Preparing for battle?: An examination of juvenile weapon burials from early Anglo-Saxon England

The early Anglo-Saxon weapon burial rite has been studied extensively by scholars, most notably by Heinrich Harke. However, there is little consideration of juveniles interred with military accoutrements from England during this period. It is widely postulated that this funerary rite represented kin affiliations and social standing as opposed to active participation in warfare. In response to this theory an in-depth assessment of juvenile weapon burials and their spatial distribution within cemeteries was carried out. This paper will present the results of this study and will consider the roles and identities of children buried with weapons in life and death.