Angles and Saxons

This volume will provide a broad overview of the material cultures and key historical developments of the Angles and Saxons on the Continent and in Britain, placing particular emphasis on the contribution of archaeology to our understanding of these peoples. The North Sea was an important unifier in the early Middle Ages, and the book will argue that similar cultural and economic trajectories can be traced around its shores. The main focus will be on the period from c AD 400, that is shortly before the migrations to Britain, until c 800, by which time the territory of the Continental Saxons had been absorbed into the Carolingian Empire, the Angles had been subsumed within a wider ‘Viking Age’ culture, and the Angles and Saxons in England ceased to be readily distinguishable, at least in terms of their material cultures. Geographically, the focus on the Continent will be on Schleswig-Holstein and the ‘core regions’ of the Saxons, namely northern Germany (excluding regions to the south subjugated by the Saxons in the 6th c, e.g. Thuringia), while in Britain, the emphasis will be on regions bordering on the North Sea and the English Channel. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 will adopt a broadly chronological approach while Chapters 1, 5 and 6 will be essentially thematic.