Burial practices in Northern England c A.D.650-850 : A bio-cultural approach.

Traditionally, two horizons have been identified in the funerary archaeology of the middle
Anglo-Saxon period (c. A.D. 650-850): the cessation of apparently pagan practices and the
beginning of churchyard burial. However, it is increasingly apparent that churchyard burial
did not become the norm until the lOth century, and that the preceding period is
characterised by a diverse range of funerary practices and burial locations that have
scarcely begun to be understood.
This thesis investigates the funerary rites of cemeteries dating to c. A.D. 650-850
from northern England. First, a corpus of cemeteries from the region and period of study
was collected, and the funerary rites that characterise them described. A variety of different
cemeteries, and a range of different practices relating to the form of the grave, position of
the body and the provision of grave elaborations or grave goods were identified. The
funerary practices of middle Anglo-Saxon England are conventionally summarised by the
''final phase" model, but when considered in light of evidence from northern sites, the
model was found to be too restrictive to accurately reflect the true variability of burial rites
that characterise northern cemeteries. Second, in order to investigate funerary rites further,
a bio-cultural case-study of burial practices at six major cemeteries was undertaken
(Adwick-le-Street; Ailcy Hill, Ripon; Norton Bishopsmill School; Pontefract; Spofforth;
and Thwing). This integrated evidence from funerary rites with osteological data regarding
age at death, biological sex, health and lifestyle, in order to investigate the provision of
burial practices at these cemeteries. This study revealed several significant patterns in the
identities of individuals afforded certain forms of burial, and particularly, individuals
afforded burial in certain locations within the cemetery. The study concludes by presenting
a wider context for these patterns in relation to the funerary rites of early medieval Britain.