Description
Book SynopsisExamination and analysis of one of the most important artefacts of Anglo-Saxon society, the cruciform brooch, setting it in a wider context. Cruciform brooches were large and decorative items of jewellery, frequently used to pin together women's garments in pre-Christian northwest Europe. Characterised by the strange bestial visages that project from the feet of thesedress and cloak fasteners, cruciform brooches were especially common in eastern England during the 5th and 6th centuries AD. For this reason, archaeologists have long associated them with those shadowy tribal originators of the English: the Angles of the Migration period. This book provides a multifaceted, holistic and contextual analysis of more than 2,000 Anglo-Saxon cruciform brooches. It offers a critical examination of identity in Early Medievalsociety, suggesting that the idea of being Anglian in post-Roman Britain was not a primordial, tribal identity transplanted from northern Germany, but was at least partly forged through the repeated, prevalent use of dress and material culture. Additionally, the particular women that were buried with cruciform brooches, and indeed their very funerals, played an important role in the process. These ideas are explored through a new typology and an updated chronology for cruciform brooches, alongside considerations of their production, exchange and use. The author also examines their geographical distribution through time and their most common archaeological contexts: the inhumation and cremation cemeteries of early Anglo-Saxon England. Dr Toby Martin is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford University.
Trade ReviewOverall, it is a very strong book with a secure foundation in the archaeological evidence . The book is well written and well put together. It should be useful to scholars seeking to understand Anglian identity, interested in details of material culture, or studying the relationship between clothing and identity. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *
This work should become a model for how to present typological classification effectively to an audience wider than the limited number of scholars who study a specific object type. Martin has done a brilliant job of placing the typology and chronology of cruciform brooches into the context of their social significance. * SPECULUM *
A magisterial analysis that can be commended to anyone with an interest in the relationships Between material culture, society and our understanding of the past, as well as all readers interested in the emergence of Anglo-Saxon identities. * ANTIQUITY *
Produced to a high standard and illustrated with good quality images and tables...this important publication will remain a fundamental reference for early Anglo-Saxon studies. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY *
A brilliant example of how archaeological analysis is conducted today, technically and interpretively. * SAXON *
Table of ContentsThe Anglian Brooch par excellence A New Typology for Cruciform Brooches Building a Chronological Framework Cycles of Exchange and Production Migrants, Angles and Petty Kings Bearers of Tradition Cruciform Brooches, Anglo-Saxon England and Beyond Appendix 1: Cruciform Brooches by Type Appendix 2: Cruciform Brooches by Location Appendix 3: A Guide to Fragment Classification Bibliography
