Anglian, Saxon and Viking

Cheshire

Ward, Simon W, et al, 1994 Excavations at Chester. Saxon occupation within the Roman fortress: sites excavated 1971-1981, Chester City Archaeol Service Excav Survey Rep, 7
Offers a general, if preliminary, view of Saxon Chester for the burghal period after AD 907. It is based on the excavation of six important sites within the area of the Roman fortress, whose plan closely influenced the Saxon developments.

Essex

Evison, Vera I, et al, 1994 An Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Great Chesterford, Essex, CBA Res Rep, 91
Catalogue of 161 inhumation graves, 33 cremation graves, two burials of horse and two of dog from a site north-west of the Roman town. Some had been mounded formerly. The adult female graves were well furnished with jewellery, and while some of the men had weapons, many did not; eight males laid W-E could show Christian influence. An unusually high percentage of children's graves was present.

Humberside

Timby, Jane, 1993 Sancton I Anglo-Saxon cemetery: excavations carried out between 1976 and 1980, Archaeol J, 150, 243-365
Excavations (by N M Reynolds) revealed that plough-damage had been severe, damaging or destroying many cremations. Even so the analysis of the human and animal bone and other material has been informative and has indicated some remarkable similarities to Spong Hill's contemporary cemetery.

Lincolnshire

Field, Naomi and Leahy, Kevin, 1993 Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon remains at Nettleton Top, Nettleton, Lincolnshire Hist Archaeol, 28, 9-38
Prehistoric activity was represented by worked flint and Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery (including three vessels suggestive of a barrow nearby). The main finds were poorly preserved Anglo-Saxon features: three dispersed Grubenhäuser, pits and fire pits, and a great square-headed brooch (unstratified). Date of Saxon settlement: probably sixth to seventh century.

London

Cowie, Robert, 1988 [1993] A gazetteer of Middle Saxon sites and finds in the Strand/Westminster area, Trans London Middlesex Archaeol Soc, 39, 37-46
Confirms the view that a Middle Saxon settlement (thought to be Lundenwic, and about 60ha in extent) existed here. Sixty-six locations are listed.

Cowie, Robert (ed), 1988 [1993] Two Middle Saxon occupation sites: excavations at Jubilee Hall and 21--22 Maiden Lane, Trans London Middlesex Archaeol Soc, 39, 47-163
The two sites provided the first substantial archaeological evidence of Middle Saxon London: structures, wells, pits, inhumation ditches, and midden. Farming, trade, and crafts were evidenced, as well as environmental conditions, and it became possible to produce an important pottery fabric type series.

Norfolk

Ayers, Brian S, 1994 Excavations at Fishergate, Norwich, 1985, E Anglian Archaeol, 68
The site, lying within a defended enclosure of the ?tenth century , is notable for having produced the largest single assemblage of Ipswich-type ware from the city, together with other interesting Middle Saxon and Saxo-Norman ceramics and finds. There is environmental evidence for the River Wensum and its environs, and documentary research illuminates the later medieval and post-medieval activity. Some interesting industrial buildings of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century date are also assessed.

Dallas, Carolyn, 1993 Excavations in Thetford by B K Davison between 1964 and 1970, E Anglian Archaeol, 62
Documentary and archaeological evidence is presented for a site believed to be of European importance because it contained early urban traces undisturbed until excavation began; there are four sunken-featured buildings, Late Saxon defences for the sprawling town, a kilnyard with six Late Saxon pottery kilns, and a pre-Conquest timber church replaced in stone. There were also a few round buildings of first-century (Roman) date, and medieval occupation (industrial and commercial).

Hills, Catherine, Penn, Kenneth, and Rickett, Robert, 1994 The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Spong Hill, North Elmham. Part V: catalogue of cremations (nos 2800-3334), E Anglian Archaeol, 67
The final catalogue of burials from this site deals with the material found in 1981 and some from the previous year, 532 pots in all. A list of all the pots from the cemetery is provided, some errors in earlier catalogues are corrected, and final identifications and comments by specialists presented in microfiche.

