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I think the discovery of Sutton Hoo led to a similar realization in contemporary Britain as well, reinforced in recent years by the Staffordshire Hoard. The qua

I think the discovery of Sutton Hoo led to a similar realization in contemporary Britain as well, reinforced in recent years by the Staffordshire Hoard. The quality of the worksmanship aside, what has always struck me is that the predominant gemstone in these hoards is garnets - sourced from India. How do Indian gemstones end up in far off pagan Anglo Saxon Britain, largely cut off from the rest of the continental trade networks? Even those networks would be greatly diminished with the decline of Rome. The pagan Anglo Saxons probably traded with their kindred on the continent, but to source indian garnets of such quality & quantity? Astounding.

gerdesj 6y ago
You'd be similarly amazed at how far tin from what is now cornwall turns up across the world. Nowadays we can hop on a train or drive a car or even fly vast distances. It wasn't that long ago that it was a big deal driving a car from the USA down south. Once you have built a boat with a sail or oars or both, that flat blue thing is a rather quick way from A to B. OK the sea can be very unforgiving but it is worth the risk and with skill it is a manageable risk. I'm not sure what "pagan Anglo Saxon Britain" means. Just like say "pagan Goa India" makes no sense. The Brythonic tribes of pre "Roman times" and the tribes prior to them traded in iron and much more for millenia with peoples at least as far as the Med sea. I say Brythonic and that is a term coined by a bunch of Greeks, I think. A Greek bloke called Pytheas (with crew) circumnavigated these islands back in the day and wrote it up. He used the term "Pretanike" to describe the locals. There is a dangerous fallacy to believe that modern constructs, societietal forms, sensitivities etc are applicable to the past. They really are not. There really is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon per se (note my use of Latin there 8) So given that these isles have rather a lot of sea and rivers available means that it was actually inevitable that artifacts made from the natural resources from these parts are found right across quite a huge part of the globe. Once you've flogged off your iron for something useful, some pretty gewgaws for the wife is a good idea, otherwise she might not let you out next year ... 8)
- hilbert42 6y ago
  "some pretty gewgaws for the wife is a good idea, otherwise she might not let you out next year ..." Familiar with that problem. Over recent years I've become timid and compliant, it's safer that way. (She's smarter than I am.) ;-)
- valarauko 6y ago
  >I'm not sure what "pagan Anglo Saxon Britain" means. Just like say "pagan Goa India" makes no sense. The Brythonic tribes of pre "Roman times" and the tribes prior to them traded in iron and much more for millenia with peoples at least as far as the Med sea. I thought the term "Pagan Anglo Saxon Britain" would be self evident, though apparently not. I'm using it to contrast the Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain prior to their christianization, and the closer ties it led to the continent. I'm also using the term to distinguish them from the native Romanized Christian Celtic Welsh, who would have a greater cultural and perhaps material affinity with the continent. My understanding of the material history of early Britain is that with the withdrawal of Rome, there is a general decline in the quantity and quality of cultural goods associated with urban centres, such as ceramics, glass, and textiles. The Romanized elites largely abandoned cities and retreated to their rural villas, before they too fell to ruin over the centuries. When the germanic tribes arrived in Britain, they retained some trade links with their homeland across the North Sea, but not for very long. They likely had little contact or trade with the Christian Frankish tribes across the Channel, at least not for a while. There's about a 150 year period between the arrival of the Germanic tribes to Britain and them showing up in the historical record, in Britain or the continent, which coincides with their Christianization. During that time we know quite little about them, and what little we know comes from Christian monks writing centuries later. The material goods from Sutton Hoo & the Staffordshire Hoard come from a time just on the cusp of when the Anglo-Saxons are re-establishing links with the continent, which is what makes it interesting. Sure, Bronze Age Britain was linked to pan-European trade networks, partly facilitated with the continent wide spread of the Celts. It's also unlikely Bronze age Cornish tin was carried to southern Europe by British ships. It's more likely they were traded to Celts in Gaul, who traded them along to their neighbours, and so on. Pytheas's journey is noteworthy because of how unusual it was, not that it was commonplace. Greek sailors were not frequent visitors to Britain, though it's possible Celtberians from Spain had trade links with their fellow Celts in Britain. Those ties were perturbed by the Roman invasion, disrupting the Celtic links and establishing new ones with Roman Gaul. With the withdrawal of Rome from Britain, those ties were largely lost. Roman Britain were tied into the global trade networks in ways Anglo-Saxon Britain was not. Indian garnets showing up with the Roman Welsh would not be shocking. Indian garnets showing up in the handiwork of 9th Century Christian Anglo-Saxons - not surprising either. That they should show up in such quantities in pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon goods is noteworthy.

