<P> Knowing the number of migrants who came from the continent provides a context from which scholars can build an interpretation framework and understanding of the events of the 5th and 6th centuries . Robert Hedges in discussing this point observes that "archaeological evidence only addresses these issues indirectly" The traditional methodology used by archaeology to estimate the number of migrants starts with a figure for the population in Britain in the 3rd and 4th centuries . This is usually estimated at between 2 and 4 million . From this figure it is estimated that the population of Southern and Eastern England is 1 million . Within 200 years the settlement density has been established as an Anglo - Saxon village every 2--5 km, in the areas where evidence has been gathered . Given that these settlements are typically of around 50 people, this implies an Anglo - Saxon population in Southern and Eastern England of 250,000 . This estimate is hardly certain, but does provide a ratio of 1 to 4, between those with a settler background and those with an insular background . </P> <P> The number of migrants therefore depends on the variable of population increase, if the population rose by 1 per cent per year (which is slightly less than the present world population) this would suggest a population of 30,000 migrants . However, if the population rose by 2 percent per year (which is similar to India in the last 20 years) this would suggest a population of 5,000 migrants . </P> <P> This number is confirmed by the archaeological evidence . The excavations at Spong Hill, for example, revealed over 2,000 cremations and inhumations in what is a very large early cemetery . However, when the period of use is taken into account (over 200 years) and its size, it is presumed to be a major cemetery for the entire area and not just one village, it does point to a smaller rather than large number of original immigrants of 20,000 . </P> <P> Heinrich Härke concluded that "most of the biological and cultural evidence points to a minority immigration on the scale of 10 to 20% of the native population . The immigration itself was not a single' invasion', but rather a series of intrusions and immigrations over a considerable period, differing from region to region, and changing over time even within regions . The total immigrant population may have numbered somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 over about a century, but the geographical variations in numbers, and in social and ethnic composition, should have led to a variety of settlement processes ." </P>

Where did the anglo saxons settle in england