West Stow
| West Stow | |||
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| Coordinates | 52 ° 18 ′ N , 0 ° 40 ′ E | ||
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| Part of the country | England | ||
| region | East of England | ||
| Shire county | Suffolk | ||
| District | West Suffolk | ||
The village of West Stow in west Suffolk in England is north of Bury St. Edmunds in the West Suffolk District on a sandy heather overgrown with bushes . It is near the Lark River Valley . An Anglo-Saxon settlement was located here in the early Middle Ages, from 420 to 650 AD during the dark centuries .
Excavations
Anglo-Saxon village
The archaeological excavation carried out from 1965 to 1972 uncovered a well-preserved Anglo-Saxon settlement under the sand of the Brecklands . In the middle of the village was a large building around which the other structures were grouped. 69 smaller houses, seven hall houses and seven other structures were found. The people apparently lived in large families, with each house usually offering space for ten people. The villagers maintained links with their continental home, as evidenced by glass chains and metal ware found on the site but not made on site.
West Stow was not a large village with numerous homesteads, but a small hamlet that had been rebuilt several times over the course of time - the settlement existed for about 200 years - with only three or four families. The farmsteads changed their location. Such a "fluctuating" way of settlement has been found many times during excavations.
Other finds
The Anglo-Saxons were not the first to settle in the region. There were Mesolithic tools and a Neolithic burial ground and the remains of Iron Age round huts surrounded by trenches found. A pagan Anglo-Saxon burial site has also been excavated. In the course of Christianization, the village was moved east to its current location.
open air museum
Today there is a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon village on the old site, which offers an insight into Anglo-Saxon house construction. The archaeological finds from the village and the region, including the Isleham hoard with more than 6500 bronze pieces , are presented in a specially built Anglo-Saxon center.
literature
- PJ Crabtree: Sheep, Horses, Swine and Kine: A Zooarchaeological Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Settlement of England . In: Journal of Field Archeology 16/2, 205-213.
- Richard Hodges: The Anglo-Saxon achievement: archeology and the beginnings of English Society . Cornell University Press. Ithaca 1989.
- J. Kelsey: Stowical Saxons reveal their secrets . In: History Today 49/10 (1999), 5.
- West Stow Village . British Heritage 19/3 (March 1998), 10-12.
