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It is now widely accepted that the Anglo-Saxons were not just transplanted Germanic invaders and settlers from the Continent, but the outcome of insular interactions and changes. But we are still lacking explicit models that suggest how this ethnogenetic process might have worked in concrete terms. This article is an attempt to present such a model from an archaeological perspective, but with an interdisciplinary approach. The focus is on the role of the native British population and its interaction with immigrant Germanic groups. As a result, the model envisages two broad phases in the creation of the Anglo-Saxons: an ethnically divided conquest society in the 5th/6th centuries in which immigrants and their descendants practised a form of 'apartheid' in order to preserve their dominance; and a phase of increasing acculturation and assimilation of the natives in the 7th/8th centuries that laid the foundations of a common English identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excavation at Bantham Ham in 2001 examined a sequence of post-Roman occupation with radiocarbon dates centred on the late 5th and 6th centuries. Despite the limited area of exposure, a major and unusually well-preserved assemblage of Mediterranean amphorae was recovered; among sites in the British Isles, the quantity of ceramics is second only to that from Tintagel. This assemblage is of great significance in the study of links between western Britain and the Mediterranean in the post-Roman period, raising questions about the date, duration and character of trading patterns, and about their late-Roman antecedents. Associated finds of vessel glass and evidence of ironworking are discussed; the glass is interpreted as reflecting elite drinking rituals. Study of well-preserved bone, shell, charcoal and charred plant macrofossils allows consideration of aspects of the economy and environment of the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a Growing recognition that introduced species are direct records of cultural activity and that studies of their biogeography have the potential to tell us about patterns of human migration, trade and even ideology. In England the fallow deer (Dama dama dama) is one of the earliest and most successful animal introductions, whose establishment has traditionally been attributed to the Normans. However, recent investigations of Old English place names have raised the possibility that the term *pohha/pocca relates to fallow deer, suggesting that the species was widely established in the Anglo-Saxon landscape. This suggestion deserves serious consideration as it has implications for our understanding both of AngloSaxon society and the impact of the Norman Conquest. This paper therefore presents a critical review of the literary, iconographic, place-name and zooarchaeological evidence for fallow deer in early medieval England and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Number of bracteate finds from early Anglo-Saxon England has increased substantially in recent years. A catalogue draws together for the first time all the finds since 1993 and one, possibly two, dies with bracteate motifs. This leads to a review of their find circumstances, distribution and their stylistic and iconographical links with continental and Scandinavian bracteates. The outcome is a revised picture of the function and meaning of bracteates in Anglo-Saxon society, with the suggestion that the English adopted the idea for these pendants from Sievern in Germany but adapted the concept and iconography for local manufacture. In Kent use links to high-status female burials but outside Kent ritual deposition is also a possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]