Anglo
Saxon Norton
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Some
of the burials show the social status of there
occupants within Anglo Saxon society because only
‘free men’ were allowed to carry weapons, the
quality and number of which denoted their ‘rank’
in legal and social status. Ten
of the male burials had their weapons buried with
them; five having a spear only (and therefore
from the lowest social ranks with the exception
of slaves), and five with spear and shield, indicating
the next level up in social standing. One burial,
in addition to spear and shield, also contained
a seax , a single-edged weapon
best described as something between a large knife
and a small sword – clearly a man of some importance
during his life at the Norton settlement.
Some
of the poorer burials may have been those of slaves
(who were not allowed to carry weapons, other
than perhaps a small knife), with each grave containing
few gave goods or only the remains of food, possibly
for their own journey to the after-life or as
a simple offering to the Gods.
Men
and women tended to be buried with different types
of gave 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
presence of bronze belt buckles, sleeve clasps
and various brooches, show that they were clothed
or dressed when buried, and sometimes be used
to reconstruct how they looked. From the style
of these brooches, it would seem likely these
people were Angles, originating from what is now
Schleswig-Holstein, in Northern Germany/Southern
Denmark, and who appear to have settled predominantly
along the east coast of England from Northumbria
to East Anglia. These styles also demonstrate
that the small community of Anglo Saxon Norton
were in a large trading network because of a Frankish
buckle more often found in Kent.
Sets
of iron keys, glass and amber bead necklaces,
were also discovered in a small number of burials.
Other objects found in the graves included earthenware
pots, iron knives, bronze toiletry sets (including
tweezers and pins), and combs made of bone.
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.
intro
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information |
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