Migration and cultural integration in the early medieval cemetery of Finglesham, Kent, through stable isotopes

Sam Leggett

doi:10.1007/s12520-021-01429-7

Abstract

Debate over migrations to Britain during the fifth and sixth centuries AD is still rampant in archaeological discourse. Stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope values from multiple tissues in individuals buried at Finglesham in Kent during the first millennium AD demonstrate not only migration of individuals to the region but also highlight community integration through foodways and refute previous models of ‘invasion’ and replacement. This case study community suggests gendered differences in mobility into early medieval England, with males more likely to be migrants from cooler regions than women. It also challenges traditional narratives of social status in these furnished cemeteries being linked to diet or migrant status with no clear correlations found between funerary treatment and isotopic signatures. This multi-tissue and multi-isotope study tracks dietary changes in this multi-origin community throughout their lives and shows that they may have even changed their diets to adapt to Christianising influences in the region.

Highlights

Combining isotopic signatures from different tissues gives powerful insight into patterns of diet and mobility throughout the life course
Cemeteries in Kent are frequently cited as key evidence in the debate around the ‘Adventus Saxonum’ due to distinctive female dress-styles which are seen by some as definitive proof of incoming groups (Brookes and Harrington 2010; Härke 2011; Richardson 2005; Sorensen 1999)
Kent is well placed for cross-channel and North Sea trade, with several wics/emporia established by the eighth century, including Rochester, Sarre, Fordwich, Sandwich, Dover and Sandtun (Brookes and Harrington 2010: 83; Hill and Cowie 2001; Leggett 2017; Pestell 2011)

Summary

Introduction

Combining isotopic signatures from different tissues gives powerful insight into patterns of diet and mobility throughout the life course. Cemeteries in Kent are frequently cited as key evidence in the debate around the ‘Adventus Saxonum’ due to distinctive female dress-styles which are seen by some as definitive proof of incoming groups (Brookes and Harrington 2010; Härke 2011; Richardson 2005; Sorensen 1999). Kent is well placed for cross-channel and North Sea trade, with several wics/emporia established by the eighth century, including Rochester, Sarre, Fordwich, Sandwich, Dover and Sandtun (Brookes and Harrington 2010: 83; Hill and Cowie 2001; Leggett 2017; Pestell 2011). Figure 1) so was likely well linked into coastal trade which may have facilitated migration of people as well as the importation of luxury and foreign goods found in some of the graves (Brookes and Harrington 2010; Chadwick Hawkes and Grainger 2006; Soulat 2013, 2018)

Methods

Results

Conclusion