For centuries, archaeologists have excavated the soils of Britain to uncover finds from the early medieval past. These finds have been used to reconstruct the alleged communities, migration patterns, and expressions of identity of coherent groups who can be regarded as ethnic 'Anglo-Saxons'. Even in the modern day, when social constructionism has been largely accepted by scholars, this paradigm still persists.
This book challenges the ethnic paradigm. As the first historiographical study of approaches to ethnic identity in modern 'Anglo-Saxon' archaeology, it reveals these approaches to be incompatible with current scholarly understandings of ethnicity. Drawing upon post-structuralist approaches to self and community, it highlights the empirical difficulties the archaeology of ethnicity in early medieval Britain faces, and proposes steps toward an alternative understanding of the role played by the communities of lowland Britain – both migrants from across the North Sea and those already present – in transforming the Roman world.

James M. Harland works on the history and archaeology of the late Roman Empire and its early medieval successor states. After receiving his PhD in History from the University of York, he took up a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Tübingen.

List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Chapter I: Introduction
Historical approaches to the aduentus Saxonum
A note on terminology
A note on contemporary political resonances
Chapter II: Ethnicity and archaeology
Ethnicity: general conception and theorisation
Ethnic theorisation and archaeology
Ethnicity in ‘Anglo-Saxon’ archaeology
The Freiburg school
Chapter III: Empiricism and metaphysics
Differential ontology
Derridean deconstruction
Deleuze, Guattari, and the ‘Rhizome’
Applying differential ontology
Previous examples of the application of differential ontology to archaeological interpretation
Some final methodological principles
electing and approaching the case studies
Chapter IV: Deconstructing Anglo-Saxon Archaeology
Introduction
John Hines and culture history
Catherine Hills: the migration debate
Sam Lucy: ‘deconstructing’ ethnicity?
Howard Williams: remembering ‘Germans’ & ‘ancestors’?
James Gerrard: ethnicities or ‘ideologies’?
Toby Martin: the cruciform brooch and ‘Anglian’ identity
Conclusion
Chapter V: The material evidence reconsidered
Critical issues
A summary of the present evidence base and problems with its use
Chapter VI: Assembling an alternative
The case studies
Wider implications from the case studies
The end of Roman rule in Britain and the transformation of the Roman world
‘Re-use’ of Roman material in Britain
Conclusion
Chapter VII: New approaches and final reflections
New approaches to communal organization
Avenues for further research
Appendix: Spong Hill Data