 The Sutton Hoo burial site | |
  Sutton Hoo Shown within England | |
 Interactive map of Sutton Hoo | |
| Location | Woodbridge, Suffolk, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°5′23″N1°20′20″E / 52.08972°N 1.33889°E /52.08972; 1.33889 |
| Type | Twoearly medieval cemeteries, one withship burial |
| Site notes | |
| Ownership | National Trust |
Sutton Hoo is the site of twoAnglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries nearWoodbridge, Suffolk, England.Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when an undisturbedship burial containing a wealth ofAnglo-Saxon artifacts was discovered. The site is important in establishing the history of the Anglo-Saxonkingdom of East Anglia as well as illuminating the Anglo-Saxons during a period which lacks historical documentation.
The site was first excavated byBasil Brown, a self-taught archaeologist, under the auspices of the landownerEdith Pretty, but when its importance became apparent, national scholars took over. The artefacts the archaeologists found in the burial chamber include: a suite of metalwork dress fittings in gold and gems, a ceremonial helmet, a shield and sword, alyre, and silver plate from theEastern Roman Empire. The ship burial has prompted comparisons with the world ofBeowulf. TheOld English poem is partly set inGötaland in southern Sweden, which has archaeological parallels to some of the Sutton Hoo finds. Scholars believeRædwald, king of the East Angles, is the most likely person to have been buried in the ship.
During the 1960s and 1980s, the wider area was explored by archaeologists and other burials were revealed. Another burial ground is situated on a second hill-spur about 500 m (1,600 ft) upstream of the first. It was discovered and partially explored in 2000, during preliminary work for the construction of a new tourist visitor centre. The tops of the mounds had been obliterated by agricultural activity. The cemeteries are located close to theRiver Debenestuary and other archaeological sites. They appear as a group of approximately 20 earthenmounds that rise slightly above the horizon of the hill-spur when viewed from the opposite bank. The visitor centre contains original artefacts, replicas of finds and a reconstruction of the ship burial chamber. The site is in the care of theNational Trust; most of these objects are now held by theBritish Museum.
Sutton Hoo derives its name fromOld English.Sut combined withtun means the "southern farmstead" or "settlement" andhoo refers to a hill "shaped like a heel spur".[1][2] Hoo was recorded in theDomesday Book asHoi /Hou.[3]
Sutton Hoo lies along a bank of the tidalestuary of theRiver Deben. There, large mounds – which were originally much higher and more visible – can still be seen, overlooking the upper estuary of theRiver Deben.[4] On the opposite bank, the harbour town ofWoodbridge stands 7 miles (11 km) from theNorth Sea and below the lowest convenient fording place.[a] It formed a path of entry into East Anglia during theSub Roman Britain period that followed the end of Roman imperial rule in the 5th century.[6]
South of Woodbridge, there are 6th-century burial grounds atRushmere,Little Bealings, andTuddenham St Martin[7] and circling Brightwell Heath, the site of mounds that date from theBronze Age.[8] There are cemeteries of a similar date atRendlesham andUfford.[9] A ship-burial atSnape is the only one in England that can be compared to the example at Sutton Hoo.[10]
The territory between the Orwell and the watersheds of the Alde and Deben rivers may have been an early centre of royal power, originally centred upon Rendlesham or Sutton Hoo, and a primary component in the formation of the East Anglian kingdom.[b] In the early 7th century, Gipeswic (modernIpswich) began its growth as a centre for foreign trade,[11]Botolph's monastery atIken was founded by royal grant in 654,[12] andBede identified Rendlesham as the site ofÆthelwold's royal dwelling.[13]
There is evidence that Sutton Hoo was occupied during theNeolithic period, c. 3000 BC, when woodland in the area was cleared by agriculturalists. They dug small pits that containedflint-temperedearthenware pots. Several pits were near to hollows where large trees had been uprooted: the Neolithic farmers may have associated the hollows with the pots.[14]
During the Bronze Age, when agricultural communities living in Britain were adopting the newly introduced technology of metalworking, timber-framedroundhouses were built at Sutton Hoo, withwattle and daub walling andthatched roofs. The best surviving example contained a ring of upright posts, up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in diameter, with one pair suggesting an entrance to the south-east. In the centralhearth, afaience bead had been dropped.[15]
The farmers who dwelt in this house used decoratedBeaker-style pottery, cultivatedbarley,oats, and wheat, and collectedhazelnuts. They dug ditches that marked the surrounding grassland into sections, indicating land ownership. The acidic sandy soil eventually becameleached and infertile, and it was likely that for this reason, the settlement was eventually abandoned, to be replaced in the Middle Bronze Age (1500–1000 BC) by sheep or cattle, which were enclosed by wooden stakes.[15]
