The Ending of Roman BritainIn the mid fourth century Britain was a full member of the still-powerful Roman Empire; a century later the decaying empire could no longer defend or administer Britain. In the fifth century Anglo-Saxon settlement was limited: what sort of society succeeded that of Roman Britain in areas not yet overrun by the Anglo-Saxons? In the sixth century the Anglo-Saxons gained the upper hand, but was this a process of assimilation rather than conquest? In answering these questions the author avoids the limitations from which previous treatments of this topic have suffered: insularity and dependence on the historical sources. He places Britain firmly in the wider European context and takes as his basis archeological evidence and methodology, not history. The historical sources are seen as dubious, and are only seen as descriptive, not prescriptive evidence. |
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administrative agricultural Alamanni Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon settlements archaeological evidence army artefacts BAR British barbarian basilica Belgica bishops Britannia buildings burial cemetery church centres Christian Cirencester civitas-capitals comitatenses Constantine Constantine III continuity culture Cunliffe decline defences diocese distribution early Anglo-Saxon early fifth century economic emperor end of Roman Esmonde Cleary excavations farmsteads fifth century forts fourth century fourth-century Britain frontier Gallic Empire Gildas Hadrian's Wall hierarchy hoards imperial industries Iron Age Johnson J.S. Jones A.H.M. Lamyatt late Roman Britain late Roman period later London Magnentius mediaeval metres military mosaics northern Gaul Notitia overall Oxford population post-Roman pottery Poundbury provinces Rhine Roman empire Roman Gaul romanised Romano-British rural sites Saxon Shore Saxon Shore fort second century seen sequence Silchester silver social society sources structures suggests taxation temple Theodosius third century town houses Trier types urban Valentinian Verulamium villas wares Wroxeter
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Page 220 - JNL 1936: Roman Britain and the English Settlements, Oxford Collingwood RG & Richmond IA 1969: The Archaeology of Roman Britain, 2nd. edn., London Cook J.