The Use of Grave-Goods in Conversion-Period England, c.600-c.850 - Softcover

Geake, Helen

9780860549178: The Use of Grave-Goods in Conversion-Period England, c.600-c.850

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0860549178 ISBN 13: 9780860549178

Publisher: British Archaeological Reports, 1997

This study comprises a descriptive analysis of the entire range of Anglo-Saxon grave goods and an exploration of their causes and meanings from the 7th and 8th centuries, a time when kingdoms went through far-reaching changes in their ideologies, trade relationships and social structures. The first half of the book consists of discussion of identification of the data, the grave-goods types, the cultural affliations of grave-goods and interpretation of the data. The second half consists of a gazetteer of conversion-period Anglo-Saxon burial sites, numerous maps and pages of figures illustrating the artefacts. Geake concludes that the grave-goods from this period expressed a `pan-English neo-classical' identity, an Anglo-Saxon imperial ideology, drawing heavily on Roman prototypes and that this identity was promoted by the church and the state to legitimise the power of their hierarchies.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.