Shrubland Hall Anglo-Saxon cemetery

Cemetery
Ipswich
Position within Suffolk.

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]

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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 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.
  • Hoggett, Richard (2010). The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781843835950.
  • Watson, Jacqui (2005). "Laid to Rest – two Anglo-Saxon chambered graves reconstructed". Research News (English Heritage) (2). ISSN 1750-2446.

Coordinates: 52°08′24″N 1°06′54″E / 52.140°N 1.115°E


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