Message #10841

[Europa]

Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists' label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the pottery in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an inference of decay to locally-made wares from a higher standard under the Roman Empire. It is now used to denote a period of history.

The period of Sub-Roman Britain traditionally covers the history of Britain from the end of Roman imperial rule, in the very early fifth century, to the arrival of Saint Augustine in AD 597. This period has attracted a great deal of academic and popular debate, in part due to the scarcity of the source material, and in part due to this period being the time in which later national identities have found their origins.

The term Late Antiquity, implying wider horizons, is finding more use in the academic community, especially when features common throughout the post-Roman West are examined, while a range of more dramatic names are given to the period in popular (and some academic) works: the Dark Ages, the Brythonic Age, the Age of Tyrants or the Age of Arthur.