ANGLO-SAXONS

Anglo Saxon Collector cards

Key Stage 2 Pupil activity. Print off these cards to learn more about the Anglo Saxons through a variety of fun games.

Anglo Saxon Highlights cards

Key Stage 2 Pupil activity. Print off these cards to discover more about Anglo Saxon objects at the Ashmolean. Includes suggestions for follow up activities in the class

Print landscape short side bind

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The Odda Stone

Teacher's information sheet. Find out more about this stone with a Latin inscription that reveals an intriguing story of a brother's death and a long lost Anglo Saxon chapel.

LISTEN

Listen to Old English

Short extract from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles from 877 AD read by Dr Laura Ashe, Associate Professor of English and Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.

Bucket

Reconstructed bucket, copper alloy (original) and wood (modern), dating from AD 450-650, Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire

Buckets like this are often found in female burials from the Anglo-Saxon period. They may be found alongside knives (sceax) and other objects used by women in everyday life, for example sewing equipment, pots and utensils as we as jewellery.

Die

This die was found in Asthall Barrow. The site had the cremated remains of a male dating from about AD 550 - 650. Other items from the barrow suggest a high status individual was buried there. There was a Byzantine copper alloy bowl and a Frankish pottery bottle both of high quality and showing evidence of the travel of goods. The die is made from antler. Board games were popular in Anglo-Saxon times. Counters and dice were made of bone, antler, pottery or glass and survive better than boards which were probably made from wood.

Gilt bronze buckle

This gilt bronze buckle was found in a princely burial near Finglesham, Kent. The male figure holds two spears and wears a horned helmet. This figure probably represents the God Woden, the most important Anglo-Saxon god. Wednesday is derived from Woden's name.

Gold and garnet buckle

This gold and garnet buckle has two large flat cut garnets. The gemstones are set in gold with a zig zag edge.

Shield boss

Anglo-Saxon shields were made of wood so often only the iron boss from the centre of a shield survives. The boss turned a warrior's shield into an extra weapon in battle as it could be used to jab at attackers.

Stirrup

Found near Magdalen Bridge, Oxford, possibly from the burial of a Viking warrior, or lost in a Viking raid on the city. It is thought to date from AD 950-1050.

The Abingdon Sword

This high status iron sword has six engraved mounts made of silver. The patterns on the hilt (handle) and pommel (rounded end of the handle) are decorated with interlacing leaves, animals and human forms.

The Alfred Jewel

The Alfred jewel dates from around AD 871 - 899. It was found in 1693, ploughed up in a field at North Petherton, Somerset. An inscription on the jewel reads 'Aelfred mec heht gewyrkan', which translates as 'Alfread ordered me to be made'. Once thought to be a jewel from a crown, it is now thought to be an aestel - a pointer to help monks follow text in a manuscript.

The Cuddesdon Bowl

This early seventh-century Anglo-Saxon bowl, probably made in Kent, was discovered in 1847 in Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire. It was found in the grave of an Anglo-Saxon of noble rank, during alterations to the Bishop of Oxford's palace. The bowl subsequently went missing and was rediscovered in 1971 in a house in Leicestershire, where it was being used as flower vase.

The Cuerdale Hoard

This is part of the largest Viking hoard ever discovered in England. When it was found in 1840 it weighed in at 40kg and contained about 8,500 items. It had been buried in a lead chest but little of this remains. The hoard dates from between 905 and 910 not long after the Vikings were expelled from Ireland. The find site was on the route from the Irish Sea to the Viking stronghold at York.

The Holderness Cross

Jewelled cross pendant, gold and garnet dating from AD 600-700, Holderness, East Yorkshire. This Anglo-Saxon cloisonné artefact was specifically designed as an early Christian object, similar in design to Saint Cuthbert's and Wilton crosses.

The Odda Stone

Found in 1675 near Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, this rectangular limestone stab bears an inscription that dates from AD 1056: 'Earl Odda ordered this royal church to be built and dedicated in honour of the Holy Trinity for the seal of his brother Aelfric which was taken up from this place. And Ealdred was the bishop who dedicated the same on the second of the Ides of April and in the fourteenth year of the reign of Edward, King of the English (12 April 1056)'. A stone church dedicated to the Holy Trinity would have been comparatively rare in 11th century England.

The Watlington Hoard

This Viking hoard was found near Watlington, Oxfordshire in October 2015. It is made up of Anglo-Saxon coins, silver ingots, jewellery and hack-silver as well as a small piece of hack-gold. Chopped up items of jewellery were used as a currency by the Vikings, valued by weight and material. Gold was more valuable than silver.