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.

 

Distinctive Iron Age shield gives insight into prehistoric technology

Republication  from the University of York

Photo credit: University of York

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A unique bark shield, thought to have been constructed with wooden laths during the Iron Age, has provided new insight into the construction and design of prehistoric weaponry.

The only one of its kind ever found in Europe, the shield was found south of Leicester on the Everards Meadows site, in what is believed to have been a livestock watering hole.

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

Ten Must See Iron Age Hill Forts In Britain

Republication from heritagedaily

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage.

The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill, consisting of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, and were in use by the ancient Britons until the Roman conquest. There are around 3,300 structures that can be classed as hillforts or similar “defended enclosures” within Britain, all worthy of considering. The following list represents ten of the most impressive examples.

1 : Maiden Castle, Dorset

Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. The name Maiden Castle may be a modern construction meaning that the hill fort looks impregnable, or it could derive from the British Celtic mai-dun, meaning a “great hill.”

The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity on the site consists of a Neolithic causeway enclosure and bank barrow. In about 1800 BC, during the Bronze Age, the site was used for growing crops before being abandoned. Maiden Castle itself was built in about 600 BC; the early phase was a simple and unremarkable site, similar to many other hill forts in Britain and covering 6.4 hectares (16 acres). Around 450 BC it underwent major expansion, during which the enclosed area was nearly tripled in size to 19 ha (47 acres), making it the largest hill fort in Britain and by some definitions the largest in Europe

Image Credit : Google Earth

 

Contributions to Slingshot, Journal on ancient and medieval warfare

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[Slingshot 308, September-October 2016]

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Some time now I’m contributing to Slingshot, the research Journal of the Society of Ancients (published since 1964), specialized in ancient and medieval warfare, tactics and wargaming.

Many thanks for this to Paul Innes and Nick Harbud.

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Periklis Deligiannis

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