The concept of ‘deviant burial’ has been part of archaeological vocabulary since the 1980s, but is still often used too casually to be meaningful. The term has been used to describe individuals who have been accorded alternative burial rites when compared to others within the same burial ground, region or time period. As ‘deviant burial’ is widely found in archaeological and anthropological contexts, there was need to examine the range of these alternative burial rites and to determine whether this differentiation at death was reserved for the ostracised and the punished. This study used a cemetery analysis of eight early Anglo-Saxon sites to test whether the accordance of ‘deviant’ or atypical burial rites was associated with a particular group of individuals or set of funerary motifs. A total of 1016 inhumed individuals were examined from East Anglia and North Lincolnshire (Lindsey) and entered into a searchable database before being subjected to a comprehensive statistical analysis. This identified atypical rites that were not necessarily associated with criminal punishment or negative treatment. This study found that individuals who were accorded differential burial treatment were not always found in an iniquitous context and could instead be interpreted as evidence of eccentricity at death.

The taste for fish in England and the British Isles as a whole has fluctuated on several occasions and understanding the reasons behind these changes is vital, especially in light of the great importance fish held in later medieval diet and society. The beginnings of marine fishing have usually been thought to lie in the late Anglo-Saxon period and are believed to lie with economic changes. Indeed, most studies of fish in archaeology have centred around economic approaches. However it is extremely unlikely for economics to have been the sole reason. This thesis will attempt to fill in the gap currently extant in early medieval fish studies by taking a multidisciplinary approach to exploring the character of fishing and fish consumption in Anglo-Saxon England. Zooarchaeological data alongside isotope evidence, artefactual, structural and textual will be considered together to explore not just economic but also social factors, in effect, exploring the dynamics of fishing and fish consumption. This multidisciplinary approach will also hopefully highlight the fact that fish cannot just be studied in isolation; to gain a full understanding of the implications freshwater and marine fishing will have on communities and society as a whole all aspects of fishing must be considered.

