) hoping to recreate the material culture of these peoples, a broad, working understanding of their art styles is arguably essential. To that end it is hoped this series of articles, containing annotated summaries of the broad artistic styles of these cultures and periods, will be useful.

Shields: How small is too small?

 Few, or perhaps no items of personal warrior gear are more important to our image of an Anglo-Saxon, or Viking warrior than the shield. Our understanding of this most essential piece of war-gear is informed, to some extent by pictoral depictions and written references, but, mainly, by patchy but nonetheless reliable inferences from cemetery archaeology.

Of the studies of Anglo-Saxon shields, arguably the most frequently cited, and informative, is Dickinson and Härke (1992) which, among other issues, seeks to shed light on the murky subject of shield size. Many readers, particularly those from the reenactment community, will be surprised to read that shields could often be as small as 34cm – certainly of no use for building interlocking 'shield-walls' described in later poetry, which we are led to believe was the dominant combat strategy as far back as the period of pagan burials.

Over 20 years on from the publication of this still critically important work, this observation has gradually exerted influence on some modern impressions of warriors from the period, and even beyond, given the limited evidence for late Anglo-Saxon shields, and limited availability of information on 'Viking' ones. It is further, not uncommon to hear, repeated by respected historians, the assertion that most early Anglo-Saxon shields were “little more than bucklers”. To what extent is this statement accurate? Just how small were Anglo-Saxon shields?

Fire (1 /2)

Fire  (1/2)

Fire has played a hugely important role in the lives of human beings since prehistory. Though the importance of fires for providing essential warmth, and facilitating cooking is both obvious and difficult to overstate, the almost ubiquitous social practice of gathering around a fire was likely crucial to the forming of social bonds within early communities.   As anyone who has wild-camped, or spent a dark night in a reconstructed hall will tell you, the dancing flames of a hearth fire often have the miraculous effect of  banishing discomfort, creating wellbeing, and bringing people together.
Yet fire can also turn against us; burn, kill, or swallow homes and settlements whole. Fire is an essential yet treacherous friend, and, for this reason, our relationship with fire has always been a complicated one.

Given the importance of fires for life, and community, and taking into account its treacherous nature, the study of historic cultures' relationships with fire is particularly fascinating. How did our ancestors view fire? How did they make it? And to what extent did they understand the mechanisms which underpin this essential tool?

In this series we examine the techniques likely used by the Anglo-Saxons and "Vikings" to make fire and the evidence for them, and discuss snippets of mythology pertaining to fire which give us glimpses of these cultures' understanding. We, further, present some findings from our own experiments with historic fire-making using widely available, forage-able materials.

The Shield from Bidford-on-Avon Grave 182 (2/2)

The Shield from Bidford-on-Avon Grave 182  (Part 2) 

Bidford-182 boss  (with permission of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)

In the previous article we discussed the importance of the early Anglian cemetery of Bidford-on-Avon and the unique shield remains found in in a warrior grave known as grave-182, excavated in 1923. While this mixed-burial-rite cemetery has yielded many impressive finds (mostly dated to the 6th and early 7th centuries) the grave-182 shield remains are of huge interest and have few comparisons.

 Following two years of research, acquisition of materials, and after personal examination of the finds (kindly facilitated by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Collections Dept.), we attempted to produce a convincing reconstruction of what this high-status shield may have originally looked like, using authentic materials and techniques.
The result, we hope, will help shed new light on and raise awareness of the long forgotten find, allow the story of the find to be told, and allow greater appreciation of the skilled craftspeople who built the original.

Nb. we are greatly indebted to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Collections Department, without who's help we could not have pieced together the story of the find. Examination of the original fragments in spring 2014, in particular, was crucial to achieving a representative reconstruction. 

The Shield from Bidford-on-Avon Grave 182 (1/2)

The Shield from Bidford-on-Avon Grave 182  (Part 1) 

While some of the Early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms have yielded much archaeology, and continue to yield extensive cemeteries and settlement sites for study, others are arguably less well served. The ancient kingdom of Mercia - of particular interest to our group, could in many ways be seen as such a case, and this presents a particular challenge when attempting to recreate the effects of this purportedly powerful, wealthy and sophisticated culture. Beyond the Staffordshire Hoard (itself mostly belonging to the mid-late 7th century and containing a very selective subset of items), at a glance one might be forgiven for thinking the Midlands lacked much in the way of early Anglo-Saxon archaeology.

