Rich Anglo-Saxon female burial from Northants

[Duncan Head]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/dec/06/medieval-female-burial-site-found-near-harpole-is-most-significant-ever-discovered-in-uk

[Jim Webster]

yes interesting 

[Erpingham]

The repurposed shoulder clasp is interesting.  One thinks of those from Sutton Hoo.

[DBS]

Not convinced on the evidence presented thus far that she is the "earliest female church leader" in Britain, given a) we have no detailed knowledge of Christianity in late Roman Britain (but the likelihood, following the rest of the empire, that rich women played a significant role); and b) the fact that religious iconography does not necessarily equate to being an "abbess" or whatever.  Clearly she was wealthy, so ok with calling her a "princess" for anything better - but we also have documented cases of early Angle/Saxon leaders being married to women whose Christianity was better found than theirs, without that making them abbesses...

(Also amused by the Guardian accepting the non-PC argument that necklace=woman.  )

Anyway, not in any way detracting from significance of the find.

[Duncan Head]

Nigel Tallis on the dbmmlist just linked to another story about this one - https://theconversation.com/spectacular-anglo-saxon-burial-uncovered-heres-what-it-tells-us-about-women-in-seventh-century-england-196675 - sceptical about the "abbess" suggestion but with a nice reconstruction painting of the burial.

[Imperial Dave]

nice discovery non-the-less