Early Anglo-Saxon Shields
Subtitle: (Archaeologia monograph 110)
Publisher: Society of Antiquaries of London
Published: 1992
Place of publication: London, UK
Format: Hardback
Number of pages: 100
Description: Archaeologists have shown uneven interest in the three principal forms of weapon used in early Anglo-Saxon England (the fifth to seventh centuries). Swords, though rare, have appeared disproportionately interesting on account of their decoration and elite associations. Spears, the most commonly found weapon, have justly received comprehensive study, but shields have received little unified study. Yet nearly one-quarter of the males buried in early Anglo-Saxon inhumations went to their grave accompanied by a shield.

If understanding the Anglo-Saxon weaponry and the role of weapons in society and ritual is to be advanced, then such a quantity of data cannot be ignored. This volume fills that gap by providing for the first time a summary of the present state of knowledge on the early Anglo-Saxon shield. It provides a typological framework and addresses the issues of dating and distribution, technology and function, and the place of the shield in Anglo-Saxon burial ritual.