McDONALD INSTITUTE MONOGRAPHS Spong Hill Part IX: chronology and synthesis By Catherine Hills and Sam Lucy with contributions from Mary Chester-Kadwell, Susanne Hakenbeck, Frances Healy, Kenneth Penn, Ian Riddler and Nicola Trzaska-Nartowski and graphics by Jane Matthews, Andrew Hall and Iain Forbes Published with the aid of a grant from
Published by: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge, UK CB2 3ER (0)(1223) 333538 (0)(1223) 339336 (Production Office) (0)(1223) 333536 (FAX) dak12@cam.ac.uk www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk Distributed by Oxbow Books United Kingdom: Oxbow Books, 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford, OX1 2EW, UK. Tel: (0)(1865) 241249; Fax: (0)(1865) 794449; www.oxbowbooks.com USA: The David Brown Book Company, P.O. Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA. Tel: 860-945-9329; Fax: 860-945-9468 ISBN: 978-1-902937-62-5 ISSN: 1363-1349 (McDonald Institute) 2013 McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Cover design by Dora Kemp. Cover image: Spong Hill s environs (photograph by Ethan Doyle White) with inset of typical pottery from the site (photograph from the Spong Hill Archive). Edited for the Institute by James Barrett (Series Editor) and Dora Kemp (Production Editor). Printed and bound by Short Run Press, Bittern Rd, Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter, EX2 7LW, UK.
Contents Abbreviations Contributors Figures Tables Acknowledgements viii ix x xiii xv Chapter 1 Introduction and Background 1 Project history 1 Research agenda 7 Report structure 7 The landscape context of Spong Hill (by Mary Chester-Kadwell) 9 In the shadow of hindsight: pre-iron Age Spong Hill viewed from 2010 (by Frances Healy) 12 A salutary exercise 12 Assemblage abandonment 12 Subsistence, samples and dating 14 Carinated Bowl in East Anglia 16 Natural features 19 River valleys vs the rest 19 Iron Age and Roman Spong reviewed 21 The early Anglo-Saxon settlement 24 Chapter 2 Spong Hill Artefact Classification and Discussion 27 Artefacts not of worked bone or antler 28 Brooches 28 Types of brooches present 28 Cruciform brooches 29 Small-long brooches 34 Square-headed brooches 35 Iron bow brooches 37 Supporting-arm brooches 38 Tutulus brooch 38 Chip-carved equal-armed brooches 39 Applied brooches 40 Saucer brooches 41 Disc brooch 42 Penannular brooch 42 Annular brooches 42 Discussion 42 Jewellery and associated items 45 Pendants and other jewellery 45 Bracelets 45 Finger-rings 48 Glass and other (non-bone) beads 48 Comparison between inhumation and cremation beads from Spong Hill 52 Anglo-Saxon beads 52 Wider context, Late Roman and Germanic beads 53 Other dress accessories 54 Wrist-clasps 54 Buckles 57 Strap fittings 59 Strap-ends 60 Small fittings 60 Pins 60 Other personal artefacts 60 Girdle-hangers 60 Keys/latch-lifters 62 Toilet-sets and associated items 62 Animal-handled razor v 68
Weapons 69 Sword fittings 69 Chronology and significance of swords 72 Sword beads 73 Shield fittings 74 Arrowheads 75 Tools and craft implements 76 Needles 76 The possible woolcomb 76 Iron tools 76 Hones 78 Vessels 79 Glass vessels 79 Copper-alloy vessels 83 Buckets 87 Other remains of wooden vessels 90 Miscellaneous items 91 Bell and strap distributor 91 Coins 92 Artefacts of worked bone and antler (by Ian Riddler and Nicola Trzaska-Nartowski) 92 Dress accessories 93 Pendants and amulets 93 Antler and bone beads 94 Strap-ends, pins and needles 98 Personal items 99 Antler rings 99 Ivory bag rings 103 Implement handles 104 Needle cases 105 Casket mounts 106 Perforated mount 107 Bow guards 107 Combs 107 Triangular combs 108 Barred zoomorphic combs 118 Semi-circular combs 125 Single-sided simple combs 129 Cases for single-sided composite