Signals of Belief in Early England: Anglo-Saxon Paganism Revisited is an academic anthology edited by the British archaeologists Martin Carver, Alex Sanmark and Sarah Semple which was first published by Oxbow Books in 2010. Containing nine separate papers produced by various scholars working in the fields of Anglo-Saxon archaeology and Anglo-Saxon history, the book presents a number of new perspectives on Anglo-Saxon paganism and, to a lesser extent, early Anglo-Saxon Christianity. The collection – published in honour of the archaeologist Audrey Meaney – was put together on the basis of a conference on "Paganism and Popular Practice" held at the University of Oxford in 2005.
Opening with a foreword by Neil Price, the book's first paper, written by Carver, examines how archaeologists can best understand Anglo-Saxon paganism, drawing from the works of Price and David Lewis-Williams in order to do so. The second, written by Semple, looks at how pagan Anglo-Saxons viewed their surrounding landscape, whilst the third, written by Julie Lund, delves into Anglo-Saxon votive depositions into water. The fourth paper, authored by Howard Williams, looks at funerary practices, which is followed by Jenny Walker's study on the religious aspects of the hall.
The sixth paper, produced by Aleks Pluskowski, delves into the roles of animals in Anglo-Saxon belief, while Chris Fern's following paper focuses on the role of the horse. The eighth paper, written by Sanmark, looks at conceptions of ancestors and the soul, while the ninth, co-authored by Sue Content and Howard Williams, looks at the subsequent understandings of Anglo-Saxon pagandom. In the afterword, written by historian Ronald Hutton, the findings of the book are summarised and potential areas of future research highlighted.
The book received a mixed review in Charlotte Behr's review for the journal Anglo-Saxon England, and a positive one from Chris Scull in the British Archaeology magazine. It was praised by others looking at the field of Anglo-Saxon paganism, such as Stephen Pollington.
Background
The origins for Signals of Belief in Early England came from a conference held in 2005 at the University of Oxford; based around the subject of "Paganism and Popular Practice", it had been organised by Sarah Semple and Alex Sanmark, two archaeologists who would go on to edit the volume. The decision to produce a book based on the papers presented at that conference gained a "renewed impetus" after two further academic conferences were held by the Sutton Hoo Society, on the subjects of paganism and Anglo-Saxon halls respectively.Carver, Sanmark and Semple 2010. p. x.
The collection was published in honour of the archaeologist Audrey Meaney, "in appreciation of her studies of Anglo-Saxon paganism."Carver, Sanmark and Semple 2010. p. v. In the foreword, archaeologist Neil Price commented on Meaney and her influential work, noting that most of the published studies that had previously delved into the world of Anglo-Saxon paganism came from her "monumental output", and that it was her "years spent patiently excavating Anglo-Saxon attitudes this collection honours."
Synopsis
Preface
In the book's preface, written by Martin Carver, Alex Sanmark and Sarah Semple, the anthology's three objectives are laid out. The first of these is to establish that Anglo-Saxon paganism consisted of "a set of beliefs that varied from place to place" rather than being a dogmatic religion that was the same across England. The second objective is to show that the beliefs of the pagan Anglo-Saxons, "whether pure reason or intellectual mish-mash, [were] expressed in their material culture". Carrying on from the second, the third objective of the anthology was to show that through archaeology, contemporary scholars can "rediscover" Anglo-Saxon belief.
Summing up their view of Anglo-Saxon paganism, the editors state that it "was not a religion with supraregional rules and institutions but a loose term for a variety of local intellectual world views". They also "extend the same courtesy to Christianity", noting that "Christianisation too hides a multiplicity of locally negotiated positions". Ultimately, the writers noted that neither "paganism nor Christianity are treated here as independent agents, out to confront and better each other. They are sources on which people, local people – the true agents of Anglo-Saxon England – eclectically drew.
Price's "Foreword: Heathen Songs and Devil's Games"
The book's foreword, entitled "Heathen Songs and Devil's Games", was written by the archaeologist Neil Price, then a professor at the University of Aberdeen. Price had previously been involved in the investigation of the pre-Christian religious beliefs of northern Europe, authoring the influential book, The Viking Way: Religion and War in the Later Iron Age of Scandinavia (2002). In his foreword, Price comments positively on Signals of Belief in Early England as a whole, noting that it is "remarkable that the present book represents the first attempt for nearly two decades to present an overall survey of early English beliefs that cannot be firmly situated within a Christian frame."Price 2010. p. xiv. Ultimately, Price writes, Signals of Belief in Early England "simply represents the state of the art, with supporting references to the work on which it builds, and summarises with admirable caution and sensitivity most of what we currently know about the intricate mental world of the pre-Christian English. All future journeys through this difficult terrain must necessarily start here, and they could not have a better guide."Price 2010. p. xvi.
