Abstract :
It is well known that Anglo-Saxon England witnessed dramatic changes in landscape organization,
economy and social structure but this paper aims to demonstrate how a more nuanced
appreciation of these transformations can be gained by weaving together different (and superficially
incompatible) strands of information. Here zooarchaeological data relating to the distribution
and consumption of venison are combined with evidence from studies of weapons,
landscape, Old English texts and anthropology. It is argued that, between the fifth and eleventh
centuries, Anglo-Saxon society moved from being a culture centred on redistribution, in which the
concept of cutting up and sharing permeated every facet of life, to one of closure and privatization,
as the elite attempted to distance themselves from the lower classes.
