Anglo-Saxon origins investigated by isotopic analysis of burials from Berinsfield, Oxfordshire, UK

Hughes, S.S.; Millard, A.R.; Lucy, S.J.; Chenery, C.A.; Evans, J.; Nowell, G.; Pearson, D.G.

Abstract

The early fifth century transition from Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England is a poorly understood period in British history. Historical narratives describe a brutal conquest by Anglo-Saxon invaders with nearly complete replacement of the indigenous population, but aspects of the archaeological record contradict this interpretation leading to competing hypotheses. Rather than replacement, a smaller group of Germanic immigrants may have settled in England as part of the social, religious, and political turmoil happening in western Europe at this time (Dark, 2000; Henig, 2002; Higham, 1992) or rapid acculturation with little contribution from Germanic immigrants may have occurred in the vacuum of Roman abandonment. As the number of Anglo-Saxon immigrants arriving in Britain is one of the focal issues of this debate, strontium and oxygen isotopic ratios, with their ability to identify immigrants in a burial population, offer a technique to test competing hypotheses. We employ oxygen and strontium isotope ratios in tooth enamel to identify the number of continental immigrants in a sample of 19 individuals from the early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Wally Corner, Berinsfield in the Upper Thames Valley, Oxfordshire, UK. Local variation in bio-available strontium isotope ratios is established using faunal remains from the site and by sampling soils on geological formations within 8 km of the site. The oxygen isotope results show a homogeneous sample that is slightly enriched when calibrated to local meteoric water. One individual with a significantly depleted value may be a continental immigrant. Three others are strontium outliers. With only 5.3% of the sample originating from Europe, the isotopic data support the hypothesis of acculturation. In addition, the isotopic data shows no temporal patterning, although females show a statistically significant enrichment in the oxygen isotope ratio.

Citation

Hughes, S., Millard, A., Lucy, S., Chenery, C., Evans, J., Nowell, G., & Pearson, D. (2014). Anglo-Saxon origins investigated by isotopic analysis of burials from Berinsfield, Oxfordshire, UK. Journal of Archaeological Science, 42, 81-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.025

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 22, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Nov 6, 2013
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Apr 18, 2012
• Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science
• Print ISSN: 0305-4403
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-9238
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Pages: 81-92
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.025
• Keywords: Oxygen isotopes, Strontium isotopes, Bio-available strontium, Acculturation hypothesis, Anglo-Saxon invasion.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1477133