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The Anglo Saxons originally came to
Britain when they were invited to settle in Kent by King Vortigern in
return for their help in defending Britain after the Romans left. The Saxons soon spread Northwards. By 642AD they had captured Din Eidyn (Edinburgh) and Stirling in Scotland. Lothene (Lothian) remained a mainly Saxon area even after the Vikings settled in the West of Scotland. The house shown opposite is built of wooden plank walls and a thatched roof. It has a pit under its floorboards which could be used as a cellar. There is also a window which is closed by a single shutter. |
| This picture shows some metal
working tools. Charcoal is made by burning wood slowly in a covered pit. This charcoal burns at a higher temperature than wood and can be used for melting metals such as pewter for casting. It can also be used to heat iron up to red heat so that it can be shaped by a blacksmith. Bellows made of wood and leather were used to blow air into a charcoal fire to increase the temperature. Many of the tools the Saxons used in metal working are similar to those used today. |
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The early Anglo Saxons wore mainly woolen and linen clothes. The
basic garment was a T-tunic with narrow sleeves. The wrists of the tunic
might be fastened with a hook and eye or laced in to be particularly
tight fitting. click here to see pattern for T-tunic Men wore the tunic shorter, with trousers underneath. Women wore the tunic as a longer dress and covered it with a sleeveless peplos dress, made by gathering a tube of material up at the shoulders with brooches. There is some evidence from later in the medieval period that women would have worn trousers under their dresses too, perhaps in colder weather. Clothing might be decorated with braid or embroidery. |
| The pole lathe shown opposite was
used in the same way as a modern wood lathe. Cutting was performed using
a separate blade held in the hand. The Saxons made cups, bowls, plates, spoons and many other items on lathes like this. Domestic items were also made of pottery, which was baked around a fire to harden it. |
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Livestock such as the pigs shown
opposite wandered freely in the village and probably took shelter in the
surrounding forest at night. Hens roosted in trees. The animals would eat the scraps of food discarded by the human population. They would only be deliberately fed in order to fatten them up just before they were killed to be eaten. These pictures were taken at West Stow Anglo Saxon Village near Bury St Edmonds in England. The village is run by the West Stow Trust. |
"Anglo Saxon England" - Martin Welch - English Heritage -
0-7134-6566-2
"A Handbook of Anglo Saxon Food" - Ann Hagen - Anglo Saxon Books
- 0-9516209-8-3
"Scotland, The Making of the Kingdom" - A.A.M. Duncan - Mercat
Press - 0 901824 836
Beowulf translation
and
pictures
of manuscript
"Peace Weavers and Shield Maidens" - Kathleen Herbert - Anglo
Saxon Books - 1-898281-11-4
Map
of Britain in the 8th Century
Map of
Anglo-Saxon England
Viking and Saxon Women Warriors
West Stow
Trust - reconstruction of part of an Anglo-Saxon village on its
original site.
Sutton Hoo:
Burial-Ground of the Wuffings - burial mound of a 7th Century Saxon
king.
Anglo Saxon Buckets - an archeological study.
Bede's World - reconstruction
of Anglo-Saxon buildings and farm.
The Old English
Calendar
Angelcynn - re-enactment group
Theod - re-enactment group
BBC Education Page on the Anglo Saxons
British Museum Page on Anglo Saxon England
Lothene Experimental Archaeology Home Page
Lothene Experimental Archaeology are available for displays,
talks and educational visits - contact
us for details
If you are interested in Scottish history, research, medieval crafts,
swordfighting contact us to enquire
about joining Lothene. We currently have members in Lothian, Fife
and the Borders.