During theIron Age, iron replaced copper andbronze as the dominant form of metal used in the British Isles. In the Middle Iron Age (around 500 BC), people living in the Sutton Hoo area began to grow crops again, dividing the land into small enclosures now known asCeltic fields.[16] The use of narrow trenches implies grape cultivation, whilst in other places, small pockets of dark soil indicate that bigcabbages may have been grown.[17] This cultivation continued into theRomano-British period, from 43 to around 410.[17]
Life for the Britons remained unaffected by the arrival of the Romans. Several artefacts from the period, including a few fragments of pottery and a discardedfibula, have been found. As the peoples of Western Europe were encouraged by the Empire to maximise the use of land for growing crops, the area around Sutton Hoo suffered degradation and soil loss. It was eventually abandoned and became overgrown.[17]
After the withdrawal of the Romans from southern Britain after 410, Germanic tribes such as theAngles andSaxons began to settle in the southeastern part of the island. East Anglia is regarded by many scholars as a region in which this settlement was particularly early and dense; the area's name derives from that of the Angles. Over time, the remnants of the pre-existing Brittonic population adopted the culture of the newcomers.[18][19][20]
During this period, southern Britain became divided up into a number of small independent kingdoms. Several pagan cemeteries from the kingdom of the East Angles have been found, most notably atSpong Hill andSnape, where a large number of cremations and inhumations were found. Many of the graves were accompanied bygrave goods, which included combs, tweezers andbrooches, as well as weapons. Sacrificed animals had been placed in the graves.[21]
At the time when the Sutton Hoo cemetery was in use, the River Deben would have formed part of a busy trading and transport network. A number of settlements grew up along the river, most of which would have been small farmsteads, although it seems likely that there was a larger administrative centre as well, where the local aristocracy held court. Archaeologists have speculated that such a centre may have existed at Rendlesham,Melton,Bromeswell or at Sutton Hoo. It has been suggested that the burial mounds used by wealthier families were later appropriated as sites for early churches. In such cases, the mounds would have been destroyed before the churches were constructed.[22]
The Sutton Hoo grave field contained about twentybarrows; it was reserved for people who were buried individually with objects that indicated that they had exceptional wealth or prestige. It was used in this way from around 575 to 625 and contrasts with the Snape cemetery, where the ship-burial and furnished graves were added to a graveyard of buried pots containing cremated ashes.[23][citation needed]
Martin Carver believes that thecremation burials at Sutton Hoo were "among the earliest" in the cemetery.[22] Two were excavated in 1938. Under Mound 3 were the ashes of a man and ahorse placed on a wooden trough or dugoutbier, aFrankish iron-headedthrowing-axe, and imported objects from the easternMediterranean, including the lid of a bronzeewer, part of a miniature carvedplaque depicting awinged Victory, and fragments of decorated bone from acasket.[24] Under Mound 4 was the cremated remains of a man and a woman, with a horse and perhaps also a dog, as well as fragments of bone gaming-pieces.[25]
In Mounds 5, 6, and 7, Carver found cremations deposited in bronze bowls. In Mound 5 were found gaming-pieces, small iron shears, a cup, and anivory box. Mound 7 also contained gaming-pieces, as well as an iron-bound bucket, a sword-belt fitting and a drinking vessel, together with the remains of horse, cattle,red deer, sheep, and pig that had been burnt with the deceased on apyre. Mound 6 contained cremated animals, gaming-pieces, a sword-belt fitting, and a comb. The Mound 18 grave was very damaged, but of similar kind.[26]
Two cremations were found during the 1960s exploration to define the extent of Mound 5, together with two inhumations and a pit with a skull and fragments of decorativefoil.[27] In level areas between the mounds, Carver found three furnished inhumations. One small mound held a child's remains, along with his buckle and miniature spear. A man's grave included two belt buckles and a knife, and that of a woman contained a leather bag, a pin and achatelaine.[28]
The most impressive of the burials without a chamber is that of a young man who wasburied with his horse,[29] in Mound 17.[30] The horse would have been sacrificed for the funeral, in a ritual sufficiently standardised to indicate a lack of sentimental attachment to it. Two undisturbed grave-hollows existed side by side under the mound. The man's oakcoffin contained hispattern welded sword on his right and his sword-belt, wrapped around the blade, which had a bronze buckle withgarnetcloisonné cellwork, two pyramidal strapmounts and ascabbard-buckle.[31]
By the man's head were afiresteel and a leather pouch, containing rough garnets and a piece ofmillefiori glass. Around the coffin were two spears, a shield, a smallcauldron and a bronze bowl, a pot, an iron-bound bucket and some animal ribs. In the north-west corner of his grave was abridle, mounted with circular gilt bronze plaques withinterlace ornamentation.[31] These items are on display at Sutton Hoo.
