Saxon Artefacts

A large Early-Mid Anglo-Saxon village whose remains were found near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, lies in the next field to the deserted medieval village of Eye Kettleby which was abandoned in the 15th century. The buildings appear to spread right across a13-hectare field and beyond, and although no more than a quarter of the field has been excavated at least 14 hall houses have been found which is a significant addition to the 300 or more Anglo-Saxon hall houses known in Britain. There were also18 `sunken-featured buildings' along with numerous hearths, pits and ditches. Several of the halls overlap, and it is thought some were rebuilt at least once on the same site which suggests the village was occupied over a long period of time. Finds include loom weights, spindle-whorls, bone combs, bone pins and needles, iron knife blades, copper-alloy brooches, and pottery, which suggests the village was founded in the 5th-6th century and surviving at least until the 7th.

Many forms of bone and antler combs are among the most frequently excavated artefacts in early Anglo-Saxon cremation burials. They are often found in a fragmented state and only some appear to show evidence of burning. Combs had a special role connected to the maintenance of the extensions of the body's surface including head and body hair, and so very much associated with those parts that are important to the presentation of appearance, identity and personhood in life as well as death. Consequently it is thought that combs along with toilet implements served to re-make the body following cremation and perhaps seen as a means to reconstructing the identity of the dead person.

Anglo Saxon 'buckets' were constructed of wooden staves and copper-alloy or iron bindings, and most of these vessels, no larger than mugs with fewer being as large as 20cm in diameter, were relatively rare objects to be found in graves of the 5th -7th century. The fact that some 'buckets' had elaborately decorated bindings and were mostly found in well-equipped graves of both men and women suggests that they were status symbols rather than every-day household equipment.

The Anglo-Saxon period causes difficulty for the archaeologist. The very nature of their primitive agricultural lifestyle including simple timber dwellings with thatched roofs means that very little has been left for the archaeological record. The weather of Britain, unlike that of Egypt or the Middle East, is unlikely to preserve many artefacts. Timber, whether it be in buildings or used for tools or bridges has mostly rotted away and iron items such as nails, agricultural tools and weapons have mostly rusted into oblivion. There are no significant secular architectural works remaining above ground level, however, there are around 50 Anglo Saxon churches surviving the English climate mainly because of their construction being of brick or stone, with many showing evidence of recycled Roman materials.

Both the British Museum and Yorkshire Museum are renowned for their impressive collections of Anglo Saxon artefacts and thought to be the best in the country.

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