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III.—A Saxon Village at Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire (Second Report)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2011

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Extract

Since the publication of the first report, which included all the work carried out on the site of the Saxon village at Sutton Courtenay down to the end of 1922, further excavation has resulted in the discovery of eight more houses in the same area as those previously described, and two others a little distance away. In addition, three Bronze Age circular ditches have been observed and partly explored, as well as one or two more pits of the same period. Above one of the circular ditches were found traces of Saxon houses, in one case consisting of a pavement of large limestone blocks.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1927

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References

page 59 note 1 Archaeologia, lxxiii, 147.Google Scholar

page 59 note 2 A ninth discovered before this report went to press has been included.

page 60 note 1 Another long flake, a casual find, is shown in pl. v, fig. 2, c.

page 61 note 1 Dr. K. S. Sandford, who kindly made certain experiments in order to discover whether the change of surface was due to chemical agency or fire, has found a fragment of a similar celt identical in material and condition at Hackpen Hill, Wilts.

page 64 note 1 Possibly a cheek-piece for a bridle-bit, like those found in the Late Celtic village at Glastonbury (A. Bulleid and H. St. George Gray, The Glastonbury Lake Village, ii. 440 seq.).

page 68 note 1 Cf. Oxfordshire Archaeological Society, Report for 1917, p. 94 and fig. 7, from Woodeaton, Oxon.

page 68 note 2 For a similar use of such bones see A. Bulleid and H. St. George Gray, op. cit., ii. 421 seq. A metatarsal bone from house VI (pl. vii, fig. 2), with a perforation near one end, may also be compared with specimens from Glastonbury.

page 73 note 1 It might be argued from the plan that the length east to west was, in the absence of discovery of the eastern post-hole, much longer than 8 ft., but the close watch kept on the site enabled us to gauge to a few inches the amount removed behind the older working-face at any given point.

page 75 note 1 Supra, p. 68.

page 76 note 1 Cohen viii, 130, type 36. Obv. D.N. GRATIAN — VS AVGG AVG. Bust diademed and draped to r. Rev. SECVRITAS — REIPVBLICAE. Victory marching to 1., holding a wreath and a palm: in field OF — I: in exergue LVG PD.

page 78 note 1 M. L. Kissell, Yarn and Cloth-making, fig. 46.

page 78 note 2 E.D. in these figures indicates East Ditch.

page 78 note 3 Oudheidkundige Mededeelingen uit's Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden, Nieuwe Reeks, v, 1 (1924) (= Intern. Arch, für Ethn., xxvii), p. 19, pl. 111, 8 (no. 2 in the top row).

page 78 note 4 The Arts in Early England, iv. 501. It is, as suggested by the numerous decorated sherds found in the course of these excavations, extremely doubtful whether Professor Baldwin Brown's association of the ornamented urns with cremation is entirely justified. The two things do not necessarily go hand in hand. Even the crude aesthetic sense displayed on Anglo-Saxon pottery is intended for the enjoyment of the living as much as for the honour of the dead. Handles are of frequent occurrence on the Continent, as noted by Baldwin Brown, e. g. at Hoogebeintum, Friesland (P. C. J. A. Boeles, De Friesche Terpen, figs. 2 and 7); at Rijnsburg (J. H. Holwerda, Nederland's Vroegste Beschaving, pl. vi, 3, 5, and 9); at Gudendorf, Westerwanna, and Altenwalde, Hanover (A. Plettke, Ursprung und Ausbreitung der Angeln und Sachsen (C. Schuchhardt, Die Urnenfriedhöfe in Niedersachsen, Bd. III, Heft i), pl. 29, 8; 38, 9; 40, 8); the last-named area, as proved by the equal-armed brooch found in house X, being that from which the invaders of the Upper Thames Valley came. This frequency abroad and their absence in this country also suggests that they belong to the earlier stages of the culture of the invaders. Holwerda includes those cited above from Rijnsburg among his ‘Protosaksisch’ pottery.

page 79 note 1 This type of bowl is regarded by him as one of the earlier Anglo-Saxon forms.