34 episodes
Old Bones Andy Earnshaw
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- History
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5.0 • 24 Ratings
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Exploring the past, one skeleton at a time.
www.oldbones.co.uk
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Wayland's Smithy - Liminal Smiths in Anglo-Saxon England
In this episode, we discuss the evidence for Anglo-Saxon smiths, the people who created the artefacts at Sutton Hoo and other princely burials. To do this we analyse the Neolithic tomb called Wayland's Smithy and the legend associated with its namesake.
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Sutton Hoo - Mercury Rivers
Sutton Hoo is the most spectacular archaeology discovery in British history. We explore what this tells us about the Anglo-Saxons' relationship to themselves, their neighbours and their past.
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Yeavering Pt. 2 - Of Gods and Priests, Kings, Queens and Bede
What was it like to be pagan and Christain the next?
In this episode, we visit the site of Yeavering and its many strange burials to try and understand what the conversion of England must have felt like. We go beyond the historical story and explore the actual day to day "experience" of conversion.
Next episode: Sutton Hoo and the Performance of Kingship
Support the show at:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bonesandstuff
Paypal: https://paypal.me/bonesandstuff?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB
KoFi: ko-fi.com/oldbones
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Sources:
Taylor, Brian Hope. "Yeavering—an Anglo-British Centre of Early Northumbria." (1977).
An Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Bede
Women in Bede:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZqWvPiCS1iGY6UJWEd21fhj5HM54IEoKb5NAGkf1Lac/edit?usp=sharing
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Talk to me: oldbonespodcast@gmail.com
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Keep up to date on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldbones_podcast/
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Andy's personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarnshawAJD
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oldbones.co.uk -
Yeavering Pt 1: The Rise of the Anglo-Saxon Kings
How do we go from the society we met last time, one that is primarily equal and poor to the medieval image of kings, men with wealth and power near unimaginable to the ordinary peasant.
In this episode, we visit the site of Yeavering and its many strange burials to try and understand the social dynamics that resulted in kingliness.
Sources below.
Next episode: Yeavering & The Rise of Christianity
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Sources:
Taylor, Brian Hope. "Yeavering—an Anglo-British Centre of Early Northumbria." (1977).
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Talk to me: oldbonespodcast@gmail.com
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Support me at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bonesandstuff
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Join the community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oldbonespodcast
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Keep up to date on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldbones_podcast/
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Andy's personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarnshawAJD
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oldbones.co.uk -
Growing Up in Early Anglo-Saxon England
What was life like in the 400s and 500s CE? That question is not an easy one.
In this episode, we look at the funerary evidence for each stage of life during this period. We understand what identity was developed and how that was closely connected to what individuals did during life as well as the important cultural concerns at the time.
Sources below.
Next episode: Yeavering & Early Anglo-Saxon Elites
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Sources:
Stoodley, N. (2000). From the cradle to the grave: age organization and the early Anglo-Saxon burial rite. World Archaeology, 38(3), 456-472.
Gowland, R. (2006). Ageing the past: examining age identity from funerary evidence. In R. Gowland & C. Knüsel (Eds.), Social archaeology of funerary remains (pp. 143-155). Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Lucy, S. (2020). Gender and gender roles. In H. Hamerow, D. A. Hinton, & S. Crawford (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Squires, K. E. (2013). Piecing together identity: a social investigation of early Anglo-Saxon cremation practices. Archaeological Journal, 170, 154-200.
Martin, T. F. (2020). "Casting the Net Wider: Network Approaches to Artefact Variation in Post-Roman Europe." Journal of archaeological method and theory 27(4): 861-886.
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Talk to me: oldbonespodcast@gmail.com
---
Support me at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bonesandstuff
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Join the community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oldbonespodcast
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Keep up to date on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldbones_podcast/
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Andy's personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarnshawAJD
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oldbones.co.uk -
Spong Hill: The Anglo-Saxons Arrive
All across the East of England, there are small cemeteries with completely new material culture. it looks like it's from North-West Europe and represents the arrival, so well documented, of the Anglo-Saxon people.
In this episode, we introduce the main debates about how and why the Anglo-Saxons started coming to England. It's a bit of a throwback to our Birdoswald episode, but with more theory, more detail and some new ideas from me!
Plus, there's a promise of bonus episodes for those that sign up to Patreon!
Sources below.
Next episode: The Life of an Anglo-Saxon
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Sources:
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Gildas' On The Ruin of Britain
Squires, K. E. (2016). Neighbours and networks: funerary trends among cremation practicing groups in early medieval England and north-western Europe. In I. Riddler, J. Soulat, & L. Keys (Eds.), The evidence of material culture: studies in honour of Professor Vera Evison (pp. 119-138). Autun: Editions Mergoil.
Hills, C., & Lucy, S. (2019). Spong Hill and the Anglo-Saxon migration to England. Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung, 9, 239-248.
Hills, C. (1998). Did the people of Spong Hill come from Schleswig-Holstein? In (Vol. 11, pp. 145-154).
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Talk to me: oldbonespodcast@gmail.com
---
Support me at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bonesandstuff
---
Join the community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oldbonespodcast
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Keep up to date on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldbones_podcast/
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Andy's personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarnshawAJD
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oldbones.co.uk
Customer Reviews
Epic
Love this.
Excellent, engaging
This is a terrific podcast with first-rate writing and narration. I’ve enjoyed every episode so far and I’m always looking forward to the next one. My only friendly recommendation is different music. The ‘80s Cassio is sort of shrill and at odds stylistically with the mood of the material.
Excellent work and please keep it coming!
Necessary podcast for any student of the human condition
This is a big ideas podcast, which aims to use archaeology and the study of our ancient past as a way to lend insight into raw, vital questions about the human condition, as well as connections and threads running throughout all of human history up to modern society. Andy explores his content not as a drab recitation of facts, but through vivid and compelling storytelling, and fascinating anthropological theory. Andy is a very eloquent narrator, who manages to be both poetic and analytical when divulging his specific interpretations. I love how he simultaneously presents a broad, far-ranging view of human history, while giving each section the rich and in-depth look it deserves. One aspect that particularly stands out about this podcast is the sympathy and nuance with which Andy treats the subjects of these podcasts, for example, not simply casting stone age peoples as living a brutish and dim life of bitter struggle as many internet educators, frustratingly, can't seem to help but do, but encouraging us to imagine the incredible complexity and variation of their lives. Overall this podcast is EXACTLY what I have been needing, and is a rich journey into the lives of ancient peoples.