Our Anglo Saxon Day - Stoke Holy Cross Primary School · 2015-03-13 · Our Anglo Saxon Day...

Our Anglo Saxon Day

Year 4

26th of January 2015

Our Anglo Saxon Day

• Edith and Alefroth visited our school to tell us about the Anglo Saxons and how they lived

• The following slides prepared by the children detail some of the facts we learnt.

• We also had the opportunity to make flour and bracelets and do other activities

Where did the Anglo Saxons come from?

• Mainly from Jutland comprising North Germany, Denmark and Northern Holland.

• Most were Angles, Saxons and Jutes.

• The Saxons were German and Dutch.

• The Angles were Southern Danish.

• The Jutes were Northern Danish.

Where did the Anglo Saxons come from?

• The Angles settled mainly in Northumberland and Mercia.

• The Saxons settled mainly in East Anglia.

• The Jutes settled mainly in Wessex.

Why did the Anglo Saxons come to our

country?

• The Anglo Saxons were good farmers.

• They were running out of land in Jutland.

• The Romans built forts to keep them away.

• When the Romans left we where vulnerable.

• The Anglo Saxons moved in and filled the gap left by the Romans.

Why did the Anglo Saxons come to our

country?

• The Angles,Saxons and Jutes had their own leaders in this country.

• If there was a strong leader he would become Bretwalda and rule over all of them.

• Redwald, who was buried at Sutton Hoo, was a Bretwalda.

What did the Anglo Saxon women wear?

• They slept in a simple shift, a type of rough undergarment.

• They wore woolen or linen dresses.

• Only the very rich wore silk.

• They sometimes wore a second over dress .

What did the Anglo Saxon women wear?

• The over dress was just a tube held together by brooches on the shoulder

• The over dress design was copied from the Romans

• They generally had their hair in plaits and did not wear any head dress unless they were going outside

What did the Anglo Saxon women wear?

• They wore a belt and carried a seax like the men

• The seax was carried horizontally

• They hung their the house keys from their belt

• They also hung beads from their belts for protection

• Some wore a snake bead around their neck to ward off evil

What did the Anglo-Saxon Men wear?

• The men wore a type

of trouser to cover

their legs.

• They sometimes had

winninglas, a type

of bandage wrapped

around their legs.

• The winninglas kept

them warm and

protected them from

brambles, mice and

rats etc.

• When working

outside they wore

cloaks and hoods.

• The men wore

Phyrigain hats.

• The cloaks were

fastened at the

front by decorated

clips

What did the Anglo-Saxon Men wear?

What did the Anglo-Saxon Men wear?

• They also wore a

tunic and belt.

• A knife, known as a

seax, was hung from

the belt.

• Lots of people were

dressed up in Anglo

-Saxon clothes to

show us how the

Anglo-Saxons would

look!!!

How did the Anglo Saxons hunt?

• The Anglo Saxons

would hunt in the

surrounding forests.

• They would hunt

mostly for wild boar

and deer

• There were not many

bows so they tended

to use spears.

How did the Anglo Saxons hunt?

• They had to approach their prey silently or it would be frightened away.

• Only when they were close could the spear be thrown

• They also fished in the rivers and in the sea

What did the Anglo Saxons eat?

• The Anglo Saxons were able to make fires using flint and steel.

• Fires and clay ovens were used for cooking.

• Bread was made daily using ground flour.

• Eggs were available.

• Cheese was usually made from goats milk but occasionally cows milk and even sheep’s milk.

• Cheese could be smoked.

What did the Anglo Saxons eat?

• Porridge, made from oats and goats milk was often eaten.

• Root vegetables, leeks, parsnips, skirrots [carrots] and turnips were grown and eaten.

• Oysters were brought from the coast in buckets and eaten fresh.

• River fish were caught, gutted, salted, sometimes smoked and then dried to preserve them.

• Sea fish were caught and treated in a similar way.

What did the Anglo Saxons eat?

• The preserved fish could be eaten all year.

• Preserved fish is soaked in warm water before eating

• Eels were also caught locally and eaten

• Apples were preserved by packing in straw and available all year

• Hazel nuts and Cobnuts were collected and stored

• Acorns were collected and fed to the pigs

What did the Anglo Saxons drink?

• Everyone drank ale because

the water was too dirty to

drink in the lowlands.

• The ale was made from

barley.

• The ‘mash’ from the malted

barley was used three times

to make ale of different

strengths.

What Did The Anglo Saxons Drink?

• Children drank the third brew as

it was less strong.

• Some of the wealthy drank

imported wine.

• Most would drink from horn

cups.

• The very rich might drink from

glass which came from the

Roman occupation.

• The cups also might have been

made from wood.

What eating, drinking and cooking utensils did

the Anglo Saxons have?

• They generally ate their

food from wooden plates

and bowls

• Spoons were made from

horn and wood

• Most would drink from horn

cups

• The very rich might drink

from glass which came

from the Roman occupation

What eating, drinking and cooking utensils did

the Anglo Saxons have?

• They used claw

beakers, so called

because they looked

like claws

• Clay pots were used

for cooking

How did the Anglo Saxons make and colour

their garments? • Cloth was made from linen or

wool woven on a loom.