Inhumation graves of this kind are known from both England and Germanic continental Europe,[c] with most dating from the 6th or early 7th century. In about 1820, an example was excavated atWitnesham.[32] There are other examples atLakenheath in western Suffolk and in the Snape cemetery:[33] Other examples have been inferred from records of the discovery of horse furniture atEye andMildenhall.[34]
Although the grave under Mound 14 had been destroyed almost completely by robbing, apparently during a heavy rainstorm, it had contained exceptionally high-quality goods belonging to a woman. These included a chatelaine, a kidney-shaped purse-lid, a bowl, several buckles, a dress-fastener, and the hinges of a casket, all made of silver, and also a fragment of embroidered cloth.[35]
This important grave, damaged by looters, was probably the source of the many iron ship-rivets found at Sutton Hoo in 1860. In 1938, when the mound was excavated, iron rivets were found, which enabled the Mound 2 grave to be interpreted as a small boat.[36] Carver's re-investigation revealed that there was a rectangularplank-lined chamber, 5 metres (16 ft) long by 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) wide, sunk below the land surface, with the body and grave-goods laid out in it. A small ship had been placed over this in an east–west alignment before a large earth mound was raised.[37]
Chemical analysis of the chamber floor has suggested the presence of a body in the south-western corner. The goods found included fragments of ablue glass cup with a trailed decoration, similar to the recent find from thePrittlewell tomb in Essex. There were two gilt-bronze discs withanimal interlace ornament, a bronze brooch, a silver buckle, and a gold-coated stud from a buckle. Four objects had a special kinship with the Mound 1 finds: the tip of a sword blade showed elaborate pattern welding; silver-gilt drinking horn-mounts (struck from the same dies as those in Mound 1); and the similarity of two fragments of dragon-like mounts or plaques.[38] Although the rituals were not identical, the association of the contents of the grave shows a connection between the two burials.[39]
The cemetery contained remains of people who died violently, in some cases by hanging and decapitation. Often thebones have not survived, but the flesh had stained the sandy soil: the soil waslaminated as digging progressed, so that theemaciated figures of the dead were revealed. Casts were taken of several of these.
The identification and discussion of these burials was led by Carver.[41] Two main groups were excavated, with one arranged around Mound 5 and the other situated beyond the barrow cemetery limits in the field to the east. It is thought that agallows once stood on Mound 5, in a prominent position near to a significant river-crossing point, and that the graves contained the bodies of criminals, possibly executed from the 8th and 9th centuries onwards.[40]
In 2000, a Suffolk County Council team excavated the site intended for theNational Trust's newvisitor centre, north ofTranmer House, at a point where the ridge of the Deben valley veers westwards to form apromontory. When thetopsoil was removed, early Anglo-Saxon burials were discovered in one corner, with some possessing high-status objects.[42] The area had first attracted attention with the discovery of part of a 6th-century bronze vessel, of eastern Mediterranean origin, that had probably formed part of a furnished burial. The outer surface of the so-called "Bromeswell bucket" was decorated with a Syrian- orNubian-stylefrieze, depicting naked warriors in combat with leaping lions, and had an inscription inGreek that translated as "Use this in good health, Master Count, for many happy years."[43]
In an area near to a formerrose garden, a group of moderate-sized burial mounds was identified. They had long since been levelled, but their position was shown by circular ditches that each enclosed a small deposit indicating the presence of a single burial, probably of unurned human ashes. One burial lay in an irregularoval pit that contained two vessels, a stamped black earthenware urn of late 6th-century type, and a well-preserved large bronzehanging bowl, with openwork hook escutcheons and a related circular mount at the centre.[44] In another burial, a man had been laid next to his spear and covered with a shield of normal size. The shield bore an ornamented boss-stud and two fine metal mounts, ornamented with a predatory bird and a dragon-like creature.[45]
The ship-burial discovered under Mound 1 in 1939 contained one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England for its size and completeness, far-reaching connections, the quality and beauty of its contents, and for the profound interest it generated.[46][47]
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Although practically none of the original timber survived, the form of the ship was perfectly preserved.[48] Stains in the sand had replaced the wood but had preserved many construction details. Nearly all of the iron planking rivets were in their original places. It was possible to survey the original ship, which was found to be 27 metres (89 ft) long, pointed at either end with tall risingstem and stern posts and widening to 4.4 metres (14 ft) in the beam amidships with an inboard depth of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) over thekeel line.
