Anglo Saxon Norton

In the summer of 1982, school children playing on a rope-swing beside Mill Lane, Norton, unearthed human bones and jewellery from a shallow grave.

The bones were those of a woman aged between 25 and 35, who had been buried with some of her personal possessions, including a bronze brooch and a necklace of glass and amber beads. These finds were dated to the

6th century A.D. – a pagan Saxon burial site had been discovered!

From a detailed study of the bones and grave goods contained within each grave, it was possible to identify 37 adult male burials and 35 adult female burials; the gender of the remaining 48 burials could not be determined, mainly due to the fragile and fragmentary nature of the surviving bones.

Men and women tended to be buried with different types of grave goods, men would be buried with weapons and women would be buried with a greater percentage of jewellery. All but one of the female burials had grave goods, which paralleling the male practice, indicated legal and social standing.

For example, one obviously important woman in her early twenties had been buried with a pair of decorated silver bracelets, two annular brooches, one penannular brooch, a string of beads, sleeve-clasps and a set of iron keys.

The archaeological evidence from this site suggests that the cemetery was in use from around 550 AD to 620 AD, serving a small, but stable community of around 30 people, made up of both Angles, and native British.

Anglo Saxon

Norton

Gallery

In-depth Information

Further information