THE SUTTON HOO SHIP BURIAL TOOK A LOT OF EFFORT. Coins discovered as part of the grave goods pinpointed the probable date of burial as 625 CE, further backing the theory. Rædwald was a great ruler and was thought to have died around 624 CE, making him the most likely candidate for such a grand burial. He was part of a dynasty that had ruled East Anglia for many years, having come over as invaders from Sweden in about 500 CE. The leading theory, based on the 8th-century writings of the Venerable Bede, is that it was King Rædwald of East Anglia.
THE PERSON BURIED AT SUTTON HOO WAS LIKELY A POWERFUL EAST ANGLIAN KING.īecause no physical body was discovered in the ship burial, historians debated who could have been entombed in such a rich and impressive fashion. However, when the site was re-excavated in 1963–71, analysis of the soil below the burial chamber indicated that a body had once lain there, but had decomposed and dissolved in the acidic environment.
Some archaeologists proposed that the tomb must have been a cenotaph-a memorial containing no body. THE BODY WAS MISSING FROM THE SUTTON HOO SHIP BURIAL.ĭuring the 1939 excavation, no trace of human bones was found. The discovery of the ship burial at Sutton Hoo, with its beautifully crafted grave goods in the Anglo-Saxon style, was instrumental in overturning this idea and revealing the rich culture of the early medieval period in England. This erroneous theory led to the period between the late 5th century and the 10th century becoming known as the Dark Ages. Historians used to believe that without the Romans’ civilizing influence, English society went from being well-ordered and culturally sophisticated to lawless and ignorant. Then, Germanic tribes like the Angles and Saxons invaded and settled in eastern England. THE SUTTON HOO SHIP BURIAL PROVED THAT THE ‘DARK AGES’ WAS A MISNOMER.Īround 410 CE, as the Roman Empire broke down, the Roman army left England.
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However, when he began work on the largest barrow in 1939, he soon realized he had come across the find of a lifetime: the ghostly imprint of an 88-foot (27-meter) ship, now decayed, and a collapsed burial chamber full of precious treasures. The first mounds he excavated in 1938 were somewhat disappointing: They had already been looted and produced only a few minor objects.
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As a self-taught archaeologist, he did not have professional tools, so he started the excavation using items from the Pretty household, including a coal shovel and a pastry brush. AN AMATEUR ARCHAEOLOGIST USED A COAL SHOVEL TO EXCAVATE THE SUTTON HOO MOUNDS.īasil Brown had left school at the age of 12 and worked a number of jobs, from gardener to insurance agent. She approached a local museum for advice, and the staff suggested Basil Brown for the job. She decided they needed to be fully investigated. When Frank passed away in 1934, she began spending more time around the estate, and her attention was often drawn to an unusual array of 18 low mounds just 500 yards from her house. She came from an affluent family and traveled the world in her youth, and had a life-long interest in history and archaeology. THE SUTTON HOO INVESTIGATION BEGAN WITH SOME MYSTERIOUS MOUNDS.įormer World War I nurse Edith Pretty moved with her new husband Frank to Sutton Hoo in Suffolk in 1926. Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Treasure 12 Incredible Facts About the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Treasure 1. The site is important in understanding the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia and the early Anglo-Saxon period, as it illuminates a period that lacks historical documentation. Scholars believe Rædwald of East Anglia the most likely person to be buried in the ship. One cemetery had an undisturbed ship burial with a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artifacts most of these objects are now held by the British Museum. Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge, in Suffolk, England, is the site of two early medieval cemeteries that date from the 6th to 7th centuries. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain’s past resonate in the face of its uncertain future. Now, the story of its discovery is being told in the new Netflix film The Dig, starring Ralph Fiennes as an archaeologist who embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938.Īs WWII looms, a wealthy widow (Carey Mulligan) hires an amateur archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. Over the next few years, an incredible array of Anglo-Saxon treasures were uncovered, revealing dozens of gold and jeweled items and transforming our knowledge of early medieval England. One of the richest troves of buried artifacts ever found, the Sutton Hoo ship burial was discovered in 1938 in Suffolk, England, just as World War II broke out.
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