Metallurgy in the gloaming : non-ferrous metalwork from three early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk
In the late 1990s Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service (now Suffolk Archaeology) began a series of excavations in advance of construction work at the US Air Force base RAF Lakenheath (Eriswell, Suffolk). During the course of this work three substantial Early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries (dated from 475 to 650 CE) were excavated. These sites are some of the largest and best preserved Anglo-Saxon cemeteries excavated in modern times. Many of the inhumations were furnished. Amongst the host of grave goods were approximately 800 non-ferrous metal objects. This presented a significant opportunity to examine Early Anglo-Saxon non-ferrous metallurgy. Previous studies of Early Anglo-Saxon non-ferrous artefacts have tended to focus on acquiring quantitative data using invasive sampling on specific (predominantly cast) object types. The data from these small subsets of objects were then extrapolated to create an interpretation of the technological and metallurgical skills of the era. As this tended to exclude sheet metal objects and the more utilitarian metalwork it is suggested by the author here that this approach is not representative and leaves something to be desired. In this study it was decided to focus on producing
Nicholas, Matthew
CC Archaeology ; DA Great Britain
Metallurgy in the gloaming : non-ferrous metalwork from three early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk. In the late 1990s Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service (now Suffolk Archaeology) began a series of excavations in advance of construction work at the US Air Force base RAF Lakenheath (Eriswell, Suffolk). During the course of this work three substantial Early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries (dated from 475 to 650 CE) were excavated. These sites are some of the largest and best preserved Anglo-Saxon cemeteries excavated in modern times. Many of the inhumations were furnished. Amongst the host of grave goods were approximately 800 non-ferrous metal objects. This presented a significant opportunity to examine Early Anglo-Saxon non-ferrous metallurgy. Previous studies of Early Anglo-Saxon non-ferrous artefacts have tended to focus on acquiring quantitative data using invasive sampling on specific (predominantly cast) object types. The data from these small subsets of objects were then extrapolated to create an interpretation of the technological and metallurgical skills of the era. As this tended to exclude sheet metal objects and the more utilitarian metalwork it is suggested by the author here that this approach is not representative and leaves something to be desired. In this study it was decided to focus on producing
metallurgy non_ferrous metalwork early_anglo_saxon cemetery raf suffolk suffolk county council archaeology service suffolk archaeology begin series excavation advance construction work air_force base raf suffolk course work substantial early_anglo_saxon cemetery dated excavate site large best preserve anglo_saxon cemetery excavate modern_time many inhumation furnish amongst host grave_good non_ferrous metal_object present significant opportunity examine early_anglo_saxon non_ferrous metallurgy previous_study early_anglo_saxon non_ferrous artefact tend_focus acquire quantitative_data use invasive sampling specific predominantly cast object type data small subset object extrapolate create interpretation technological metallurgical skill era tended exclude sheet metal_object utilitarian metalwork suggest author representative leave something desire study decide focus produce