Little is known concerning the origin and early history of Deira. Even the meaning and origin of the name are obscure. The region was the old tribal land of the Parisii with their capital at Petuaria Parisiorum (Brough). deira_1 (103K)This was the northern terminal of the ferry across the Humber that linked with the main road south to Lincoln.

In late Roman times Brough seems to have lost its original importance as a military centre and to have been replaced by Malton further to the north. Malton supplied the line of coastal signal stations that probably stretched from Flamborough Head to the Tees .

It has been speculated that Germanic laeti settled in this military zone had little contact with civilian authorities. When Roman military command chain ceased to function they had little difficulty in cutting loose from whatever post Roman territorial authority emerged, to found a barbarian kingdom.

The principal pagan temple site of the Deirans was at Goodmanham and Deira has at Sancton the largest pagan Old English cemetery in England. Cremation urns from Sancton are very similar to those found in the great Anglian cemetery at Borgstedt in southern Schleswig. Others are directly comparable to those in general use throughout Schleswig and Fyn.deira_cont (39K)

The first settlers then must have come, perhaps as laeti, from this region and in particular from the district around Borgstedt. The pottery found at Sancton also shows in addition to this strong Anglian derivation, links to the Saxon cemeteries around the mouth of the Elbe, to Alemmanic peoples and to the Franks. All these groups were probably introduced under Roman control. There are strong hints at continuous occupation at York from late Roman times into the Dark Ages.

From York, Deiran settlement spread north perhaps as far as Catterick. Beyond this, Roman civil administration seems to have been absent and it is on a Celtic society that the kingdom of Bernicia was founded.