Anglo-Saxon Warlord Found by Detectorists Could Redraw Map of Post-Roman Britain

Republication from the UNIVERSITY OF READING

Spearheads and bronze vessels found among other items.

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Archaeologists have uncovered a warrior burial in Berkshire that could change historians’ understanding of southern Britain in the early Anglo-Saxon era.

The burial, on a hilltop site near with commanding views over the surrounding Thames valley, must be of 6^th century AD, archaeologists from the University of Reading believe.

The ‘Marlow Warlord’ was a commanding, six-foot-tall man, buried alongside an array of expensive luxuries and weapons, including a sword in a decorated scabbard, spears, bronze and glass vessels, and other personal accoutrements.

Hidden Secrets about Anglo-Saxon Princely Burial Revealed

Republication from Historic England

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Archaeologists have made exciting discoveries about the Prittlewell Anglo-Saxon princely burial in Essex.

Previously hidden secrets and insights into a high status burial in Prittlewell, Essex have been painstakingly reconstructed by a team of over 40 archaeological experts from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). The new research has been funded by Historic England and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. It explores the nationally significant collection, including until now unidentified artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon burial chamber.

In 2003 archaeologists from MOLA excavated a small plot of land in Prittlewell, Essex. The discovery of a well-preserved burial chamber with rare and precious objects astounded them, but many of the burial chamber’s secrets lay concealed beneath centuries of earth and corrosion. Over the years since, as conservators and archaeological specialists carried out their meticulous work, the burial has slowly been giving up its secrets.

 

Nordic or Anglo-Saxon Shield Design

Some time ago, I found this image of an Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian heavy infantryman as it looks. The most interesting feature is his shield Design, so I chose to republish it. Most of his arms and armour are Scandinavian – and definitely the crow standart behind him – but most

Æthelred the Unready – The Lost King

Republication from Heritagedaily

Battle of Assandun, showing Edmund Ironside (left) and Cnut the Great. (Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS. 26, fol. 80v)

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Æthelred II, also dubbed the Unready was King of Saxon England during 978–1013 and 1014–1016.

Under his father Kind Edgar, England had experienced a period of peace after the reconquest of the Danelaw in the mid-10th century. However, beginning in 980, small bands of Danish invaders carried out coastline raids testing defences across England that included Hampshire, Thanet, Cornwall, Dorset and Cheshire.

After several successful Danish raids such as the Battle of Maldon, where a sizable Danish fleet defeated Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex, Æthelred turned to paying tributes to hold off the invaders and keep the peace in his realm.

New research on Alfred the Great

Republished from The Conversation

Aerial view of the Burghal Hidage site of Wallingford with the Thames in partial flood. Outline of the Saxon ramparts and ‘Alfredian’ streetplan is clear. Image courtesy of the Environmental Agency, Author provided

By Stuart Brookes

Senior Research Associate in Archaeology, UCL

The Last Kingdom – BBC’s historical drama set in the time of Alfred the Great’s war with the Vikings – has returned to our screens for a second series. While most attention will continue to focus on the fictional hero Uhtred, his story is played out against a political background where the main protagonist is the brooding and bookish mastermind Alfred the Great, vividly portrayed in the series by David Dawson.