Das »Internationale Sachsensymposion« lockt rund 100 Experten ins Landesmuseum Hannover

Das »Internationale Sachsensymposion« lockt rund 100 Experten ins Landesmuseum Hannover 

Archäologen, Historiker und Anthropologen aus ganz Europa widmen sich derzeit während einer fünftägigen Konferenz der interdisziplinären Erforschung des frühmittelalterlichen Stammesverbands der Sachsen und ihrer Nachbarvölker im ersten Jahrtausend.

Die Sachsen des frühen Mittelalters haben die politischen und historischen Abläufe in Europa entscheidend geprägt. Am Landesmuseum Hannover bildet die landesgeschichtlich orientierte »Sachsenforschung« einen Schwerpunkt der wissenschaftlichen Forschungsarbeit im Bereich der Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Dabei steht zum einen die Erschließung der umfangreichen Sammlungsbestände des Hauses zur Geschichte des ersten Jahrtausends in Niedersachsen im Vordergrund. Zum anderen werden die Entstehung und Entwicklung des frühmittelalterlichen Stammesverbandes erforscht.

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Historic Leper Hospital

Archaeologists have uncovered further evidence of one of the country's earliest hospitals, built specifically for people with leprosy. They've been working in a field on the outskirts of Winchester. And, they've been able to find out more about how patients were treated. In his report David Woodland spoke to Dr Simon Roffey from Winchester University. Watch the video...

Life in a Saxon hall

The re-enactment society Regia Anglorum is reconstructing an early medieval Saxon hall in Kent using materials and construction methods of the time. Regia Anglorum is a re-enactment society that aims to recreate as accurately as possible life in Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain. Over the past 10 years, we have been building the Wychurst project – a fortified manor hall, using materials and construction methods of the time – on three acres of land in Kent. We have a rotation of 60-odd people who work on the project in the middle weekend of each month. The hall is 30ft high, 60ft long and 30ft wide, and is based on the West Hall at Cheddar, built around 850. No buildings of this type from the period have survived, so we did an enormous amount of research from archaeological dig reports and written accounts. It is built entirely in English oak, mostly sourced from within a mile of the site, which makes it a very accurate reconstruction. It is a great hall, where the local lord would have lived with his family and a few of his men. It would have served as town hall, law court, police station and as a place for protection. Read the rest of this article...

Amateur treasure-hunter's haul

We take a look at what amateur treasure-hunter David Booth found...

An ANGLO-SAXON STRAP-END and three ANGLO-SAXON COINS, found near Dumfries, have been allocated to Dumfries Museum.

The fragmentary strap-end, above, dates from the ninth century. Such items are not uncommon finds in southern Scotland, but this example is all the more significant in being recovered alongside three Anglo-Saxon coins, which also date from the ninth century.

Medieval experts say this small group of finds is a substantial reminder of the cultural ebb and flow which constituted the Scotland of the Early Historic period.

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