Abstract

Research Context: Children have been systematically under-researched in Anglo-Saxon archaeology due to low burial representation and methodological challenges. This research addresses gaps in understanding childhood experiences in early medieval communities within the East Anglian Fenlands' unique wetland environment, which created distinct living conditions that shaped community organisation and childhood experiences differently from inland settlements.

Aims and Objectives: The research aims to reconstruct children's lived experiences and lifecycle identity through interdisciplinary methods combining osteological assessment, burial analysis, and biomolecular techniques. Objectives explore childhood identity development and gendered burial practices; analyse health experiences and environmental impacts; and reconstruct dietary patterns and weaning practices.

Materials and Methods: The focal site of investigation is the 5th-6th century Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Oakington, Cambridgeshire, where subadults comprise 51.2% of the population – an unusually high proportion compared to contemporary sites. Three further contemporaneous sites (Lakenheath, Edix Hill and Littleport) which occupy areas in and around the Fenlands are used for contextualisation within the wider Anglo-Saxon landscape. Methods include skeletal examination recording age, health indicators, and pathological conditions; burial analysis; peptide analysis for biological sex determination; and stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S) reconstructing dietary and weaning practices.

Key Findings: Isotopic analysis reveals distinctive Fenland subsistence strategies with intensive wetland exploitation. Health analysis demonstrates notably higher stress indicators in Fenland children compared to upland sites, potentially linked with malaria and nutritional deficiencies. Four potential lifecycle thresholds are identified through distinctions in grave goods and body treatment and isotope values: birth, weaning, onset of puberty, and transition to adulthood. A variety of evidence from foetal remains provides information on wider maternal health and mobility patterns in early Anglo-Saxon Fenland communities including elevated δ¹⁵N values suggestive of maternal physiological stress during pregnancy; outlier δ¹³C and δ³⁴S values indicative of dietary sources outside of the range for the Oakington community; and peripheral burial locations reflecting cultural beliefs about the liminal status of pregnancy and birth. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope patterns show weaning ages fell between one and three years old with the main weaning foods likely being made up of soft foods like cereals, milk, grains and potentially even fish. Pots are uniquely found with infants at Oakington, potentially highlighting their association with weaning foods, outlining an identity specific to the transitional period of starting to eat solid foods and identifying survival through infancy as a potential lifecycle threshold. Fenland communities show stronger female-oriented identity development compared to inland sites, with male-gendered grave goods appearing primarily in adulthood. The integration of peptide analysis reveals previously undetectable patterns, such as contradictory knife distributions between subadults and adults, demonstrating age-specific gendered perceptions that have previously remained invisible.

Original Contribution: This research advances early Anglo-Saxon subadult archaeology by demonstrating how environmental contexts shaped distinctive childhood identity formation. Peptide analysis establishes a crucial tool for studying gendered practices, while δ³⁴S analysis reveals unique wetland isotopic signatures and community interaction with the wider East Anglian landscape. Findings highlight complex adaptive strategies of Fenland communities and emphasise integrating biological, environmental, and social evidence in archaeological childhood studies.