Costume in early Anglo-Saxon life and death

Suggested period: EARLY MEDIEVAL

Keith Parfitt (Canterbury Archaeological Trust) and Andrew Richardson (former Kent FLO) noted many years ago that the proportions of brooch types from grave assemblages in Kent are different to those from metal-detected assemblages. There are various possible reasons for this (see McLean and Richardson in Worrell et al (ed) 2010), but one might be that the excavated evidence comes from graves – the costume of the dead – and that PAS data includes a substantial element of casual loss from the costume of the living. McLean and Richardson 2010 looked at brooch types from southern counties of England, but there is scope at undergraduate or master's level to look at eastern and midland counties too. An undergraduate dissertation could look at one county, a master's at two or more. To establish differences between funerary and living costume would revolutionise early Anglo-Saxon studies, which are traditionally heavily costume-based.

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Created by: D P
Created: 15 years ago
Updated by: Helen Geake
Updated: 5 years ago