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The Trumpington Cross in context

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Lucy, SJ 

Abstract

An Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet cloisonné pectoral cross from a seventh-century bed burial at Trumpington, Cambridgeshire in 2011 is the fifth such example to be found. Details of the contextual associations of the five crosses are used to argue that these artifacts, and other high status cross-shaped pendants, were overt Christian symbols, strongly associated with high status female burials of the later seventh century. That one of the five examples was associated with the burial of St Cuthbert is highlighted as an anomaly, and it is suggested that the Cuthbert Cross may have been a gift, rather than a personal possession of the saint.

Description

Keywords

material culture, folk art, folk sculpture, cross, England, Cambridgeshire, gift, burial, Cuthbert, Saint(d. 687)

Journal Title

Anglo-Saxon England

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0263-6751
1474-0532

Volume Title

45

Publisher

Cambridge University Press