Due to a lack of reliable written sources, the ways in which Anglo-Saxon burhs were attacked and defended remain largely conjectural. Siege warfare was more than probably quite primitive and rudimentary, particularly compared to the sophisticated Roman use of siege machines and siege fortifications. It probably differed very little from tactics developed in the Iron Age. Attackers would, as ever, use treachery, surprise, intrigue, and negotiation under pressure. In the case of a direct military attack, they would simply attempt to smash the gate with a ram (often no more than a tree trunk), archers would shoot arrows at the defenders and, given the relatively small height of earthwalls and palisades, would directly assault these defenses using scaling ladders, or try to destroy the palisades by fire. Defenders would shoot arrows, throw javelins and spears, drop rocks and stones upon the attackers, or would sally on horse or on foot for hand-to-hand combat outside their walls. Although warfare in the British Dark Ages was the preserve of the thegns (well-armed armored nobility), if need be, poorly armed local peasants and townsmen of the burh might be engaged in the defense of the ramparts. Besides, all Anglo-Saxon fortifications, like Roman ones, were essentially communal and royal. All able-bodied Saxons were obliged by customary law to take part personally or contribute money to the building and maintenance of defense works.
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