The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

Early historic Britain
• 191 •
written statement, but the Book of Kells has been attributed variously to Northumbria, Ireland
and Iona. Manuscripts should not be studied in isolation from other art: book covers, reliquaries,
chalices and other items of Church plate all demanded fine craftsmanship. Metalworking, painting,
sculpture—either of stone or on the smaller scale of ivory—and embroidery all used similar
designs, and shared some techniques.
Towns and trade
Although urban centres do not fully emerge until towards the later part of the millennium (see
Chapter 11), trade did not cease entirely in Britain between the early fifth and the late seventh
century (Hodges and Hobley 1988). Mediterranean pottery arrived in the west during the fifth
and sixth centuries, presumably accompanying perishable goods such as wine or oil. Anglo-Saxon
graves in East Anglia contained imported ivory, glass and bronze vessels, and Kent was in close
contact with Frankish Gaul. Trade may not have been on a scale sufficient to demand permanent
markets, and none has yet been identified in Britain for this period, but their existence should not
be ruled out. In Denmark, for example, such a site has been found at Lundborg on Fyn which
functioned from the second century to the seventh. From the seventh century, local trade can be
identified from the distribution of pottery, for example ‘Ipswich’ ware, which is found throughout
East Anglia, around the east coast up the Thames to London (Wade 1988). In the Late Saxon
period, it was succeeded by several wheel-thrown pottery types, including Thetford ware and
Stamford ware, which was glazed.
Around AD 700, coastal trading places emerged all around the North Sea (Hodges and Hobley
1988). Hedeby and Ribe in Denmark, Dorestad in the Netherlands and Quentovic in France are
paralleled in England by Hamwic, near Southampton, and Ipswich (Ottaway 1992). These were
open, undefended sites, producing evidence for local manufacture and import of a wide range of
goods. Similar sites have been identified outside the walls of Roman York and London (Figure
10.8). Because the place-name element -wic is common to many of them, they have sometimes
been called by that name. They flourished in the eighth century and suffered from Viking raids in
the ninth, after which decline set in and they either disappeared (like Quentovic), were relocated
(like Hamwic and Hedeby), or retreated behind the old Roman walls (as at London and York).
These places may have begun as seasonal fairs, but permanent structures and regular street plans
appeared early in their history. The suggestion that they were deliberate foundations by rulers to
control trade into their territories finds some support in the archaeological evidence, including
the deliberate laying-out of streets and properties at one time, the restricted distribution of
imported pottery and the limited diet suggested by the animal bones. Imported pottery may be a
by-product of the wine trade. Rhenish pottery is found in eastern England, while pottery from
northern France reached southern England (Hodges 1989, ch 4). Early medieval trading places
have also been identified in the Irish Sea region.
In Britain, coins had gone out of use at the end of the Roman period. A few Byzantine and
rather more Merovingian coins were used as ornaments, and during the seventh century a limited
gold coinage was struck in Kent. The history of Anglo-Saxon coins really begins with the silver
currency, often called sceattas, small dumpy coins that were in use from the later seventh century
until a new, larger, thin silver penny was created in the later eighth century. Sceattas are found in
some quantity in the coastal trading places. They also occur on other inland sites, including some
that have produced many artefacts, often through metal detecting. These ‘productive sites’ have
not so far shown much evidence for permanent occupation and may perhaps have been seasonal
fairs. Late Saxon coins were a carefully controlled part of West Saxon government, minted only
in specified places and regularly recalled for issue of new types (e.g. Vince 1990, ch 9).