1. The Bracteate Hoard from Binham - An Early Anglo-Saxon Central Place?
- Author
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BEHR, CHARLOTTE, PESTELL, TIM, and HINES, JOHN
- Subjects
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ANGLO-Saxon antiquities , *BRACELETS , *ANGLO-Saxons , *HISTORY , *ANTIQUITIES ,ROMAN influences on British civilization - Abstract
THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBES the recent discovery of Britain’s first certain hoard of gold bracteates, found in a field in Binham (Norfolk). This find is unique in Anglo-Saxon England where bracteates have previously been found either in graves or as single finds. A further two gold bracteates and a possible die have been discovered in the vicinity of Binham suggesting a ‘bracteate cluster’. It is argued here on the basis of analogies with sites in Scandinavia and northern Germany that Binham may have acted as a central place in northern Norfolk in the early Anglo-Saxon period. In light of bracteate distribution across Anglo-Saxon England, the area of Binham is suggested as one of several sites with meaningful clusters of bracteate finds; these may have belonged to a network of central sites distributed across Scandinavia and along North Sea coastal areas in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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