This book convincingly argues that the early medieval kingdom of Northumbria existed as a single political entity with a shared culture. Sián Webb makes the case that, while the kingdom itself includes three major cultural regions with distinct identities, by studying the similarities and differences in material and artistic culture it can be demonstrated that these identities managed to exist in tandem and were taken up by communities and groups when necessary and convenient. Webb shines a light on how the individual regions possessed different histories that helped shape how the people and communities expressed the shared Northumbrian identity.
Focusing on the period from 600 CE to 867 CE, Material Culture, Communities and Identity in Early Medieval Northumbria builds upon the developing tradition of research into layered identities and group culture established in various academic disciplines.
The purpose here is to consider the different identities and cultural differences that developed in different regions and among different hierarchical communities from those in power to the less influential, though no less interesting or important, individuals whose work both allowed their communities to function and helped drive, adapt and spread new cultural traditions. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the book broadens the view of early medieval Northumbria beyond the high-status settlements and people and, where possible, uses material culture and archaeological sources to include texture of non-elite identities within the kingdom.
By:
Dr Sián Webb (Independent Scholar UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 236mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 20mm
Weight: 547g
ISBN: 9781350516007
ISBN 10: 1350516007
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 19 February 2026
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Figures Introduction: Aims and Contexts 1. Landscapes and the Construction of Northumbrian Identities 2. ‘Of bearwum of burghleo.u, of denum of dunum’: Settlements and Society in Rural Northumbria 3. Gender, Authority and Legitimacy in the Mingled Spheres of the Sacred and Secular in Rural Northumbria 4. Bishops, Kings and Traders: Northumbrian Identities in ‘Urban’ York 5. Networks and Affiliations: Materialising Northumbrian Identity 6. There and Back Again: Findings and Conclusions Appendix A: List of Optimal Sites Bibliography Index
Sián Webb is an independent scholar who obtained her PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK.
Reviews for Material Culture, Communities and Identity in Early Medieval Northumbria, 600-867 CE: A Land of Five Languages
Sián Webb has written an exciting new take on Northumbria, which shows that this was not just the land of headline figures such as Bede and saintly kings like Edwin and Oswald. Sián’s book gives a rich account of a land and a people: she is acutely conscious of what bound them together as well as what separated the many communities within this large kingdom. * Rory Naismith, Professor of Early Medieval English History, University of Cambridge, UK *
