Anglo-Saxon warrior burial in Berkshire

[Imperial Dave]

I feel like I am being a bit too controversial in my musings...perhaps I am becoming the new Patrick! I will bow out and as you suggest Stephen, await further developments from the discovery. All very interesting though

[aligern]

Jim, I don't have any problem in calling earlier post Roman migrants Anglo-Saxon.  The arrivals were a very mixed lot from Germany abd Scandinavia.  There needs to be a term for describing the incomers who are united by a common Germanic  culture ( Were not British or Irish, or  Scots  or Picts)  . These  new settlers might be Angles , Saxons or Jutes, Sueves, Heruls, Frisians, Allamanns, Franks Geats, Danes , Swedes or  Norwegians.  We don't even know that someone called  a Saxon is actually  a Saxon or part of a minor group that claims. or is given Saxon ethnicity because they  are very like a Saxon and no one doing the writing bothered to enquire.
So even though the combination term really only comes to a meaning when the Danes have destroyed the heptarchy it does for describing the lot of them as a conglomerate in earlier times .

Perhaps in one of your books you could have a Pythonesque situation where a British leader is giving land  in return for military  service  to a group of barbarians, saying ' You Saxons can have the meadows by the river to settle in' , meeting the response:  'We are not  Saxons, we are Batavians  mate.  How can you take us for Saxons we're completely different' ...points to group standing  next to them , identically dressed and accoutred. 'They are Saxons...isn't it obvious?'
Roy

[Imperial Dave]

what Roy said.....

[davidb]

It's perfectly obvious Roy.   

[Jim Webster]

It's perfectly obvious Roy.   

Probably with a sotto voce comment in the background, "Batavian? But me mum were a Wend, and me grandfather were Irish."

[aligern]

I can imagine you then Jim ordering each  group to bop one of their own on the head so you could see how they buried them and decide who was who.  It would, if course, be a bit late for  the Batavian to find out he was a Frank.
Roy

[Jim Webster]

I can imagine you then Jim ordering each  group to bop one of their own on the head so you could see how they buried them and decide who was who.  It would, if course, be a bit late for  the Batavian to find out he was a Frank.
Roy

I suspect life expectancy in those warbands was such that burial details came round pretty often anyway 

[Imperial Dave]

....but I did it last time!

[Anton]

Of course, unless you die at home, you have to be on the winning side to get buried at all.  Otherwise corpse looted and wildlife fed.  A lot of gear must have changed hands post battle.

[Jim Webster]

....but I did it last time!

Good, you must know how it's done.
Get digging, warrior 

[Jim Webster]

Of course, unless you die at home, you have to be on the winning side to get buried at all.  Otherwise corpse looted and wildlife fed.  A lot of gear must have changed hands post battle.

Inevitably. So what you were buried with might tell the archaeologist more about the culture of your defeated opponents than about your own 

[Erpingham]

Of course, unless you die at home, you have to be on the winning side to get buried at all.  Otherwise corpse looted and wildlife fed.  A lot of gear must have changed hands post battle.

Inevitably. So what you were buried with might tell the archaeologist more about the culture of your defeated opponents than about your own 

Though we might be cautious about treating all things are culture-neutral.  There are hints that styles of dress could be cultural identifiers.  If you were a Jute, it might be important that you wore a Jutish brooch, rather than a Saxon one, as a symbol of belonging.  Whereas a nice spear might be just a nice spear.  Not really studied this but use of styles of dress or ornament as a cultural identifier has a solid social anthropological pedigree.

[Imperial Dave]

Of course, unless you die at home, you have to be on the winning side to get buried at all.  Otherwise corpse looted and wildlife fed.  A lot of gear must have changed hands post battle.

Inevitably. So what you were buried with might tell the archaeologist more about the culture of your defeated opponents than about your own 

Though we might be cautious about treating all things are culture-neutral.  There are hints that styles of dress could be cultural identifiers.  If you were a Jute, it might be important that you wore a Jutish brooch, rather than a Saxon one, as a symbol of belonging.  Whereas a nice spear might be just a nice spear.  Not really studied this but use of styles of dress or ornament as a cultural identifier has a solid social anthropological pedigree.

although 'aping' of cultural accoutrements is a fairly well trodden path

[Jim Webster]

Of course, unless you die at home, you have to be on the winning side to get buried at all.  Otherwise corpse looted and wildlife fed.  A lot of gear must have changed hands post battle.

Inevitably. So what you were buried with might tell the archaeologist more about the culture of your defeated opponents than about your own 

Though we might be cautious about treating all things are culture-neutral.  There are hints that styles of dress could be cultural identifiers.  If you were a Jute, it might be important that you wore a Jutish brooch, rather than a Saxon one, as a symbol of belonging.  Whereas a nice spear might be just a nice spear.  Not really studied this but use of styles of dress or ornament as a cultural identifier has a solid social anthropological pedigree.

although 'aping' of cultural accoutrements is a fairly well trodden path

Theoderic himself was said to have commented, "the poor Roman imitates the Goth, the rich Goth the Roman."

[Erpingham]

although 'aping' of cultural accoutrements is a fairly well trodden path

"Aping" also emphasises the identification aspect, of course.  You want to be associated with some aspect of the original wearer.