Understanding how scholars view different groups during the early medieval period helps to show the significance of the reconstruction in Gyrwe farm.
The grubenhaus is a sunken-floored building based on one excavated at New Bewick. Experts often link this type of structure to northern continental Europe. This would suggest that they were brought to Britain by people migrating in the 5th century CE from groups in that area, often referred to as Germani in ancient sources.
The hall-like structure in the Gyrwe farm is based upon “Building A” from Thirlings. This was a rural settlement with evidence of multiple timber structures, which likely controlled the surrounding landscape on behalf of an emerging elite of Anglian background. Here again, scholars tried to link its architectural design to continental examples.
Yeavering is one of the few excavated sites that show the development of royal elites. A grandstand-like building called “Building E” may have housed a throne and gives us an insight into how elites designed space to assert, control, and defend their authority.
Virtual Museum | The three (re)constructed buildings and early medieval Northumbria | Five languages | Local groups | The past in the present | Anglo-Saxonism | The three buildings and their significance | The sites of the (re)constructed buildings | “Germanic” vs “Romano-British” | Early medieval timber buildings in Britain | (Ex)perimental reconstructions
