The Trumpington Cross in context
Accepted version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
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
1474-0532
Volume Title
45
Publisher
Cambridge University Press