The Public Archaeology of Death - Howard Williams
Displaying the Deviant: Sutton Hoo’s Sand People
The Public Archaeology of Death - Howard Williams
Madeline Walsh [+]
University of York (MA student)
Madeline Walsh graduated with an Archaeology degree from the University of Chester in 2016 before studying for an MA Medieval Archaeology at the University of York.
Howard Williams [+]
University of Chester
Howard Williams is Professor of Archaeology in the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Chester.
Description
The interpretation of early medieval deviant burials has come to the fore in recent mortuary archaeology debates. Yet, critical discussion of how early medieval execution cemeteries are portrayed in museums and other media has received no critical attention. Using the prominent case study of Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, this chapter reveals the interpretative and ethical challenges inherent in narrating and visualising later Anglo-Saxon judicial killing in the absence of well-preserved human remains, but instead through the recording and interpretation of carefully excavated ‘sand bodies’.