The coming of Christianity to seventh-century East Anglia was undeniably one of the most significant events in the kingdom's history. Not only did it reintroduce the written word, it also laid the foundations for an ecclesiastical system which was to shape lives and landscapes for the subsequent 1,400 years. Some would have us believe that the choice to convert to Christianity was a purely political decision on the part of the king, and was of little consequence to the vast majority of the population; yet, as this book has demonstrated, the archaeological evidence clearly indicates that this was far from the case. Although the initial stages of the East Anglian conversion were instigated and nurtured by the king, the consequent adoption of Christianity throughout the kingdom was both rapid and widespread and soon developed a momentum of its own. At a popular level the adoption of the new religion resulted in the introduction of missionary stations and attendant churches, major changes to funerary practices and a significant reorganisation of the Middle Saxon landscape, with regard, in particular, to the landscape settings chosen for cemeteries.

From the outset it has been acknowledged that religion is an abstract concept and that its more numinous aspects do not leave material traces. Therefore, we cannot study that part of the conversion process which is ‘all in the mind’ and cannot pass comment on the motivations of those who chose to convert. Such conclusions have traditionally led archaeologists to take a very pessimistic view of the archaeological study of religion and religious conversion, but, as we have seen, we are not dealing with a lost cause. Put simply, we can and do find material traces of ritualised behaviour encouraged by religious beliefs in the archaeological record and, with careful consideration and interpretation, these can and do tell us a great deal about the religious practices of the past. Similarly, the cessation and adaptation of existing practices and the introduction of new ones also leave traces in the archaeological record which provide us with strong indications of religious change.

As was explored in Chapter 1, the development of cognitive archaeology — a fusion of elements of processual and post-processual theory — gave rise to Renfrew's identification of five characteristic themes by which we might recognise religious practices in the archaeological record.