The aim of this thesis is to establish a chronological framework for the grave-goods, and hence the graves, from all known Anglo-Saxon burial sites in the Upper Thames Region. Such a framework is considered essential to any reconstruction of early Saxon activity in the area and especially to any solution of the problems which surround the origin and early development of Wessex. It is based on a detailed typological study of material from 168 sites within a defined area. This area is bounded approximately on the west by the source of the Thames and the Cotswolds scarp, on the north by the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire county boundary, on the east by the Thames/ Ouse watershed and the Chilterns scarp, and in the south by the Kennet Valley. The thesis is presented in three volumes, text (I), catalogue (II), and illustrations (III). The text is divided into three parts. Part I is introductory. The subject is set in the context of broader problems and previous hypotheses, and the value of the material to be analysed is assessed. The physical identity of the Upper Thames Region, the problems and methods of cataloguing sites, and the history of their discovery and recording are briefly discussed. Part II, in which the typology and chronology of the grave-goods are established, forms the core of the thesis. It consists of seventeen chapters and a summary chronological chart. The first chapter considers some general methodological problems and outlines the fundamental points of archaeological chronology for the period, on which that of the Upper Thames Region depends. Chapter 2 is a long analysis of brooches. The greatest attention is given to the manufacture and chronology of cast saucer brooches, but the dating of disc brooches is also set on a firmer basis, and there are important comments on all remaining forms (penannular, annular, button, great and small square-headed, small-long, and miscellaneous). Chapters 3 to 8 deal with the other objects found principally in women's graves (pins, finger rings and bracelets, necklaces, combs, toilet items, and bags, boxes, and girdlehung objects); they include discussion of the function of some of these items as well as their dating. Chapter 9 is about belt-equipment. The weapons found in men's graves are discussed in chapters 10 to 14 (swords, seaxes, shields, spears, and miscellaneous); in chapter 12 the first attempt at a typology of English shield bosses, based on computerised numerical taxonomy, is presented, while in chapter 13 Dr. M.J. Swanton's recently published typology of spearheads receives detailed criticism. Knives are briefly considered in chapter 15. Chapter 16, an analysis of the pottery, includes several modifications of Dr.J.N.L.Myres' work. This part concludes with chapter 17 on vessels of glass, metal, and wood. The chronologies thus established help to provide a date of burial for about one third of the catalogued graves and to indicate a date-range for the use of most sites. These data form the basis for deductions, made in Part III, about the history of the Saxon settlement in the Upper Thames Region. The background to this discussion is set out briefly in two sections, one on the nature of the Roman settlement in the Region, the other a critical survey of documentary evidence pertaining to the period. The synthesis deals in turn with the archaeology of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, and its possible historical interpretation. It is argued that the initial settlement during the first quarter of the fifth century consisted of a group of Saxons hired as foederati, who were posted at and near Dorchester-on- Thames; in the second quarter of the century their leaders usurped authority from their erstwhile British employers and assumed control of a wide area, planting out groups of settlers, probably including many new immigrants, during the second half of the century throughout most of the Region. These settlements grew in size, number, and wealth; their prosperity is reflected in the emergence of well furnished graves, probably belonging to leading families, the most spectacular of which is the early seventhcentury 'princely' burial at Cuddesdon near Dorchester. During the fifth and sixth centuries the Upper Thames Region appears to have been most closely connected with the other Saxon settlement along and south of the Thames, but in the sixth century connections with the Midlands, especially the West Midlands, were established, and there is some evidence of direct contact with East Kent. In the seventh century the Upper Thames shares the uniform material culture associated with 'Final Phase 1 or 'Proto-Christian' cemeteries. Direct connections between this evidence and documentary history are few, though it is argued forcibly that there is no evidence that the battle a of Badon had any effect on the Saxon settlement of the Upper Thames Region. The archaeological evidence also suggests that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entries relating to the battles fought by Ceawlin and Cuthwulf should not be taken at face value. In a final section the documentary evidence for the history of Wessex is specifically examined in the light of the archaeological conclusions. It is suggested that during the second half of the sixth century one of the leading families of the Upper Thames Region asserted its power not only over an enlarged Upper Thames Region, but also over Hampshire and Wiltshire, thus founding the royal dynasty of Cerdic and Cymric and creating what became known as the kingdom of the West Saxons.

The origins of kingship have typically been accepted as a natural or inevitable development by scholars. The purpose of this thesis is to question that assumption. This work will re-examine the origins of early Anglo-Saxon kingship through a coherent and systematic survey of the available and pertinent archaeological and historical sources, addressing them by type, by period and as their varying natures require. The thesis begins with the archaeological evidence. ‘Elite’ burials, such as Mound One, Sutton Hoo, will be ranked according to their probability of kingliness. This process will point to elite burial as being a regionally-specific, predominately-seventh-century, phenomenon of an ideologically-aware, sophisticated and established political institution. Consequently, elite burial cannot be seen as an indication of the origins of kingship, but can instead be interpreted as a development or experiment within kingship. Analysis of ‘elite’ settlements, such as Yeavering, and numismatic evidence, will lead to similar conclusions. Further, consideration of various other settlement types – former Roman military sites in Northern Britain, former Roman Towns, and enclosed settlements – will point to various potential origins of Anglo-Saxon kingship in the form of continuities with previous Roman, Romano-British or British power structures. The thesis will go on to consider the historical sources. Those of the fifth and sixth centuries, primarily Gildas’s De excidio et conquestu Britanniae, point to several factors of note. The cessation of formal imperial rule over Britain following c.410 effectively created a power vacuum. Various new sources of political power are observable attempting to fill this vacuum, one of which, ultimately, was kingship. Through analogy with contemporary British kingdoms, it is possible to suggest that this development of kingship in England may be placed in the early sixth, if not the fifth, centuries. This would make the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingship significantly earlier than typically thought. This kingship was characterised by the conduct of warfare, its dependence on personal relationships, and particularly by its varying degrees of status and differing manifestations of power covered by the term king. Further details will be added to this image through the narrative and documentary sources of the seventh and early eighth centuries. These predominately shed light on the subsequent development of kingship, particularly its growing association with Christianity. Indeed, the period around c.600 can be highlighted as one of notable change within Anglo-Saxon kingship. However, it is possible to point to the practice of food rents, tolls and the control of resources serving as an economic foundation for kingship, while legal intervention and claimed descent from gods also provide a potential basis of power. Several characteristics of seventh- and early-eighth-century kingship will also be highlighted as being relevant to its origins – the conduct of warfare and the exercise of over-kingship – relating to the general propensity for amalgamation through conquest. Other trajectories are also highlighted, specifically continuity from previous Roman and British entities and the development of ‘pop-up’ kingdoms. The overall result is one in which long-term amalgamation and short-term disintegration and re-constitution were equally in evidence, set against the wider context of broad regional continuities. Overall, therefore, the thesis will not fully resolve the issue of the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingship, but it does offer a means to re-frame discussion, explore the social and economic underpinnings of kingship and assess its primacy as an institution within early Anglo-Saxon England.