gerdesj 6y ago

You'd be similarly amazed at how far tin from what is now cornwall turns up across the world. Nowadays we can hop on a train or drive a car or even fly vast distances. It wasn't that long ago that it was a big deal driving a car from the USA down south. Once you have built a boat with a sail or oars or both, that flat blue thing is a rather quick way from A to B. OK the sea can be very unforgiving but it is worth the risk and with skill it is a manageable risk. I'm not sure what "pagan Anglo Saxon Britain" means. Just like say "pagan Goa India" makes no sense. The Brythonic tribes of pre "Roman times" and the tribes prior to them traded in iron and much more for millenia with peoples at least as far as the Med sea. I say Brythonic and that is a term coined by a bunch of Greeks, I think. A Greek bloke called Pytheas (with crew) circumnavigated these islands back in the day and wrote it up. He used the term "Pretanike" to describe the locals. There is a dangerous fallacy to believe that modern constructs, societietal forms, sensitivities etc are applicable to the past. They really are not. There really is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon per se (note my use of Latin there 8) So given that these isles have rather a lot of sea and rivers available means that it was actually inevitable that artifacts made from the natural resources from these parts are found right across quite a huge part of the globe. Once you've flogged off your iron for something useful, some pretty gewgaws for the wife is a good idea, otherwise she might not let you out next year ... 8)

hilbert42 6y ago
"some pretty gewgaws for the wife is a good idea, otherwise she might not let you out next year ..." Familiar with that problem. Over recent years I've become timid and compliant, it's safer that way. (She's smarter than I am.) ;-)
valarauko 6y ago
>I'm not sure what "pagan Anglo Saxon Britain" means. Just like say "pagan Goa India" makes no sense. The Brythonic tribes of pre "Roman times" and the tribes prior to them traded in iron and much more for millenia with peoples at least as far as the Med sea. I thought the term "Pagan Anglo Saxon Britain" would be self evident, though apparently not. I'm using it to contrast the Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain prior to their christianization, and the closer ties it led to the continent. I'm also using the term to distinguish them from the native Romanized Christian Celtic Welsh, who would have a greater cultural and perhaps material affinity with the continent. My understanding of the material history of early Britain is that with the withdrawal of Rome, there is a general decline in the quantity and quality of cultural goods associated with urban centres, such as ceramics, glass, and textiles. The Romanized elites largely abandoned cities and retreated to their rural villas, before they too fell to ruin over the centuries. When the germanic tribes arrived in Britain, they retained some trade links with their homeland across the North Sea, but not for very long. They likely had little contact or trade with the Christian Frankish tribes across the Channel, at least not for a while. There's about a 150 year period between the arrival of the Germanic tribes to Britain and them showing up in the historical record, in Britain or the continent, which coincides with their Christianization. During that time we know quite little about them, and what little we know comes from Christian monks writing centuries later. The material goods from Sutton Hoo & the Staffordshire Hoard come from a time just on the cusp of when the Anglo-Saxons are re-establishing links with the continent, which is what makes it interesting. Sure, Bronze Age Britain was linked to pan-European trade networks, partly facilitated with the continent wide spread of the Celts. It's also unlikely Bronze age Cornish tin was carried to southern Europe by British ships. It's more likely they were traded to Celts in Gaul, who traded them along to their neighbours, and so on. Pytheas's journey is noteworthy because of how unusual it was, not that it was commonplace. Greek sailors were not frequent visitors to Britain, though it's possible Celtberians from Spain had trade links with their fellow Celts in Britain. Those ties were perturbed by the Roman invasion, disrupting the Celtic links and establishing new ones with Roman Gaul. With the withdrawal of Rome from Britain, those ties were largely lost. Roman Britain were tied into the global trade networks in ways Anglo-Saxon Britain was not. Indian garnets showing up with the Roman Welsh would not be shocking. Indian garnets showing up in the handiwork of 9th Century Christian Anglo-Saxons - not surprising either. That they should show up in such quantities in pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon goods is noteworthy.