Shrubland Hall Anglo-Saxon cemetery

Shrubland Hall Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon burial site discovered at Shrubland Hall Quarry near Coddenham, Suffolk. The cemetery contains fifty burials and a number of high-status graves including "the most complicated Anglo-Saxon bed ever found."[1][2] Bed burials, in which a female body is laid out on an ornamental wooden bed, usually accompanied by jewellery, are rarely found, and are considered of national importance.[3][4] Only 13 bed burials have been found to date in the UK.[5][6] The bed burial was one of two graves at the cemetery which were found within wooden-lined chambers. The second chamber contained a male skeleton with grave goods including a seax, a spear, a shield, an iron-bound wooden bucket, a copper alloy bowl and a drinking horn.[7]

Cemetery
Ipswich
Position within Suffolk.

The site was uncovered by Suffolk County Council's Archaeology Service in 1999 during exploratory excavations prior to gravel extraction by the quarry operators.[1] Evidence of Iron Age and Roman activity had previously been identified in the area.[1][8]

See also

Notes

  1. Watson 2005, p. 6.
  2. Hoggett 2010, p. 124.
  3. "Museum's star role for Saxon princess". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. 22 September 2009. ProQuest document ID 335477342.
  4. Hammond, Norman (17 March 2012). "Rare bed burial sheds light on Britain's first Christians". The Times. London. p. 90. ProQuest document ID 928744156.
  5. "Anglo-Saxon Christian grave find near Cambridge 'extremely rare'". BBC News. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  6. "Mystery of Anglo-Saxon teen buried in bed with gold cross". Research. University of Cambridge. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  7. Watson 2005, p. 8.
  8. Higham & Ryan 2010, p. 90.

References

  • Higham, Nicholas J.; Ryan, Martin J., eds. (2010). The Landscape Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781843835820.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Hoggett, Richard (2010). The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781843835950.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Watson, Jacqui (2005). "Laid to Rest – two Anglo-Saxon chambered graves reconstructed". Research News. English Heritage (2). ISSN 1750-2446.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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