Kirsty E SQUIRES: Neighbours and networks: funerary trends among cremation practicing groups in early medieval England and north-western Europe 116 Neighbours and networks: funerary trends among cremation practicing groups in early medieval England and north-western Europe Kirsty E SQUIRES Keywords: Funerary rites, cremation, identity, demography, migration period, England, Germany Our understanding of the cremation rite in early Anglo-Saxon England (5 th -mid 6 th century A.D.) has become clearer over recent years owing to detailed osteological and artefact studies of large cemetery sites. Typically, these sites are studied in isolation or on a local or national scale. Through an examination of material culture, the recent publication of the final Spong Hill volume by Hills and Lucy (2013) has shown that there is a clear association in terms of cremation practicing communities in early medieval England and north-western Europe, specifically the areas of Schleswig-Holstein and Elbe- Weser. In the light of new and existing demographic and artefactual data from contemporary cremation cemeteries in eastern England, this paper aims to highlight funerary rites that were shared between cemeteries in England and those on the Continent. Four central themes will be explored throughout the course of this chapter: the demographic profile of cemetery populations, the multiple burial rite, the display of identity through grave provisions and the internal organisation of cemeteries, and the cremation process and post-cremation rites. The purpose of this paper is not to provide an in-depth assessment of shared artefacts found in England and on the Continent (as seen in Hills and Lucy, 2013) but instead aims to explore prevailing cremation traditions and newly established customs upon the migration of Germanic groups to Britain in the fifth century A.D. Mots-clés : Rites funéraires, incinération, identité, démographie, période des migrations, Angleterre, Allemagne Notre compréhension du rite de l’incinération au début de la période anglo-saxonne en Angleterre (V e -milieu VI e siècle) a plus de clarté aujourd’hui en raison des études ostéologiques et des études d’objets pour les grandes nécropoles. Typiquement, ces nécropoles ont été étudiés isolées ou sur une échelle locale ou nationale. A travers l’examen de la culture matérielle, la publication récente du volume final de Spong Hill par Hills et Lucy (2013) montre qu’il y a une association claire concernant les communautés qui utilisées le rite de l’incinération entre l’Angleterre alto-médiévale et l’Europe du nord-ouest, en particulier le Schleswig-Holstein et la région Elbe-Weser. A la lumière des nouvelles données démographiques et artefactuelles existantes provenant de nécropoles à incinération contemporaines dans l'est de l'Angleterre, ce document vise à mettre en évidence les rites funéraires qui ont été partagés entre les nécropoles en Angleterre et celles sur le continent. Quatre thèmes centraux seront explorés partout au cours de ce chapitre : le profile démographique des populations des nécropoles, le rite d’enterrement multiple, l’affichage identitaire par les dépôts des tombes et l’organisation interne des nécropoles, et la méthode de l’incinération et les rites post-incinération. Le but de ce papier n’est pas de fournir une évaluation en profondeur des objets partagés trouvés en Angleterre et sur le Continent (voir Hills et Lucy 2013) mais vise à explorer les traditions de l’incinération et les coutumes en vigueur nouvellement créées lors de la migration des groupes germaniques de la Bretagne insulaire au V e siècle. Introduction The demise of Roman control in Britain in the early fifth century is one of the most significant periods in British history. The collapse of Roman power naturally led to significant changes to the social and political landscape of Britain. During this period Germanic peoples migrated and settled in Britain. The Venerable Bede (Ecclesiastical History, book one, chapter 15) identified these groups as the Saxons, Jutes, and Angles. Bede recorded that the Saxons settled in Essex, Wessex, and Sussex, individuals of Jutish origin inhabited Kent and the Isle of Wight, while the Angles populated areas between the kingdoms of the Jutes and Saxons, which consequently led to the foundation of England. However, it is now widely acknowledged that this is an oversimplified view of population movement and settlement from the period in question (Brugmann 2011, 33; Härke 2011, 11). Nonetheless, these migratory groups changed the social landscape of Britain through the introduction of new material culture, language, and the tradition of elaborate funerary rites in the form of furnished cremation and inhumation burials. The introduction of the cremation rite to Britain is of particular interest given the large cremation cemeteries that were founded in eastern England. Cremation was primarily practiced from the early fifth to the mid sixth century A.D. but continued to be employed at some sites into the early seventh century, for example at Asthall Barrow (Oxfordshire) and Loveden Hill (Lincolnshire), while furnished inhumations became increasingly