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Burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England refers to the grave and burial customs followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the mid 5th and 7th centuries CE in Early Mediaeval England. There was "an immense range of variation" of burial practice performed by the Anglo-Saxon peoples during this period,〔Hutton 1991. p. 275.〕 with them making use of both cremation and inhumation. In most cases, the "two modes of burial were given to both wealthy and ordinary individuals", and in many cases were found alongside one another in the same cemetery.〔 Both of these forms of burial were typically accompanied by grave goods, which included food, jewellery and weaponry. The actual burials themselves, whether of cremated or inhumated remains, were placed in a variety of sites, including in cemeteries, burial mounds or, more rarely, in ship burials. Within the areas of Anglo-Saxon settlement, there was both regional and temporal variation while burial practices.〔Lucy 2000. p. 10.〕 The early Anglo-Saxons were followers of a pagan religion, which is reflected in their burials from this time, while they later converted to Christianity in the seventh and eighth centuries CE, which was again reflected in their burial practices, when cremation ceased to be practiced and inhumation became the sole form of burial, typically being concentrated in Christian cemeteries located adjacent to churches. In the eighteenth century, antiquarians took an interest in these burials, and began excavating them, although more scientific excavation only began in the twentieth century with the development of archaeology. Prominent Anglo-Saxon burials that have since been discovered and excavated include the early cemetery of Spong Hill in Norfolk and the great sixth-seventh century ship burial of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. ==History== The early Anglo-Saxon period in England lasted from the fifth to the eighth centuries CE, during which time burial was the common custom for disposing of the dead. Archaeologists believe that the treatment of the deceased was important to Anglo-Saxons due to the "rich variation" in burial rites from this era, and that different forms of burial reflect differences in the status, wealth, sex and/or gender, age, and tribal affiliation of the dead. There was greater variation in burial types than at most earlier periods of British history, with early Anglo-Saxon graves differing greatly from those found in the preceding period of Roman Britain. The common Romano-British form of disposal was inhumation, although some rare cremations had taken place. During the Anglo-Saxon migration, which began in the fifth century CE, Germanic-speaking tribes from continental northern Europe, such as the Angles, Jutes and Saxons, arrived in Britain, where their own culture—with its accompanying language and pagan religion—became dominant across much of eastern Britain. Those Romano-British peoples still residing in these areas either adopted and integrated with this incoming culture or migrated westward. The Anglo-Saxons brought with them their own heterogenous forms of burial practice, which were distinct from those of the British peoples living in western and northern Britain during the Early Medieval, having more in common with those of pagan continental Europe. However, not all of those given an Anglo-Saxon burial at this time were necessarily migrants or the descendents of migrants from continental Europe. Some may have been ethnically descended from the earlier Romano-British people, but who had adopted Anglo-Saxon culture as it became dominant across southern and eastern Britain. An example of such cohabitation can be seen at Wasperton and Stretton-on-the-Fosse in Warwickshire, where Anglo-Saxon graves were found alongside those that were Romano-British in character. In the seventh century, foreign Christian missionaries initiated the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England, with repercussions for burial practices. Though common in the fifth and sixth centuries, cremation rapidly declined as a form of burial, with few known later examples. The Christian Church initially objected little to grave goods, although there was a decline in their popularity as they came to be understood as irrelevant. Instances of rich grave goods would however continue into the eighth century. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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