Burial practices in northern England c A.D.650-850 : a bio-cultural approach
Traditionally, two horizons have been identified in the funerary archaeology of the middle Anglo-Saxon period (c. A.D. 650-850): the cessation of apparently pagan practices and the beginning of churchyard burial. However, it is increasingly apparent that churchyard burial did not become the norm until the lOth century, and that the preceding period is characterised by a diverse range of funerary practices and burial locations that have scarcely begun to be understood. This thesis investigates the funerary rites of cemeteries dating to c. A.D. 650-850 from northern England. First, a corpus of cemeteries from the region and period of study was collected, and the funerary rites that characterise them described. A variety of different cemeteries, and a range of different practices relating to the form of the grave, position of the body and the provision of grave elaborations or grave goods were identified. The funerary practices of middle Anglo-Saxon England are conventionally summarised by the ''final phase~ model, but when considered in light of evidence from northern sites, the model was found to be too restrictive to accurately reflect the true variability of burial rites that characterise northern cemeteries.
Craig, Elizabeth Flora
Burial practices in northern England c A.D.650-850 : a bio-cultural approach. Traditionally, two horizons have been identified in the funerary archaeology of the middle Anglo-Saxon period (c. A.D. 650-850): the cessation of apparently pagan practices and the beginning of churchyard burial. However, it is increasingly apparent that churchyard burial did not become the norm until the lOth century, and that the preceding period is characterised by a diverse range of funerary practices and burial locations that have scarcely begun to be understood. This thesis investigates the funerary rites of cemeteries dating to c. A.D. 650-850 from northern England. First, a corpus of cemeteries from the region and period of study was collected, and the funerary rites that characterise them described. A variety of different cemeteries, and a range of different practices relating to the form of the grave, position of the body and the provision of grave elaborations or grave goods were identified. The funerary practices of middle Anglo-Saxon England are conventionally summarised by the ''final phase~ model, but when considered in light of evidence from northern sites, the model was found to be too restrictive to accurately reflect the true variability of burial rites that characterise northern cemeteries.
burial_practice northern_england cultural approach traditionally horizon identify funerary archaeology middle_anglo saxon_period c_ad cessation apparently pagan practice begin burial however increasingly apparent burial become_norm century precede period_characterise diverse_range funerary_practice burial_location scarcely begin understood investigates funerary_rite cemetery date c_ad northern_england first corpus cemetery region period study collect funerary_rite characterise describe variety_different cemetery range_different practice relate form grave position body provision grave elaboration grave_good identify funerary_practice middle_anglo saxon_england conventionally summarise final_phase model consider_light evidence northern site model find restrictive accurately reflect true variability burial_rite characterise northern cemetery