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The Subtle Knife: Using Domestic Objects to Access the Middle Anglo-Saxon Worldview

2016; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 173; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00665983.2016.1175858

2373-2288

Alexandra Knox,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

The seventh to ninth centuries AD are understood as a period of changing worldviews with the introduction and embedding of Christianity across the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In contrast to the attention afforded to the 'ritual' or sacred transformations of this period, relatively little has been made of the changing archaeological record of 'ordinary' or secular spaces and material cultures in order to understand this historical change in worldview. The use and significance of the domestic Anglo-Saxon knife spans both settlement and cemetery contexts. It is argued that the study of knife use and deposition reveals beliefs and worldviews expressed in everyday activities as well as in those deposits that appear 'special'.