Ex-Scotland, Yeavering, Anglo-Saxon settlement - timber halls (Bede's Ad Gefrin) and Iron Age Hill fort (NGR NT 926 305) View of iron nails, excavations by Brian Hope-Taylor 1953-1962

Description Ex-Scotland, Yeavering, Anglo-Saxon settlement - timber halls (Bede's Ad Gefrin) and Iron Age Hill fort (NGR NT 926 305) View of iron nails, excavations by Brian Hope-Taylor 1953-1962

Date c. 1953 to 1962

Collection Papers of Brian Hope-Taylor, archaeologist, Cambridge, England

Catalogue Number E 37061 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 778730

Scope and Content Iron nails from timber halls, Yeavering, Northumberland These iron nails were discovered during excavations of the timber halls at Yeavering. They would have been used to secure the wall planks to the timber framework of the buildings. Iron objects corrode very easily in the ground and the corrosion product or rust builds up on the outside of the object, as can be seen in this image. The original shape of these nails can be seen but in some cases iron objects can look like obscure lumps when they are excavated. In cases such as these archaeologists have the objects X-rayed. This provides an outline of the original shape of the object. Yeavering was the site of an Anglo-Saxon royal palace associated with the kings of Northumbria. Excavations undertaken by Brian Hope-Taylor between 1953 and 1962 revealed the ground plans of an extraordinary array of timber buildings, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. The palace entered the historical record in the 7th century when it was mentioned by Bede, who referred to it as 'Ad Gefrin'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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