The archaeological evidence of the Hwiccian area

Abstract

The Hwicce, assessed at 7,000 hides (C.S.297), are probably one of the best documented representatives of the early Anglo-Saxon tribal groups which settled in England. They never had the political power wielded by the major kingdoms but were important enough to have their own bishop whose parochia preserved the tribe's territorial extent within the modern counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. I have used material from the pagan Anglo-Saxon burials in the West Midlands, together with saucer and applied brooches and small-long brooches from other parts of England, for the detailed analyses in this study. The classification of archaeological objects is frequently by uncorroborated typologies which are based upon imprecisely specified criteria. I have used cluster analysis methods in this examination and have produced four typologies which I have then used as checks on the validity of extant ones. My results, based upon the constant consideration of many specified attributes, are substantiated by several analyses. The illustrations, mapping of distributions and lists of key diagnostic features make my typologies simpler to use than earlier ones. From the brooch typologies it is possible to see trading and possible cultural patterns within England and this had been used to show that the pagan Anglo-Saxon peoples of the West Midlands had the closest affinities with Middle Anglia. A brief examination of place-names shows support for the links indicated by the archaeological evidence although these are not supported by the historical sources. Where the documentary sources are vital, however, is in the delimitation of the territory used in this study, the kingdom of the Hwicce, which has been shown in this work to have had distinctive material possessions.