Tatberht's Lundenwic: Archaeological Excavations in Middle Saxon London

Description

Foreword by Ian Riddler. Tatberht lived on a farmstead on the outskirts of Lundenwic between the 8th and 9th centuries, an area now occupied by the National Portrait Gallery. He was clearly a literate man since he elegantly inscribed his name into a sheep bone taken from the dinner table. Although he was largely self-sufficient, his relationship with the core settlement would have been central to his life. He would have brought in livestock on the hoof to be slaughtered and consumed within Lundenwic, as well as supplying the residents with other goods produced on his farm. During his lifetime Tatberht would have seen first-hand the thriving and bustling settlement of Lundenwic and may even have witnessed the first Viking raids and experienced the impact this had on his and the community’s livelihood. This book introduces the results of four archaeological excavations in and around Lundenwic and presents new perspectives on Tatberht’s London. The excavations were located at 28-31 James Street, the Lyceum Theatre, 21-24 Maiden Lane and the National Portrait Gallery. The book also includes a technical study of Middle Saxon fired daub together with experiments reconstructing wattle and daub. Contributors vii Foreword viii Figures ix Tables xi Summary xiii Acknowledgements xv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Geology and topography 3 Archaeological and historical background 3 Chapter 2: Life and Death in the Heart of the Settlement: excavations at 28-31 James Street / By Jim Leary 6 The archaeological sequence 6 The pottery 14 The loomweights 19 The non-ceramic finds 22 The Offa coin 27 The iron slag 27 The fired daub 27 The animal bone 28 The plant remains 35 The charred honeybees 38 The human bone 39 The radiocarbon dating 39 Chapter 3: Pits, Bones and Foodstuffs: excavations at the Lyceum Theatre, Exeter Street / By Gary Brown and James Rackham 40 The archaeological sequence 41 The pottery 48 The small finds 52 The metal working 60 The inscribed echinoid 61 The environmental archaeology 61 Chapter 4: Maiden Lane Revisited: excavations at 21-24 Maiden Lane and 6-7 Exchange Court / By Jim Leary and Kevin Wooldridge 73 The archaeological sequence 73 The pottery 77 The small finds 82 The animal bone 84 The plant remains 85 Chapter 5: A Middle Saxon Suburban Farmstead: excavations at the National Portrait Gallery / By Chris Pickard 87 The archaeological sequence 87 The pottery 91 The loomweights 95 The ceramic building material 97 The fired daub 97 The non-ceramic finds 98 The coin 102 The runic inscription 103 The iron slag 104 The animal bones 105 The plant remains 112 Chapter 6: Wattle and Daub: a technical and experimental study based on materials from the National Portrait Gallery / By Richard Hughes 115 'Fired daub' archaeological resources 116 Wattle and daub material research 120 The structural characteristics of a wattle and daub building 130 Glossary 136 Chapter 7: Facets of Tatberht’s Lundenwic: a discussion 141 The sequence in Lundenwic 141 Production in Lundenwic: antler, bone and horn working 145 The environmental evidence from Lundenwic 148 Bibliography 151 Index 159