• Linen was made from the stem of a plant called flax

• Wool comes from sheep in light and dark colours

• The sheep’s fleeces were dirty and urine was used to clean them.

• Carding brushes were then used on the fleece to remove the knots.

• The fleece was then formed into thread using a drop spindle.

How did the Anglo Saxons make and colour

their garments?

• Only the very rich wore silk which comes from silk worm cocoons

• Silk would have been imported

• The Anglo-Saxons liked bright colours so the cloth or thread had to be dyed.

• Favourite colours were yellow, blue, green, orange and beige.

• Red was expensive and only used by the very rich.

How did the Anglo Saxons make and colour

their garments? • Plants were used to make the dye.

• Yellow comes from the stems of the Weld plant which grows on rough soils

• Blue comes from the stems of the Wode plant

• Orange comes from the root of the madder plant

• Green was made from mixing blue and yellow

• The plant was chopped and soaked in hot water to make the dye

• To make blue the Wode had to be soaked and heated in male urine as oxygen must not be present in the liquid

How did the Anglo-Saxons make bread?

• The Anglo-Saxons harvested the wheat.

• They removed the grain (the ears) from the stem.

• They stored the grain safely where the rats could not get it.

• They ground the grain into flour using a quirn.

How did the Anglo-Saxons make bread?

• They collected flour and

mixed it with ale froth.

• The dough was then shaped

into a ball and put into a hot

clay oven to bake.

• Bread was usually made

daily.

• The flour contained some

ground stone which caused

wear to their teeth.

How we made flour.

• Edith showed us the tools that we needed.

• She put wheat into the quirn and then she let us have a go.

• Edith showed us the flour around the edges of the quirn.

• We think the quirn is really fun and we wish we could have another ANGLO-SAXONS DAY!

What Jewelry did the Anglo Saxons make

and wear? • The Anglo Saxons feared the ‘God of the Underground’ Wyrmas.

• They believed that snakes and dragons were bringers of evil

• Snakes heads were often found on beads, buckles and brooches for protection from Wyrmas.

• Dragons heads were also found on jewelry.

What Jewelry did the Anglo Saxons make

and wear?

• The ladies wore strings of beads around their necks made from amber and glass and the less well of from clay.

• They also wore a snake bead around their necks. • They also hung beads around their belt for

protection. • Belt buckles and brooch were generally made

from metal • Bracelets were made from metal often with snakes

heads at each end • The less well off wore cow horn bracelets

What did the Anglo-Saxons do

if they were ill?

• The Anglo-Saxons believed most illness came from the god Wormas.

• Wormas brought evil from deep in the ground in the form of Worms, snakes, elves and dragons.

• They believed that a sharp shooting pain was the result of an elf shooting at you.

What did the Anglo-Saxons do

if they were ill? • It was thought to be

dangerous to wander into woods or watery areas.

• Tolkein stories are based on Anglo-Saxon and Viking beliefs.

• Bad health came about because something was stolen from you or something got inside you.

• They believed the god Woden had got a great snake surrounding the world and sent it down in the form of nine plants to help cure them.

What did the Anglo-Saxons do

if they were ill? • Wise women in the village

dealt with illness

• They would take a urine sample from the ill person and look at the colour, smell it and taste it

• It would be dark if the person was dehydrated or had a temperature

• They would be kept warm and a type of red collar would be placed around their necks for three days

• The collar, being red, was valuable and it contained worms, from Wormas, to aid the healing

What did the Anglo-Saxons do

if they were ill? • The wise woman might have

a crystal ball which they believed came from the underground and was taken from the elves

• Cuttlefish bone was also carved and hung up to ward off illness

• Hag stones or health stones, which were stones found naturally with holes in them, were hung from their belts to drive away badness

• Jet was also used and also shells, particularly if they looked like eyes

What did the Anglo-Saxons do if

they were ill? • A sick person might have an

arrow laid on their prone body and the healers had chants asking the evil to come out

• After a long while the arrow, which then contained all the badness, was shot into water and the patient was cured

• They also had potions made from plants which were always bitter

• Sage leaves were used and lavendar was used for headaches

• Broken bones were set by Cumfre or Bone Set which was crushed, made into a paste and put on the swelling

• The paste would harden and immobilise the break

What equipment did the Anglo Saxon

Warriors have? • The main fighting equipment

was a shield and war axe.

• Only leaders and best warriors had swords as these where expensive.

• A few were equipped with bows and arrows.

• Some wore helmets to protect them.

• Some had chain mail head protectors under their helmets and chain mail vests or coats.

• The chain mail was very heavy.

What equipment did the Anglo Saxon

Warriors have?

• Alefroth dressed

some of us up as

you can see in the

pictures

• What fine warriors

we would make

What did the Anglo Saxons use

bone, antlers and horn for?

• Horns and antlers were shed every year

• They were never wasted

• Horns were used to make sounding horns for warning.

• Horns were also used for drinking from by fitting wooden bases.

What did the Anglo Saxons use

bone, antlers and horn for?

• Horns were also used for jewelry.

• Antlers were used as needles and tools.

• Bone was used to make combs and tools.