University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education Week One

1. University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education Week One From Civilisation To Barbarism? Western Britain in the Early Middle Ages Tutor: Dr Kirsten Jarrett

2. Course resources • Course Booklet: handouts • Field Guide: resources for field trip (TBC) • Reading list • Assessment handouts • Supplementary Sources • Supplementary Reading Lists (to support home study and coursework) • Internet Resources List (to support further learning) • Session Review Sheets (to ensure familiarity with topics) • Sesame: http://open.conted.ox.ac.uk/series/civilisation-barbarism-western-britain-early-middle-ages# • http://kjarrett.com/britanni/

3. Group discussion Preparatory course reading review • What cultural characteristics might be associated with life in Western Britain after the end of Roman control in Western Britain? • 2. What may have affected cultural changes in Britain during the post-Roman period? • 3. What sources are available to study the West during this period, and how accurate might previous historical interpretations be? (Booklet, p. 2)

4. Past Approaches: 19th century onwards • Antiquarian • Culture Historical ‘Pots = people’

5. ‘Celtic’ Britain and ‘Anglo-Saxon’ England

6. ‘…on any Romano-British site the impression that constantly haunts the archaeologist, like a bad smell or a stickiness on the fingers, is that of an ugliness which pervades the place like a London fog’ ‘The uniform and sordid ugliness of drab Romano-British daylight’ (R.G. Collingwood, 1936)

7. Past Approaches: later 20th – 21st century • Antiquarian • Culture Historical • New Archaeology Science and systems • Post-processualism Identity Studies

8. Who did they think they were?‘Identity’: past and present • ‘Romanisation’ Multiple manifestations and meanings of ‘Roman’ culture • ‘Social’ identity Sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ (similarity & difference) • ‘Cultural’ identity Sense of shared culture (values, belief, and material attributes) • ‘Ethnic’ identity: plural identities Sense of common origin / shared history & often culture • Status and identity: often restricted to ‘elites’

9. Terminology What are the meanings of the following terms? • ‘Dark Ages’ • ‘Post-Roman Period’ • ‘Migration Period’ • ‘Later Celtic Period’ • ‘Anglo-Saxon Period’ • ‘Early Middle Ages’ • ‘Early Christian Period’ • ‘Early Medieval Period’ • ‘Ultimate Roman Period’ • ‘Late Antiquity’ • ‘Brittonic Period’ • ‘Sub-Roman Period’ (Worksheet 1A, p. 3)

10. Pre-conceptions Celtic stereotypes? 2. When and why developed? 3. Problems and effects of stereotypes? (Worksheet 1A, p. 3)

11. Languages of Early Medieval Western Britain Brittonic/ Brythonic(Br.) Phonetic changes (4th- 6th centuries AD) (Written): v p t c b (m) d g (Spoken): u b d g (μ) đ g Primitive Welsh (Pr.W) C6 Old Welsh (OW), Cumbric, Cornish C7 Old English (OE) Primative (Pr. I) and Old Irish (OI) (Spoken): w c t qq / qu đ g (See Handout (Week 1): Name Derivation : Booklet p. 4)

12. Celtic River names

13. Late Roman Western Britain: a brief overview

14. Towns and roads of Roman Britain

15. Late Roman Britain: Political Organisation

16. Fragmentation in the landscape Bokerley Dyke, Dorset

17. Enclosure: rural and urban Cranbourne Chase Caerwent

18. Power in late Roman Western Britain • Land and urban enclosure: • Control of movement and expression of ownership? • Fortification and occupation of fortified sites • ‘Military’ identity: • Buckles and brooches - insignia of auxiliary and local authority? • Occupation of military sites in ‘military’ zone?

19. Civitas / Provincial war-bands?

20. Group Exercise: insignia of auxiliary and local authority 1. 2. 2 1 4 4. 3. 3 5 6 7. 7 (Worksheet 1B, p. 5)

21. 5th century material culture: the ‘invisible’ generations? • Residuality • ‘TPQ’ – terminus post quem(in simple terms: dating to or after) • Some cultural changes commonly associated with C5 or later began C4 • Continuity of some late C4 styles into (& perhaps beyond) C5 Problems:

22. Late Roman dress accessories Type G

23. Ceramics in Late Roman Western Britain

24. Late Roman settlement changes in Western Britain Urban change Hillfort re-use Some continuity in far West Transformation of villa occupation Cadbury Congresbury

25. Gradual Christianisation Ritual and Religion ‘State’ Religion Uley, Glos. ‘Unofficial’ ritual or Superstition?

26. Burial in Late Roman Western Britain: Traditional ‘Pagan’ Practices • Cremation and inhumation • NS / other • ‘Aberrant’ rites: prone & decapitation • Crouched • Grave goods & costume: • ceramics & animal bones, hob-nail boots, coins, jewellery • Domestic and extra-mural cemeteries • Clustered & inter-cutting graves • Few small children

27. New traditions: ‘Romano-Christian’ practices? • ‘Standardisation’: • Inhumation • EW • Rows • Non-intercutting • Grave linings • Shroud burials with no grave goods • Supine extended Sectors within extra-mural cemeteries: Christian communities?

28. Session Revision • What terminology is used to describe this period? What problems are there in using some of these terms? • What pre-conceptions surround early medieval ‘Celtic’ culture? • How might the present may influence study of the past • What finds might we expect on late Roman sites in western Britain ? • What changes occurred on later Roman western British settlements? • How were people buried in later Roman western Britain?