From the keel board, thehull was constructedclinker-fashion with nine planks on either side, fastened with rivets. Twenty-six woodenribs strengthened the form. Repairs were visible: this had been a seagoing vessel of excellent craftsmanship, but there was no descending keel. The decking, benches and mast were removed. In the fore andaft sections along thegunwales, there were oar-rests shaped like the Old Englishletter "thorn", indicating that there may have been positions for forty oarsmen. Thecentral chamber had timber walls at either end and a roof, which was probably pitched.
The heavyoak vessel had been hauled from the river up the hill and lowered into a prepared trench, so only the tops of the stem and stern posts rose above the land surface.[49] After the addition of the body and the artefacts, an oval mound was constructed, which covered the ship and rose above the horizon at the riverward side of the cemetery.[50] The view to the river is now obscured by Top Hat Wood, but the mound would have been a visible symbol of power to those using the waterway. This appears to have been the final occasion upon which the Sutton Hoo cemetery was used for its original purpose.[51]
Long afterwards, the roof collapsed violently under the weight of the mound, compressing the ship's contents into a seam of earth.[52]
Using the imprint of the longship in the sand around its location, archaeologist Angela Care Evans made plans to create a full size replica. Work began in 2021, using oak planks and iron rivets, with help from a charity, the Sutton Hoo Ship's Company. The estimated date of completion was 2024 and the ship was expected to be functional. Shipwright, Tim Kirk, made this comment toITV News: "it is really just a big experimental archaeology programme, [but] we're hoping to learn how the ship actually sailed". The plans called for training a crew of at least 80 rowers.[53]
The presence of a platform (or a large coffin) that was about 9 feet (2.7 m) indicated that there was a body present.[54] An iron-bound wooden bucket, an iron lamp containingbeeswax, and a bottle of north continental manufacture were close by. The objects around the body indicate that it lay with the head at the west end of the wooden structure.
The man who was buried under Mound 1 cannot be identified,.[55] Artefacts near the body have been identified asregalia, pointing to its being that of a king. Most of the suggestions for the occupant areEast Anglian kings because of the proximity of theroyal vill of Rendlesham. Since 1940, whenH.M. Chadwick first ventured that the ship-burial was probably the grave ofRædwald,[56] Rædwald has been considered the most likely candidate.[57] The burial of his descendants in the mound cannot currently, however, be ruled out.[58]
From time to time, other identifications are suggested, including his sonsEorpwald,Sigeberht[59] orEcgric.[60] Rædwald is favoured because of the high quality of the imported and commissioned materials and the resources needed to assemble them, the authority that the gold was intended to convey, the community involvement required to conduct the ritual at a cemetery reserved for an elite, the close proximity of Sutton Hoo to Rendlesham and the probable date horizons.[57] Carver, says Chadwick's identification was "repeatedly endorsed by other scholars for fifty years", and that Rædwald "is still the favourite candidate".[61] As of 2019, the refurbished museum on the site states that the body is Rædwald while the British Museum just says a "King of East Anglia".
