Remains of Anglo-Saxon tribal leader found

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The final resting place of what appears to be an Anglo-Saxon warrior has been unearthed in a field in Berkshire, in a discovery archaeologists say sheds fresh light on the rise and fall of local tribes.

Buried with an array of weapons including spears and a sword with its scabbard, the skeleton of a man dating from the sixth century was found in August – two years after metal detectorists discovered bronze bowls at the site and alerted experts.

Dr Gabor Thomas, a specialist in early medieval archaeology at the University of Reading who worked on the subsequent excavation, said there had been much debate about whether individuals buried with such goods were warriors or were buried with weapons as a symbolic gesture.

He said that unlike many burials of the time, the Marlow Warlord was not buried in a cemetery, but set apart from the rest of the community.

Thomas said that, taken together with his wealth, it suggested the man was a tribal leader – a conclusion that offered a new perspective on the area.

“We know from later historical sources and bits of archaeology that [this sweep of the Thames that runs through Marlow and Maidenhead] was a kind of borderland. At various periods in the Anglo-Saxon centuries it was contested between neighbouring kingdoms,” Thomas said.

  

“What this burial suggests is that [this area] had its own identity as a powerful tribal unit before these kingdoms muscled in.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/05/archaeologists-unearth-remains-believed-anglo-saxon-warrior