The Saxons were a group of people who came to Britain from what is now Germany. Those who ended up settling in Britain were also known as Anglo-Saxons.
Life in Saxon Britain
Houses
Saxon houses were, unlike the native Brits, rectangular. Saxon houses were made of wood and were usually built with several posts, but they would sometimes make beams and build on top of them. Pad stones were used to make stable platforms.
In early Saxon times, there were also small sunken huts. At first, people thought that they were just homes but archaeologists (people who find ancient objects and dig them up) have found things that mean these huts were probably used as workshops or for storage.
Jobs
What jobs you could do in Anglo-Saxon society depended on whether you were a man or woman. Women usually did one, or a few of, these jobs:
- weaving (Saxons made clothes on looms, using wool or linen)
- making flour and butter
- craftwork (such as making shoes)
- making objects such as combs from bones
If you were a man, you would be doing one, or a few of, these jobs:
- farming
- woodworker (making things such as chairs from wood)
- metalworker (making tools such as swords and knives)
- builder
- warriors, who fought against different tribes
Food
There was a variety of Saxon food, which they loved to eat at big feasts. Their diet included:
- onions
- wild boar (a pig with horns)
- parsnips
- deer
- cabbage
- wheat
- oats
- barley
- bread
- oats