Coins dating to the 620s found at Sutton Hoo, consistent with Raedwald's recorded date of death around 624, and the idea that the wealth displayed there was consistent with his status as an overking have pointed to Raedwald.[62] Analysis of theMerovingian coins by Gareth Williams, Curator of Early Medieval Coinage at the British Museum, has narrowed the date of the burial to 610 to 635. This makes Sigeberht, who died in 637, less likely. Rædwald is still the favourite, although Eorpwald also fits the timescale as he died 627–28.[63]
Although this is a likely explanation it is still controversial, as reflected in the comments in the article on Rædwald in theOxford Dictionary of National Biography ("It has been argued, more strongly than convincingly, that Rædwald must be the man buried in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo")[64] and by McClure and Collins, who note that the evidence for Rædwald is "almost non-existent".[65] Alternative suggestions as candidates include other East Anglian kings or a prestigious foreign visitor,[66] or a wealthy status-seeker, rather than a king,[67] though Rendlesham, a known residence of the East Anglian kings, is only 4 miles (6.4 km) away.[68] In 2025 Helen Gittos fromOxford University argued that the body was an elite local soldier who had fought for theByzantine Empire, probably as a member of the cavalry troops known as theFoederati.[69][70]
Closer inspection of the sword hilt suggests that the occupant wasleft-handed, as the hilt'smalleable gold pieces are worn down on the opposite side than would be expected with a right-handed owner.[71] The unorthodox sword placement on the right side of the body supports this theory, as other Anglo Saxon burials placed the sword on the left side of the body.[72]
As a body was not found, there was early speculation that the ship-burial was acenotaph rather than a grave.[73] The only sign of body being a chemical stain which could have had other origins; indeed, the site includes burials of both meat and companion animals. Further, there is a lack of shroud ties, and no clear evidence of items which might have adorned a body being left in the expected places in relation to the stain. However, more recent analysis detected phosphate in the soil – an indicator that a human body once lay at rest there.[74] The cenotaph theory may be consistent with the transition from pagan burial to Christian burial; certainly as far as Rædwald is concerned, he could have received a Christian burial, and the mound, whether completed before or after his conversion, being used as a memorial and as symbol of the status of the Kingship of East Anglia. Soil analyses conducted in 1967 foundphosphate traces, supporting the view that a body had disappeared in the acidic soil.[59]
David M. Wilson has remarked that the metal artworks found in the Sutton Hoo graves were "work of the highest quality, not only in English but in European terms".[75]
Sutton Hoo is a cornerstone of the study of art in Britain in the 6th–9th centuries. George Henderson has described the ship treasures as "the first proven hothouse for the incubation of theInsular style".[76] The gold and garnet fittings show the creative fusion of earlier techniques and motifs by a mastergoldsmith. Insular art drew upon Irish,Pictish, Anglo-Saxon, nativeBritish and Mediterranean artistic sources: the 7th-centuryBook of Durrow owes as much to Pictish sculpture, British millefiori andenamelwork and Anglo-Saxon cloisonné metalwork as it does to Irish art.[d] The Sutton Hoo treasures represent a continuum from pre-Christian royal accumulation of precious objects from diverse cultural sources, through to the art of gospel books,shrines andliturgical or dynastic objects.
The mound was found to contain a uniquely rich Anglo-Saxon ship-burial in the centre of which was a chamber containinggrave goods including jewellery, silver bowls, drinking vessels,clothing andweaponry.[77][78] In 2016, researchers at the British Museum found that lumps ofbitumen or tar found in Mound 1 closely chemically matched examples from the area now in modern-daySyria.[79] It is not clear what the tar was used for: "embalming, medicine and... water-proofing" are all possibilities.[80]
On the head's left side was placed a "crested" and maskedhelmet wrapped in cloths.[81] With its panels of tinned bronze and assembled mounts, the decoration is directly comparable to that found on helmets from theVendel andValsgärde burial sites in eastern Sweden.[82] The Sutton Hoo helmet differs from the Swedish examples in having an iron skull of a single vaulted shell and has a full face mask, a solidneck guard and deep cheekpieces. These features have been used to suggest an English origin for the helmet's basic structure; the deep cheekpieces have parallels in theCoppergate helmet, found inYork.[83]
