The end of the Roman province of Britain and the creation of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms are two key features of this formative period of British history. The apparent sharpness of the transition from Roman to English worlds is a matter of intense modern debate. This module focuses on the archaeological and, to a lesser extent, historical evidence for the Anglo-Saxons in the period AD c.400-650.

REQUISITES: Pre-requisite Module: HS2104.

• knowledge of the nature of the archaeological record for the early Anglo-Saxons in England.
• that they understand the difficulties in integrating archaeological, historical and linguistic evidence.
• that they understand the evidence for the burial record, settlements, artefacts and landscape of early England.
• that they understand current debates about early Anglo-Saxon England.

METHODS OF TEACHING: 10 lectures; 1 seminar.

Intellectual Skills:

• the ability to evaluate evidence of varying quality and source
• the ability to correlate information from lectures, seminars and independent reading
• the ability to present their knowledge in a coherent manner in essay and exam conditions

 Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

The ability to demonstrate an understanding of archaeological evidence and its limitations

 Transferable Skills:

• the ability to write cogently and critically in an assessed essay and under examination conditions.
• the ability to understand complex arguments and evaluate the evidence in support of them.
• to work independently and produce work to deadlines.

The assessed essay, examination, and non-assessed seminars, require the student to demonstrate critical analysis of the archaeological evidence for the Early Anglo-Saxon period.

• The ‘end’ of Roman Britain.
• The historical sources.
• Gildas.
• Date of Anglo-Saxon settlement.
• Placenames and Language.
• Fate of Roman sites.
• Anglo-Saxon settlements.
• The burial record.
• Sutton Hoo and ‘princely burials'.
• Artefacts and Art.
•  Conclusions.

Arnold, C J  1997(2nd ed)  An archaeology of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, London

Bruce-Mitford, R L S  1975, 1978, 1983  The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, vols 1-3, London.

Carver, M  1998  Sutton Hoo: burial ground of kings?, London

Dark, K  2000  Britain and the end of the Roman Empire, Stroud.

Dumville, D N  1977 Sub-Roman Britain: History and Legend, History 62, 173-92

Esmonde Cleary A S  1989 The ending of Roman Britain, London

Faulkner, N  2000  The decline and fall of Roman Britain, Stroud.

Gelling, M  1988  Signposts to the Past, (2nd ed), Chichester

Harke, H 1997  Early Anglo-Saxon social structure, in Hines, J (ed), The Anglo-Saxons from the migration             period to the eighth century: an etrhnographic perspective, Woodbridge, 125-70.

Hawkes, S C  1989  The South-East after the Romans: the Saxon Settlement, in Maxfield, V (ed) The Saxon             Shore, 79-95, Exeter

Higham, N  1992  Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons, London

Hines, J  1990  Philology, Archaeology and the Adventus Saxonum vel Anglorum, in Bammesberger, A &             Wollman, A (eds) Britain 400-600 Language and History, Heidelberg

James, E  2001  Britain in the first millennium, London.

Lapidge, M & Dumville, D N (eds)  1984  Gildas: New Aproaches, Woodbridge

Lucy, S  2000  The Anglo-Saxon way of death, Stroud.

Powlesland, D  1997  Early Anglo-Saxon settlements: structures, form and layout, in Hines, (ed), 101-24.

Sims-Williams, P  1983a  The settlement of England in Bede and the Chronicle, Anglo-Saxon England 12, 1-41

Sims-Williams, P  1983b Gildas and the Anglo-Saxons, Cambr. Med. Celt. Stud. 6, 1-30

Wacher, J  1985 (2nd ed)  Towns of Roman Britain, London

Wilson, D M  1984  Anglo-Saxon Art: from the seventh century to the Norman Conquest, London

Yorke, B  1990  Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, London