1. The Reuse of ‘Antiques’ in Conversion Period Cemeteries
- Author
-
Stephen J Sherlock
- Subjects
010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,History ,Rite ,060102 archaeology ,Context (language use) ,06 humanities and the arts ,01 natural sciences ,Archaeology ,Prehistory ,Period (geology) ,0601 history and archaeology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
BETWEEN 2005 AND 2007, a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery was excavated at Street House, near Loftus in Cleveland in north-eastern England. The site was discovered during a programme of research into late-prehistoric settlement in the area and hosts a range of monuments dating from 3000 bc to ad 650. In the context of the conversion period, the Anglo-Saxon cemetery is of significant interest due to a range of reused prehistoric and Romano-British objects found as gravegoods. By ad 650, when some of the objects were buried, they were already antiques, and some may have been at least 250 years old when deposited. During the conversion period, furnished burial was a diminishing rite and the placement of objects within the grave may therefore have held a greater significance. This study considers reused artefacts recovered from conversion -period cemeteries. At a time when a number of cemeteries were being founded in relation to earlier monuments, some contained burials that reused artefacts and jewellery of prehis...
- Published
- 2016