In fact, there are a handful of archaeological sites which have yielded impressive finds, which are relevant to the earliest times of the Mercian kingdom - it is just that many were excavated in the early days of Anglo-Saxon archaeology, and their finds forgotten, lost, or hidden from view.

One such case; the large cemetery of Bidford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, initially excavated between 1923 and 1924 (Humphreys et. al., 1925) sheds valuable light on early Anglo-Saxon Mercia and has yielded many impressive finds, including a great quantity of feminine items of decidedly Anglian (rather than Saxon) affinities, including one of the most impressive square-headed brooches ever found. Among a number of warrior graves, the most impressive item, however, was a shield-boss decorated in such a way as to make it entirely exceptional, artistically, and of a status (within the British Isles) second perhaps only to the kingly shield of Sutton-Hoo Mound 1.

The impressive shield-boss from Bidford-on-Avon grave 182 is not on public display, residing with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. To raise awareness of this find and explore what this piece of warrior gear may have looked like in its day, in 2012 we embarked on a lengthy process to reconstruct the shield, using authentic materials and techniques.

Nb. we are greatly indebted to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Collections Department, without who's help we could not have pieced together the story of the find. Examination of the original fragments in spring 2014, in particular, was crucial to achieving a representative reconstruction. 

Tolkien's Beowulf translation - review

Cover (reproduced under fair-dealing; criticism and review)

“Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien” 

A Review by Dr A.J. Thompson

This book (available here) has been eagerly awaited by both Tolkien fans and Anglo-Saxonists alike. For the most part it was written in the 1920’s but was never intended for publication; In fact the scholarly and obsessively perfectionist professor later wrote to a friend lamenting the fact that the translation was ‘in much, hardly to my liking’. It has taken much work by Christopher Tolkien to get it into a state where it was fit to be published. 

Given the importance of the Beowulf text to our understanding of the language, beliefs, culture and worldview of the early English, and given Tolkien's almost legendary reputation as a scholar of Old English, the publishing of this book is an important milestone, and the text itself is very much worth examining and discussing. 

Having recently received a copy of the newly published book I thought I might jot down some thoughts on my impression of it, which hopefully may be useful to anyone unsure about whether to buy it. Please do note that the opinions expressed here are my own...

Twilight of the Seax

We recently received this most interesting question from a reader;

“I noticed that seaxes seem to be absent from the Bayeaux tapestry. So far the latest depiction I have found is an illumination from France showing a warrior carrying a seax-shaped knife from ~890 CE. Is there any consensus on when the seax may have been abandoned as a fighting weapon? If there is evidence that seaxes were carried in the 11th c. what form would they be? Are there any examples?”

The demise of the seax as a weapon is an interesting topic and one we have not discussed before. We therefore thought this question warranted a full reply.

Grave Problems

Grave Problems

We argue that forming a reasonably accurate and satisfying view of history necessitates an interdisciplinary approach, integrating evidence from archaeology, written texts, pictoral evidence, landscape evidence, reconstruction and experimentation, all with a liberal application of common-sense. However, it is crucial that it always be appreciated that all types of evidence are subject to limitations. In the case of written texts, limitations (such as biasses and selective content) are relatively obvious, but as the wealth of evidence from archaeology, particularly from excavation of cemeteries grows, there is a danger that interpreters lose sight of the particular and often extremely problematic limitations of grave evidence, or draw erroneous conclusions based on dodgy assumptions that are not often-enough challenged.  Here we discuss some observations on the difficulty of projecting conclusions about real life from Anglo-Saxon cemetery excavation findings.

Size Matters

Size Matters

A perennial statement we hear from members of the public, is the belief that folk long ago we smaller than we are today. Most are very surprised to learn that our Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian ancestors were no smaller than us and that some of the warrior class were tall and strong, even by today's standard. In the light of this it is worth briefly examining how we are so certain of this fact and why there is such a widespread misconception regarding stature.