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Tradition and Transformation in Anglo-Saxon England
Archaeology, Common Rights and Landscape
Susan Oosthuizen
- 176 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Tradition and Transformation in Anglo-Saxon England
Archaeology, Common Rights and Landscape
Susan Oosthuizen
About This Book
Most people believe that traditional landscapes did not survive the collapse of Roman Britain, and that medieval open fields and commons originated in Anglo-Saxon innovations unsullied by the past. The argument presented here tests that belief by contrasting the form and management of early medieval fields and pastures with those of the prehistoric and Roman landscapes they are supposed to have superseded. The comparison reveals unexpected continuities in the layout and management of arable and pasture from the fourth millennium BC to the Norman Conquest.
The results suggest a new paradigm: the collective organisation of agricultural resources originated many centuries, perhaps millennia, before Germanic migrants reached Britain. In many places, medieval open fields and common rights over pasture preserved long-standing traditions for organising community assets. In central, southern England, a negotiated compromise between early medieval lords eager to introduce new managerial structures and communities as keen to retain their customary traditions of landscape organisation underpinned the emergence of nucleated settlements and distinctive, highly-regulated open fields.
Frequently asked questions
Information
in Anglo-Saxon England
Rights and Landscape
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1 | Introduction |
Part I Tradition | |
2 | Common pasture |
3 | Arable laid out in open fields |
Part II Transformation | |
4 | Innovations in agricultural management |
Part III Explaining Continuities and Transformations | |
5 | Continuities in common pasture and open-field systems under narrow CPrRs |
6 | Transformation into open-field systems under wide CPrRs |
1 | Map of Ancient pastures |
2 | Aerial photograph of Neolithic and Iron Age earthworks at Hambledon Hill, Dorset |
3 | Map of open fields in England under narrow CPrRs |
4 | Maps of ancient fields |
5 | Map of open fields in England under wide CPrRs before about 1350 |
6 | Maps of innovation in the Anglo-Saxon landscape |
7 | Aerial photograph of Medieval cultivation remains at Baggrave, Leicestershire |
8 | Map of the kingdom of Mercia in the long eighth century |
9 | Map of nucleated settlement in England in the nineteenth century |
10 | Map of substantial Romanised buildings and villas in England |
11 | The distribution of Anglo-Saxon woodland |
12 | Monastic foundations in England before about 900 |
Table of contents
- Debates in Archaeology