The iron shears found at the West Stow Village are an obvious indication that the textile industry was present at the settlement, as sheers would have been used to harvest wool from sheep, and wool was by far the easiest material to use in the production of textiles, as...

This object is an antler stamp carved circle-and-dot pattern found at the Lakenheath archaeological site in Suffolk. Designed to leave a concentric target-shaped indentation when pressed onto semi-dry (leather-hard) clay, stamps like this allowed Early English potters to create highly decorated cremation urns. These urns, imbued with significant spiritual...

This dual sided antler comb was discovered in a grave at the West Stow archaeological site. The comb was discovered alongside 105 other combs of similar design at the archaeological site, pointing to them ubiquitous in Anglo-Saxon England. The function of the comb is somewhat self explanatory in its...

Hannah Rosenberg Known Context The left wrist clasp was found at West Stow in grave 28 of an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman. Discovered in its set with the right clasp, the left wrist clasp was in relatively good condition, with the decorations and hook visible. The wrist clasps were found among...

Spears were one of the most common weapons in the Anglo-Saxon time period, and the spearheads themselves were variable depending on their purpose, while also being found symbolically in graves from the time period. Spears themselves were used for hunting, warfare, and other practical uses throughout the Anglo-Saxon world....

Functions The function of these items in Anglo-Saxon England is hardly in doubt: they were worn in pairs as closures for sleeves which were slit at the wrist; here they occur only in women’s graves. In Norway on the other hand (where they are of a slightly different design),...

SF262 is a triangular headed bone pin from the West Stow archaeological site in modern day East Anglia. While the original purpose of SF262 is unknown, it can be presumed to have either been used in weaving or as a fastener, as it was found buried in a 6th century...