Death rituals of the Anglo-Saxons

This week in class we discussed the way in which Anglo-Saxons practiced burying their dead. I find this era of people to be most fascinating so I decided to write a blog post on how these peoples viewed and practised life after death rituals. We all know that the Anglo-Saxons were not the most gentle or soft worded individuals, having said that they still mourned the losses of their loved ones like most people do today. They may have seemed hard and rough on the inside but deep down they were softies. Death was a big part in Anglo-Saxons lives, this was reflected in how they honoured their dead. They practiced cremation as well as burial. In both rituals individuals were burned or buried with their worldly possessions, just incase they might need them in the after life. Items that have been found in these burials range for ornate jewelry, weapons, tools livestock such as horses, donkeys and even slaves have been found buried with their masters. 

Burial has been found to be the most common way the early Anglo-Saxons buried their dead (recorded thus far). When they would burry their dead they would form large mounds of dirt and rock around the body, these were referred to as barrows. The size of the barrow was determined by how important the dead was, the bigger the barrow the more special the deceased. Barrows were formed to honour the nobles of the time, less important people did not have as large burial sites. 

When Christianity begun to take its control over Europe the pagan Anglo-Saxons reacted by forming even more elaborate rituals and cremation started to become more common. They defied the Christians in this manner because the act of burning a body was seen as taboo in the Christian faith. But as can be seen in history books, Christianity washes over paganism and the Anglo-Saxons rituals were swept down river and were eventually  forgotten. 

Site I got my information from: http://www.helium.com/items/1260472-anglo-saxon-burial-rites