User:Fergananim/sandbox

However, new interpretations of the Saxon Shore by Francis Pryor and Stephen Oppenheimer posit that the Saxons were in south-east Britain before the departure of the Romans. Pryor states that "just because the forts were listed under the same heading in the Notitia, it does not mean that they were part of an integrated system of coastal defences across the Channell ... The strangest aspect of the 'Saxon Shore' forst is the paucity of archaeological remains across their interiors ... there were no barrack blocks, granaries or headquarters ... One would doubt whether Portchester was even a military site. It seemed to have most of the hallmarks of a civilian settlement, and not a very organized one at that." Pryor instead suggests that they were "part of a long-distance trading networks ... in effect secure stores." Finally, Pryor points to the archaeological record, which demonstates Saxon graves and huts - at Mucking, Essex - dated to around 400 A.D.

Oppenheimer points out that Bede only ever identifies the 5th-century invaders of Britain as Angles, explictly so in his account of the battle of Badon Hill. Likewise, where Bede states that "the seacoasts [were] then infested by the Franks and the Saxons", Oppenheimer writes "It is not clear here whether the infestation of Saxons and Franks meant unwelcome mobile parasitic residents or overseas invaders ..."