Although outwardly very like the Swedish examples, the Sutton Hoo helmet is a product of better craftsmanship. Helmets are extremely rare finds. No other such figural plaques were known in England, apart from a fragment from a burial atCaenby, Lincolnshire,[84] until the 2009 discovery of theStaffordshire hoard, which contained many.[85] The helmet rusted in the grave and was shattered into hundreds of tiny fragments when the chamber roof collapsed. These fragments were catalogued and organised so they could be reassembled.[e]
To the head's right was placed inverted a nested set of ten silver bowls, probably made in theEastern Empire during the sixth century. Beneath them were two silver spoons, possibly of Byzantine origin, of a type bearing names of theApostles.[91] One spoon is marked in originalnielloed Greek lettering with the name of PAULOS, "Paul". The other, matching spoon had been modified using lettering conventions of a Frankish coin-die cutter, to read SAULOS, "Saul". One theory suggests that the spoons (and possibly also the bowls) were a baptismal gift for the buried person.[92]
On the right of the "body" lay a set ofspears, tips uppermost, including three barbedangons, with their heads thrust through a handle of the bronze bowl.[93] Nearby was a wand with a small mount depicting awolf.[94] Closer to the body lay thesword with a gold andgarnet cloisonné pommel 85 centimetres (33 in) long, its pattern welded blade still within its scabbard, with superlative scabbard-bosses of domed cellwork and pyramidal mounts.[95] Attached to this and lying toward the body was the sword harness and belt, fitted with a suite of gold mounts and strap-distributors of extremely intricate garnet cellwork ornament.[96]
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Together with the sword harness and scabbard mounts, the gold and garnet objects found in the upper body space, which form a co-ordinated ensemble, are among the true wonders of Sutton Hoo. Their artistic and technical quality is exceptional.[97]
The "great" gold buckle is made in three parts.[98] The plate is a long ovoid of a meandering but symmetrical outline with densely interwoven and interpenetrating ribbon animals rendered inchip-carving on the front. The gold surfaces are punched to receive niello detail. The plate is hollow and has a hinged back, forming a secret chamber, possibly for arelic. Both the tongue-plate and hoop are solid, ornamented, and expertly engineered.
Each shoulder-clasp consists of two matching curved halves, hinged upon a long removable chained pin.[99] The surfaces display panels of interlocking stepped garnets and chequer millefiori insets, surrounded byinterlaced ornament ofGermanic Style II ribbon animals. The half-round clasp ends contain garnet-work of interlockingwild boars withfiligree surrounds. On the underside of the mounts arelugs for attachment to a stiff leathercuirass. The function of the clasps is to hold together the two halves of such armour so that it can fit the torso closely in the Roman manner.[100] The cuirass itself, possibly worn in the grave, did not survive. No other Anglo-Saxon cuirass clasps are known.
Theornamental purse-lid, covering a lost leather pouch, hung from the waist-belt.[101] The lid consists of a kidney-shaped cell work-frame enclosing a sheet of the horn, on which were mounted pairs of exquisite garnet cell work plaques depicting birds, wolves devouring men (or the ancient motif of theMaster of Animals), geometric motifs and a double panel showing animals with interlaced extremities. The maker derived these images from the ornament of the Swedish-style helmets and shield-mounts, transferring them into the cell work medium with dazzling technical and artistic virtuosity.
These are the work of a master-goldsmith of the highest level in Europe who had access to an East Anglianarmoury containing the objects used as pattern sources. As an ensemble they enabled the patron to appear imperial.[f][102][103]The purse contained thirty-seven goldshillings ortremisses, each originating from a different Frankishmint. They were deliberately collected. There were also three blank coins and two smallingots.[104] This has prompted various explanations: possibly like the Romanobolus they may have been left to pay the forty ghostly oarsmen in the afterworld or were a funeral tribute, or an expression of allegiance.[105] They provide the primary evidence for the date of the burial, which was debatably in the third decade of the 7th century.[106]
In the area corresponding to the lower legs of the body were laid out various drinking vessels, including a pair of drinking horns made from the horns of anaurochs, extinct since early medieval times.[107] These have matching die-stamped gilt rim mounts and vandykes, of similar workmanship and design to the shield mounts, and exactly similar to the surviving horn vandykes from Mound 2.[108] In the same area stood a set of maplewood cups with similar rim-mounts and vandykes,[109] and a heap of folded textiles lay on the left side.
