Description
Book SynopsisSpong Hill, with over 2500 cremations, remains the largest early Anglo-Saxon cremation cemetery to have been excavated in Britain. This volume presents the long-awaited chronology and synthesis of the site. It gives a detailed overview of the artefactual evidence, which includes over 1200 objects of bone, antler and ivory. Using this information, together with programmes of correspondence analysis of the cremation urns and the grave-goods, a revised phasing and chronology of the site is offered, which argues that it is largely fifth-century in date. The implications of this revised dating for interpretations of the early medieval period in Britain and further afield are explored in full.
Trade ReviewThe volume is dense reading but highly informative, and includes a wealth of detailed tables, maps and appendices for anyone interested in conducting additional analysis on the raw data. Catherine Hills and Sam Lucy should also be applauded for making good use of continental scholarship on artefact typologies central to their interest in measuring migration, spatial and social patterning, and genderand age-associations of goods included in cremation and inhumation graves. * Antiquity *
“…what a triumph it is. At last it is possible to see, in this splendid book, the cemetery as a whole.” “This important publication changes our perceptions of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England. Get a copy and read it.” * British Archaeology *
