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Anglo-Saxon presence and culture in Wiltshire c. AD 450-c. 675

Anglo-Saxon presence and culture in Wiltshire c. AD 450-c. 675

By Bruce Eagles

Roman Wiltshire and After: Papers in Honour of Ken Annable, ed. P.D.Ellis (Wiltshire Archaeological Society, 2001)

Summary: It is suggested that the initial Germanic immigration may have taken place within the framework of the former Romano-British civitates. The north-west and west, and possibly the north-east corner, and the extreme south-west of the county appear to have remained in British hands until the 7th century when Saxon conquest was finally completed. The major theme of the paper is the emergence and growth of a Saxon identity in the county. Archaeological information is derived almost entirely from burials and stray artifacts. Excavated settlements are few and knowledge of the location of habitations is enhanced only by the occasional scatter of potsherds, supplemented, in a more general way, by place-names. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, personal names in literary sources, the laws of Ine, and place-names afford other and important evidence of contact and intermingling between the indigenous population and immigrants in Wiltshire.

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