This thesis explores the impact of Rome upon Anglo-Saxon politics, religion, and culture in the ninth century. From the Gregorian mission onwards, Rome helped shape the ecclesiastical and devotional contexts of Anglo-Saxon Christianity and occupied a central place in the imaginations of early English writers. Yet the extent to which these links continued into and throughout the ninth century remains obscure, with scholarship about religion and culture often treating the period as a hiatus. In political narratives, the ninth century is treated as a crucial period, and Roman involvement is most visible in this sphere. By redressing the imbalance between religion and politics, this thesis achieves a thorough appreciation of the part played by Rome in these various fields of experience, as well as showing how Anglo-Saxon writers located themselves and their pasts in relation to the city. It does so over the course of five thematic chapters, which progress from an analysis of the most fundamental issues to more imaginative ones. Chapter one examines contact and communication between England and Rome, arguing that the two areas were closely and constantly connected across the century. The second and third chapters explore the impact of Rome on religion and kingship respectively, finding that while Roman influence on the church was most pronounced in the first half of the century, in political terms the city played a significant and changing role throughout the period. Chapters four and five consider the position of Rome in Anglo-Saxon historical thought and geographical understanding, examining how writers continued to define their position in a wider Christian world with reference to the city and its past. This thesis argues that, in the ninth century, Rome continued to play an important role in English life, while also influencing Anglo-Saxon thought and experience in new and dynamic ways.

Placed deposits have received increasing attention over the past 30 years, particularly in prehistoric British archaeology. Although disagreement still exists over the definition, identification, and interpretation of placed deposits, significant advances have been made in theoretical and methodological approaches to placed deposits, as researchers have gradually moved away from relatively crude ‘ritual’ interpretations toward more nuanced considerations of how placed deposits may have related to daily lives, social networks, and settlement structure, as well as worldview. With the exception of comments on specific deposits and a recent preliminary survey, however, Anglo-Saxon placed deposits have remained largely unstudied. This thesis represents the first systematic attempt to identify, characterize, analyse and interpret placed deposits in early to middle Anglo-Saxon settlements (5th–9th centuries). It begins by disentangling the various definitions of ‘placed’, ‘structured’, and ‘special’ deposits and their associated assumptions. Using formation process theory as a basis, it develops a definition of placed deposits as material that has been specially selected, treated, and/or arranged, in contrast with material from similar or surrounding contexts. This definition was applied to develop contextually specific criteria for identifying placed deposits in Anglo-Saxon settlements. Examination of 141 settlements identified a total of 151 placed deposits from 67 settlements. These placed deposits were characterized and analysed for patterns in terms of material composition, context type, location within the settlement, and timing of deposition relative to the use-life of their contexts. Broader geographical and chronological trends have also been considered. In discussing these patterns, anthropological theories of action, agency, practice, and ritualization have been employed in order to begin to understand the roles placed deposits may have had in structuring space and time and expressing social identities in Anglo-Saxon settlements, and to consider how placed deposition may have articulated with Anglo-Saxon worldview and belief systems.