combs 133 Double-sided composite combs 134 Spong Hill and Early Anglo-Saxon comb making in East Anglia 140 Textile-manufacturing implements 145 Spindle whorls 145 Needle 148 Items of recreation 148 Gaming pieces 148 Miscellaneous items 155 Rods and pegs 155 Pyxide lid 155 Chapter 3 Establishing a Chronology 157 Chronologies and early medieval archaeology 157 Approaches to Anglo-Saxon pottery 158 Pottery fabric 159 Burial groups 160 The identification of stamp and style groups 164 Correspondence analysis of the cremation urns (by Susanne Hakenbeck) 168 Seriation and correspondence analysis: theory and practice 168 The chronological sequence of the cremation urns 169 The chronological sequence of the stamp combinations 187 vi
Comparison of burial groups with correspondence analysis of pottery 195 Northwest setting 198 Comparison of stamp-linked groups and CA phasing of pottery 199 Correspondence analysis of the grave-goods 202 Structuring the data set 202 The female-associated correspondence analysis 203 Correspondence analysis on the remaining graves 208 A comparison of the seriations of decorative motifs, stamps and grave-goods (by Susanne Hakenbeck) 211 Extending the chronology 212 Reflections on the chronology of grave-goods at Spong Hill 217 Grave- and pyre-goods 217 Fabric types 227 Discussion 228 Summary and overview 229 Chapter 4 The Internal Structuring of the Cemetery and Local Contexts 233 Variation in the burial rites: previous research 233 Vessel size and form 235 Vessel decoration 242 The use of grave-goods 249 Phase A 249 Phase A/B 249 Phase B 254 Phase B/C 259 Phase C (cremations only) 259 Animals as offerings 259 Vessel treatment 264 Demographics, bone collection and palaeopathology 264 The spatial organization of the cemetery 266 The Anglo-Saxon settlement 267 Burials and structures 267 Other large burial groups 269 Enclosure 581 269 Relationship between cremation and inhumation burials 270 Parallels for mortuary structures 270 Spong Hill in its local context (by Mary Chester-Kadwell) 272 The local area defined 272 Methodological issues 272 Known sites in the local area 274 Sites in the broader study area 279 The settlement pattern 281 Intervisibility of Spong Hill and sites in the immediate area 282 The inherited landscape: Roman roads and sites 282 The inherited landscape: prehistoric barrows and linear earthworks 290 Discussion 292 Cemeteries as central places? 293 Discussion 294 Chapter 5 Spong Hill and its Broader Context 297 Identifying change and the causes of change 297 Changing burial rites in the fourth and fifth centuries 300 Burial in Roman Britain 300 Artefactual patterning: context, comparative finds and chronology 301 Brooches 302 Gender 302 Late Roman brooch types 303 Cruciform brooches 305 Other brooch types 307 Other Roman artefacts 307 vii
Other dress accessories: buckles and clasps 307 Wrist-clasps 307 Containers 308 Glass vessels 308 Use of combs and other worked bone and antler items (by Ian Riddler) 309 Weapons 310 Toilet-sets 312 Continental cemeteries 314 Jutland 314 Schleswig Holstein 316 Lower Saxony 317 Northwest Germany and Netherlands coastal regions 319 Anglo-Saxon cremation cemeteries in eastern England 320 Cremation in the rest of England 324 Discussion 327 Conclusions 328 Appendices Appendix 1. Descriptions of Comparative Cemeteries 335 Appendix 2. Radiocarbon Dates from Relevant Prehistoric Sites 345 Appendix 3. Handlist of Glass Vessels (by Vera Evison) 351 Appendix 4. Handlist of Comb Types (by Ian Riddler) 357 Appendix 5. List of Cremation Burials with Phasing Information 365 Appendix 6. Catalogue of Style Groups (by Kenneth Penn) 409 References 439 Index 463 Abbreviations BG C Inh SG StyG Burial Group Cremation Inhumation Stamp Group Style Group viii