Leah, Mark, 1994 The Late Saxon and medieval pottery industry of Grimston, Norfolk: excavations 1962-92, E Anglian Archaeol, 64
Brings together all the excavated evidence for 11th- to 16th-century pottery production and associated settlement from the parish of Grimston, and in particular from the hamlet of Pott Row. Excavations in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1992 within Pott Row are described and the pottery characterised. The abundant evidence from museum collections and excavations in eastern England and the Continent aids an assessment of the changing distribution of Grimston products.

McKinley, Jacqueline I, 1994 The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Spong Hill, North Elmham -- Part VIII: the cremations, E Anglian Archaeol, 69
Tabulates and discusses a total of 2,384 cremations from excavations in 1954, 1968, and 1972--81. Methods of identification are considered and the grave-goods and animal species represented noted. The process of cremation is discussed and the technology and ritual at Spong Hill considered using knowledge of modern cremations and ethnographic/anthropological records.

Northamptonshire

Jackson, Dennis, and Foard, Glenn, 1993/4 Anglo-Saxon occupation at Hardley Hastings, Northants, Northamptonshire Archaeol, 25, 93-8
Limited excavations near the church revealed the foundation trench of a late Saxon timber building and earlier activity; there may have been stone structures or foundations as early as the 7th or 8th century.

see also Prehistoric list under Jackson

Johnston, A G, 1993/4 Excavations in Oundle, Northants: work carried out at Stoke Doyle Road 1979, Black Pot Lane 1985 and St Peter's Church 1991, Northamptonshire Archaeol, 25, 99-117
Three small sites provide evidence of an Anglo-Saxon presence in and around the town. An isolated sunken-floored building had pottery of the 5th century; two conjoined sites in the town centre attest occupation from the early--middle Saxon period onwards; and contemporary finds from the churchyard, together with structural evidence from the parish church itself, suggest that the church originated as a large late Saxon building.

Steadman, Sean, 1993/4 Excavations at Brigstock Manor, Northamptonshire, in 1983, Northamptonshire Archaeol, 25, 119-22
Limited rescue excavation recovered a stratified occupation sequence, not necessarily continuous, from 1st century AD onwards. A Late Saxon structure and a large recut ?boundary ditch of Late Saxon or early medieval date cannot necessarily be interpreted as evidence for the origins of the manor itself.

Nottinghamshire

Kinsley, A G et al, 1993 Excavations on the Saxo-Norman town defences at Slaughter House Lane, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, Trans Thoroton Soc Nottinghamshire, 97, 14-63
A large timber-framed rampart, probably that of the burh, had some fragmentary structures to its rear, later sealed by dumping. The rampart may have been replaced in stone in the medieval period, and a drying kiln and other structures were cut into it. Pits, lime kilns and cellared buildings followed and a series of brick cottages were the last on site.

Oxfordshire

Scull, Christopher et al, 1992 Excavation and survey at Watchfield, Oxfordshire, 1983--92, Archaeol J, 149, 124-281
Mainly concerned with a cemetery of early Anglo-Saxon burials, which included a grave with balance, weights and runic inscription; other graves were also well-furnished. There was also evidence for late Mesolithic, Neolithic/Bronze Age, Iron Age, and post-medieval activity, and the site is set in its regional context.

Somerset

Hollinrake, Charles and Hollinrake, Nancy, 1992 The Abbey enclosure ditch and a late-Saxon canal: rescue excavations at Glastonbury 1984--1988, Somerset Archaeol Natur Hist, 136, 73-94
Reports a massive ditch, probably one side of the monastic enclosure, and a large artificial waterway (probably a closed-end canal) radiocarbon-dated to Late Saxon times. Evidence was also found for a late medieval tanning industry.

Sussex

Gardiner, Mark, et al, 1993 The excavation of a late Anglo-Saxon settlement at Market Field, Steyning, 1988-89, Sussex Archaeol Collect, 131, 21-67
Excavations revealed a 10th-century enclosure, two buildings and associated pits, in three types, some containing sealed groups of pottery. An inscribed gold ring was made from primary gold, not recycled material. Bone and plant evidence was examined.

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