of new ideas, and the economy, along with education, came to a halt. Children were taken out of school to practice for battle and the adults stopped working and also began to prepare for fighting; only the priests and monks were literate.(Asimov 163-167)
             The Anglo-Saxons' ways of life were very different from today's lifestyles. Very little stress was put on the fundamentals of life such as literacy, religion, and the arts. They thought there was no relevant reason for them to spend time studying and continuing to progress as more educated people, and in a sense, they probably should not have. They were constantly fighting trying to protect their well being and their homes, because they were under relentless attack. Up until the "Dark Ages" the ideas of cities were beginning to spread rapidly but they quickly died when they reached Western England.
             There were many different types of burials that were performed when someone of importance died. One of the most interesting burials were "ship burials", like the one at Sutton Hoo. These took place almost strictly for people of the upper class, such as royalty. There was usually a ceremony, and then everyone who was mourning put objects of importance into a chamber of the ship and the body was placed in a different chamber of the ship. Sometimes they just buried something with the objects of importance as a monument to the deceased and buried the body in a different location.(Phillips 39) This type of burial is described very well in a portion of Beowulf:
             They laid then the beloved chieftain, giver of rings, in the ship's bosom, glorious by the mast. There were brought many treasures, ornaments from far-off lands. Never have I heard that a vessel was m
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