Overview
Examination 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.
Full Product Details
Author: Toby F. Martin (Author)
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Imprint: The Boydell Press
Volume: v. 25
Dimensions:
Width: 17.20cm
, Height: 3.00cm
, Length: 24.40cm
Weight: 0.001kg
ISBN: 9781843839934
ISBN 10: 1843839938
Pages: 406
Publication Date: 19 March 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
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
A brilliant example of how archaeological analysis is conducted today, technically and interpretively. SAXON
Author Information
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford University.
