IMC 2007: Sessions

Session 201: Bernicia

Monday 9 July 2007, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:	Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki
Organiser:	Alaric Hall, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki
Moderator/Chair:	Alaric Hall, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki
Paper 201-a	Bounding Bernicia (Language: English) Felicity Clark, Queen's College, University of Oxford Index terms: Archaeology - Sites, Geography and Settlement Studies, Local History
Paper 201-b	Do Celtic Sources Preserve British Chronicles from 7th-Century Northumbria? (Language: English) Nicholas Evans, Department of History (Scottish Area), University of Glasgow Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Celtic, Language and Literature - Old English
Paper 201-c	Living and Dying in Bernicia: The Bowl Hole Burial Ground, Bamburgh (Language: English) Sarah Elizabeth Groves, Department of Archaeology, Durham University Index terms: Archaeology - General, Archaeology - Sites
Abstract	The Anglo-Saxon polity of Bernicia lay at a crux of early medieval northern British cultures, and comprised a region which was to straddle the later Anglo-Scottish border. Beginning with Felicity Clark's consideration of Bernicia's early expansion and borders, this session will integrate textual and archaeological approaches to present new evidence for and perspectives on the Bernician polity. Nick Evans considers the evidence of surviving Celtic chronicles for a 'North British Chronicle', including the possibility that this chronicle was written inside Northumbria, rather than in Strathclyde or elsewhere in British-controlled territory. Sarah Groves provides an early analysis of nearly one hundred skeletons recently excavated at the royal fortress at Bamburgh, giving an insight into health, burial practice and identity at this unique site.