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Archaeological work centred on an early medieval cemetery near Canterbury has uncovered a number of high-status graves, one of which produced an exceptionally well-preserved 6th-century sword.
The weapon is being worked on by archaeologists from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), in collaboration with Andrew Richardson from Isle Heritage and conservator Dana Goodburn-Brown, in an ongoing project that has, so far, investigated a dozen graves within a burial site that is thought to contain more than 200. With a silver-and-gilt hilt, the sword was clearly the work of a skilled craftsperson, and the artefact (which appears to have been clasped in the arms of its owner) was so well preserved that its leather-and-wood scabbard, lined with beaver fur, has also survived.
Swords are traditionally associated with male burials of this period, but the same grave produced a gold bracteate that may have been worn by a socially significant woman. The team suggest that this item – beautifully decorated with an inscribed serpent or dragon – may have been a treasured keepsake representing a family member or perhaps a respected ancestor.
Clearer evidence of a female presence came from one of the other graves, whose occupant is thought to have been a woman as she was laid to rest with Scandinavian-style wrist clasps, a copper-bound wooden bucket, blue and red beads, and cruciform brooches. Other burials across the site produced Merovingian-style buckles, whole pots, and more weaponry, including spears, a shield boss, and a seax (a kind of small, single-edged blade). The graves are though to range in date from the 5th century to the later 6th or early 7th centuries.
Duncan Sayer, lead archaeologist on the project and Professor of Archaeology at UCLan, hopes that the early date of some of the graves will help to fill in gaps in current research on associations between early medieval Kent and north-western Europe and France. ‘This site presents us with a really important opportunity to look at lordship, landscape, and identity at the formation of the Kentish kingdoms, after the end of Roman administration,’ he commented.
Excavations are intended to continue, and post-excavation analysis of the artefacts and human remains is anticipated to be illuminating. ‘We hope that understanding this mixture of Scandinavian, Merovingian, and Insular artefacts alongside isotope and DNA analysis will help us gain an unprecedented insight into migration and the changing political landscape of the south-east of England between AD 450 and AD 650,’ Duncan said.
The sword featured on BBC’s Digging for Britain on Tuesday 7 January.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Image: Prof Alice Roberts/BBC/Rare TV
