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Anglo-Saxons: The Truth about the Boasts. 449 - 1066. Homes. Made of timber, central hearth, boat-shaped, louver in ceiling to let out smoke, benches and tapestries Located in villages, near navigable rivers. Food.
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Anglo-Saxons:The Truth about the Boasts 449 - 1066
Homes • Made of timber, central hearth, boat-shaped, louver in ceiling to let out smoke, benches and tapestries • Located in villages, near navigable rivers
Food • Ate meat, kept animals in pens, depended on salt for preservation, used only knives
Health • Groomed themselves with bone combs, bronze tweezers, small shears, etc. • Less than 50% reached age 30 • 82% dead by 40, 98% dead by 50 • No cavities, but much osteoarthritis from squatting
Subject to frequent plagues and epidemics • Relied on herbal medicine • Performed some surgery: amputation of gangrenous limbs, hernias, hare lips
Dress • Wore wool and linen • Headbands, gold brocade, brooches, wrist clasps, leg bandages, long hair • Rings with runic inscriptions, earrings, buckles, functional jewelry
Entertainment • Hunting, falconry, bear- and bull-baiting • Athletic contests to sharpen martial skills • Musical instruments: horns, trumpets, lyres, pipes • POETRY • Religious feasting, wakes, harvesting • Riddles
Industry • Cottage industries: soap makers, charcoal makers, ice skate makers, products of bone, pottery, metal works
Women • Relatively unimportant in a warrior-based society, BUT some were powerful and were active in running large estates • Spinning, weaving, embroidery, domestic economy
Society • Loyalty to lord came before kin (COMITATUS) • Would not leave battle alive if king were killed • Frequent stubborn blood feuds • WERGILD: compensation for death/injury
Classes: king, nobles (earls), freeman (thanes), bonded peasants (churls), slaves (thralls) • King selected and advised by a council of elders (WITAN) • Trial by ordeal after oathing • Believed in marriage, divorce • Orphaned sons came of age at age 10
Beliefs • Human sacrifice • Scandinavian gods • Eventually Christianized
Funerals • Cremation • Inhumation (traditional burial) • Ship burial