West Heslerton: The Anglian Settlement, Publication
LRC Project EH3182 funded by English Heritage Archaeology Commissions
The
Anglian settlement in West Heslerton was fully excavated between 1987 and 1996,
it represents the only settlement of its kind to be excavated in its entirety
using modern techniques. The settlement, occupied between the fifth and ninth
centuries, appears to have been well organised with separate areas devoted to
craft and industry, living space and agricultural processing. The evidence from this site demands a radical
re-interpretation of settlement in Early Anglo-Saxon England. The analytical
programme for this project is almost complete and work on the publication has
resumed following a temporary suspension whilst we awaited the return of an important set of
radio-carbon dates. The final report is expected to be completed during 2007.
Important discoveries made during projects
2804 and 3409 call for further
re-evaluation of our interpretation of Early Anglo-Saxon settlement in the area
and indicate that the excavated settlement was one of a number of similarly
sized settlements in the area. The plan below shows the layout of the settlement and its relationship to the
associated cemetery, excavated between 1977 and 1986, the report being published
in 1999/2000. The first volume of the report relating to the excavated
settlement regarding the Grubenhäuser, cavity-floor buildings that are
characteristic of sites of this period, was published
in 2004. The plan below shows the relationship between the excavated
cemetery, which ceased to be used during the mid-seventh century, and the
settlement.
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