The metal fittings from shields - iron bosses and handles - are among the commonest artefacts from Anglo-Saxon graves of the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries AD. Nearly a quarter of all males were buried with their shields. This volume provides a typological study of the shield bosses and their handles, and discussion of the dating and distribution of the various types. There are sections on the technology and construction of shields, on their use in warfare, and on the place of the shield in the ritual of Anglo-Saxon burials. The authors are now lecturers at York and Reading respectively. Both completed doctoral theses on Anglo-Saxon graves and grave finds. In this volume they combine to present their interpretations of one particular aspect of their theses.
Author(s): Tania M. Dickinson, Heinrich Härke
Series: Archaeologia, 110
Publisher: The Society of Antiquaries of London
Year: 1992
Language: English
Pages: VI+94
City: London
List of illustrations vi
List of tables vii
Preface ix
I: INTRODUCTION 1
II: TYPOLOGY OF METAL SHIELD FITTINGS 4
Shield bosses by Tania M. Dickinson 4
Shield grips by Heinrich Härke 24
Other fittings by Heinrich Härke 27
III: SHIELD TECHNOLOGY by Heinrich Härke 31
The boss 31
Grip and handle 35
The board 43
IV: THE USE OF THE SHIELD: COMBAT AND DISPLAY by Heinrich Härke 55
The shield in combat 55
Display and symbolism 61
V: THE SHIELD IN THE BURIAL RITE by Heinrich Härke 63
Frequency and chronology of shield burials 63
The deposition of the shield 63
The shield in weapon combinations 67
Correlations of. shield burial: wealth and age 68
Regional variations of the shield burial custom 69
VI: CONCLUSIONS 71
Appendix 1: Sites used in the computer analysis of shield bosses from the Upper Thames region by Tania M. Dickinson 73
Appendix 2: Type list of shield bosses from the Upper Thames region used in the computer analysis by Tania M. Dickinson 74
Appendix 3: Cemeteries with shield burials in the national sample by Heinrich Härke 75
Appendix 4: Shield board fittings (other than studs) in the national sample, with additions by Heinrich Härke 77
Appendix 5: Technical data of shield components from selected cemeteries by Heinrich Härke 79
Appendix 6: Notes on the shield reconstruction by Heinrich Härke 83
Summary, Resume, Zusammenfassung 84
Bibliography 85
Sources 90
Index 91