Carver's "Agency, Intellect and the Archaeological Agenda" In the first paper of the anthology, written by Martin Carver of the University of York, the author opens with a discussion of the work of Neil Price in his book The Viking Way (2002), which explored the existence of female shamans in pre-Christian Scandinavian society.Carver 2010. pp. 1–2. He proceeds to note that the work of Price and other academics has enabled contemporary scholars to understand historical paganism far better than ever before because they are "better equipped in that triad of disciplines"; archaeology, anthropology and history.Carver 2010. pp. 3–4. Carver then goes on to discuss the work of the archaeologist David Lewis-Williams in his book The Mind in the Cave (2002), which Carver argued has "redefined the world of early spirituality for archaeologists". Carver expresses his opinion that both Lewis-Williams' theories and his multidisciplinary approach (using methods drawn from disciplines like anthropology, psychology, art and ethnology) can be employed in order to shed light on the world of Anglo-Saxon paganism.Carver 2010. p. 4. He proceeds to point out several problems facing archaeologists in their study of Anglo-Saxon paganism,Carver 2010. p. 5. before looking at the ideas put forward by the archaeologists Colin Renfrew and Timothy Insoll for how to best understand the cognitive aspects of historical religious beliefs.Carver 2010. pp. 6–7.
Setting up a "programme for investigating Anglo-Saxon spirituality", Carver argues that those Anglo-Saxonist archaeologists who have focused their research on either the pagan or the Christian periods of Anglo-Saxon history need to interact with one another far more, before stating that the same is true for prehistorians and medievalists; in Carver's opinion, an understanding of the beliefs of the Early Anglo-Saxon period can only be achieved by understanding it as being, in part, a "continuum of prehistory". Moving on to discuss the burial monuments of Anglo-Saxon England and their relations with those found elsewhere in north-western Europe, Carver argues that we can understand more about the beliefs of people at the time by looking at the spread of specific burial styles.Carver 2010. pp. 8–11. He then looks at the assembly sites found in Anglo-Saxon England, arguing that there is sufficient archaeological evidence for specific shrine structures, here drawing parallels with the work of archaeologist Leszek Słupecki in relation to the pagan shrines of Slavic Europe. Going on to reference several excavations in northern Europe, Carver discusses the theory that halls were also used as ritual spaces, and considers whether the same could be true of Anglo-Saxon England.Carver 2010. pp. 11–14.
In the third part of his paper, Carver deals with what he describes as "Christian variants", arguing that in his view, the archaeological evidence implies that "paganism and Christianity do not, in this period, describe homogeneous intellectual positions or canons of practice. Pagan ideas and material vocabulary were drawn from a wide reservoir of cosmology and were recomposed as local statements with their own geographical and chronological context. I believe that the same kind of evidence, the evidence of monumentality, provokes us to a similar judgment of Christianity."Carver 2010. pp. 14–15. For this reason, Carver argues, most individuals in 7th-century England were neither clearly Christian or pagan, but adhered to elements of both in a syncretic fashion.Carver 2010. p. 16.
Semple's "In the Open Air" In the second paper of the anthology, entitled "In the Open Air", Sarah Semple provides an overview of what she refers to as the "pre-Christian sacred landscape". Opening the article, Semple discusses the theoretical trends behind recent Anglo-Saxon scholarship and looks at how these can enlighten our understanding of the Anglo-Saxon landscape; in doing so she argues in favour of an interdisciplinary approach which uses historical sources to back up archaeology, before then arguing for the use of continental European parallels to shed light on the world of Early Mediaeval England. Finally she argues that the landscape archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England has to be seen as an extension of the earlier prehistoric and Romano-British landscape rather than in isolation.Semple 2010. pp. 21–23.
Initially describing "natural places" in the landscape, Semple discusses how the pagan Anglo-Saxons may have understood their surroundings, looking at the manner in which fields and groves were devoted to deities. Proceeding to look at the way in which pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons viewed hilltops, she discusses their association with sites designated as hearg in Old English. Semple then looks at the role of fissures, hollows and pits, highlighting how Anglo-Saxons believed them to be inhabited by monsters and goblins, before examining similar ideas regarding water-places, which were believed to be inhabited by nicor and which also saw some votive depositions occurring in the Early Mediaeval. Discussing votive offerings to such water-places, she then discusses the Anglo-Saxon attitude towards "ancient remains, monuments and ruins", discussing the re-use of prehistoric burial mounds and Roman-period structures. Rounding off her paper, Semple discusses evidence for pagan temples and shrines in the Anglo-Saxon landscape, as well as sacred beams, poles and totems.Semple 2010. pp. 24–48.
Lund's "At the Water's Edge"