Imported Grave Goods and the Early Anglo-Saxon Economy

Abstract

A CLEAR DISTINCTION between imported artefacts found in Kent and those occurring elsewhere is demonstrated, and it is suggested that the patterning is related to the modes of exchange which both brought the artefacts into England and circulated the items within the country. A number of different mechanisms by which goods may be exchanged over long distances are examined and, although in spatial terms these different models may be difficult to distinguish, with the additional documentary dimension of Anglo-Saxon studies it is possible to recognize elements of the models and modify some aspects of them.