01-27-2007, 01:58 PM
Hi Authun,
Actually, I think we have better preserved Romano-British Christian
graveyards in the South West than the South East from the 4th through
the 5th c. Cemeteries at Dorchester (Dorset) and Cadbury Congresbury
(Somerset) contain hundreds of W-E facing rows of burials with little or
no grave-goods, that date through the 4th c and into the 5th. There
isn't actually so much large-scale Romano-British Christian cemeterial evidence in the East (except for odd survivals like at the Police-Station
site in Colchester). Interestingly, the Colchester cemetery (surrounding
a nice 4th c. Church) seems to go out of use c. 450 (the Adventus?).
What happens at Dorchester and Cadbury-Congresbury is that long
after these cemeteries have likely ceased to be used by the native,
Christian Britons (after the Saxon expansion Westwards from 530
onwards) we see overtly pagan burials being added to the peripheries
of these graveyards containing knives, etc of Anglo-Saxon manufacture, as if the pagan Anglo-Saxons in the 6th & early 7th c. have taken over
what they perceive to be hallowed ground. That's not surprising, as the
same practise takes place in East & West, where they get buried inside
the mounds of Bronze-Age burials.
Then, of course, in the 5th-6th c. we get thousands of Christian grave
stones in the West Country & Wales which show the same patterns of
inscriptions as in Roman Gaul - including the same spelling mistakes
in the Latin (showing continued trade & cultural contact with the rest of
the Roman World - in additon to Byzantium).
Ambrosius / Mike
Quote:Quote:All this would actually tend to suggest that there was more archaeological evidence for christianity in the South West of 4th/5th c. Britain than in the South East!
Von Kalben is not suggesting that no christianised families existed at all, but that Christianity in the south west wasn't widespread amongst the population. The evidence presented is in the number of christian graveyards or christian burials in mixed graveyards that have been found.
Actually, I think we have better preserved Romano-British Christian
graveyards in the South West than the South East from the 4th through
the 5th c. Cemeteries at Dorchester (Dorset) and Cadbury Congresbury
(Somerset) contain hundreds of W-E facing rows of burials with little or
no grave-goods, that date through the 4th c and into the 5th. There
isn't actually so much large-scale Romano-British Christian cemeterial evidence in the East (except for odd survivals like at the Police-Station
site in Colchester). Interestingly, the Colchester cemetery (surrounding
a nice 4th c. Church) seems to go out of use c. 450 (the Adventus?).
What happens at Dorchester and Cadbury-Congresbury is that long
after these cemeteries have likely ceased to be used by the native,
Christian Britons (after the Saxon expansion Westwards from 530
onwards) we see overtly pagan burials being added to the peripheries
of these graveyards containing knives, etc of Anglo-Saxon manufacture, as if the pagan Anglo-Saxons in the 6th & early 7th c. have taken over
what they perceive to be hallowed ground. That's not surprising, as the
same practise takes place in East & West, where they get buried inside
the mounds of Bronze-Age burials.
Then, of course, in the 5th-6th c. we get thousands of Christian grave
stones in the West Country & Wales which show the same patterns of
inscriptions as in Roman Gaul - including the same spelling mistakes
in the Latin (showing continued trade & cultural contact with the rest of
the Roman World - in additon to Byzantium).
Ambrosius / Mike
"Feel the fire in your bones."
