16th August 2010, 12:22 PM
Dinosaur - I'm afraid you probably have the finds specialists, notably those of us who deal with potyery to blame. As chronologies got developed for pottery many historic events were found to be a little to arbitary in defining periods, hence the Saxo-Norman category etc. Personally I include the Saxons and Tudors in the medieval period, so the medieval period fills the gap between the Roman withdrawl from Britain to the Reformation, but if were honest even these limits are poorly defined in the archaeological record (with the exception of monastic destruction). Don't get me sttarted on the Romano-Britons in the early 5th century AD. Sorry for the deviation, viva la continuum