A large quantity of material including metal objects and textiles was formed into two folded or packed heaps on the east end of the central wooden structure. This included the extremely rare survival of a longcoat of ring-mail, made of alternate rows of welded and riveted iron links,[110] two hanging bowls,[111] leather shoes,[112] a cushion stuffed with feathers, folded objects of leather and a wooden platter. At one side of the heaps lay an iron hammer-axe with a long iron handle, possibly a weapon.[113]
On top of the folded heaps was set a fluted silver dish with drop handles, probably made in Italy, with therelief image of a female head in late Roman style worked into the bowl.[114] This contained a series of smallburr-wood cups with rim-mounts, combs ofantler, small metal knives, a small silver bowl, and various other small effects (possibly toilet equipment), and including a bone gaming-piece, thought to be the 'king piece' from a set.[115] (Traces of bone above the head position have suggested that a gaming-board was possibly set out, as atTaplow.) Above these was a silverladle with gilt chevron ornament, also of Mediterranean origin.[116]
Over the whole of this, perched on top of the heaps, or their container, if there was one, lay a very large round silver platter with chased ornament, made in the Eastern Empire circa 500 and bearing the control stamps ofEmperor Anastasius I (491–518).[117] On this plate was deposited a piece of unburnt bone of uncertain derivation.[118] The assemblage of Mediterranean silverware in the Sutton Hoo grave is unique for this period in Britain and Europe.[119]
Along the inner west wall (i.e. the head end) at the north-west corner stood a tall iron stand with a grid near the top.[120] Beside this rested a very large circular shield,[121] with a central boss, mounted with garnets and with die-pressed plaques of interlaced animal ornament.[g] The shield front displayed two large emblems with garnet settings, one a composite metal predatory bird and the other a flying dragon. It also bore animal-ornamented sheet strips directly die-linked to examples from the early cemetery at Vendel[123] nearOld Uppsala in Sweden.[124] A small bell, possibly for an animal, lay nearby.
Along the wall was a long square-sectionedwhetstone, tapered at either end and carved with human faces on each side - but which showed no sign of previous use as a tool. A ring mount, topped by a bronze antlered stag figurine, was fixed to the upper end, possibly made to resemble a late Romanconsular sceptre.[125] The purpose of the sceptre has generated considerable debate and a number of theories, some of which point to the potentialreligious significance of the stag.[126] or a symbol of the office ofbretwalda which would have pointed toRædwald. South of the sceptre was an iron-bound wooden bucket, one of several in the grave.[127]
In the south-west corner was a group of objects which may have been hung up, but when discovered, were compressed together. They included aCoptic or eastern Mediterranean bronze bowl with drop handles and figures of animals,[128] found below a badly deformed six-stringedAnglo-Saxon lyre in a beaver-skin bag, of a Germanic type found in wealthy Anglo-Saxon and north European graves of this date.[129] Uppermost was a large and exceptionally elaborate three-hooked hanging bowl of Insular production, withchampleve enamel and millefiori mounts showing fine-line spiral ornament and red cross motifs and with an enamelled metal fish mounted to swivel on a pin within the bowl.[130]
At the east end of the chamber, near the north corner, stood an iron-bound tub ofyew containing a smaller bucket. To the south were two small bronzecauldrons, which were probably hung against the wall. A large carinated bronze cauldron, similar to the example from a chamber-grave atTaplow, with iron mounts and two ring-handles was hung by one handle.[131] Nearby lay an iron chain almost 3.5 metres (11 ft) long, of complex ornamental sections and wrought links, for suspending a cauldron from the beams of a large hall. The chain was the product of a British tradition dating back to pre-Roman times.[132] All these items were of a domestic character.
The burial chamber was evidently rich in textiles, represented by many fragments preserved, or by chemicals formed bycorrosion.[133] They included quantities oftwill, possibly fromcloaks, blankets or hangings, and the remains of cloaks with characteristic long-pile weaving. There appear to have been more exotic coloured hangings or spreads, including some (possibly imported) woven in stepped lozenge patterns using a Syrian technique in which theweft is looped around thewarp to create a textured surface. Two other colour-patterned textiles, near the head and foot of the body area, resemble Scandinavian work of the same period.
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The strong similarities in both the armour and the burial withVendel Period finds from Sweden have suggested aSwedish cultural influence at Sutton Hoo.
A series of excavations in 1881–83 byHjalmar Stolpe revealed 14 graves in the village ofVendel in eastern Sweden.[134] Several of the burials were contained in boats up to 9 metres (30 ft) long and were furnished with swords, shields, helmets and other items.[135] Beginning in 1928, another gravefield containing princely burials was excavated at Valsgärde.[136] The pagan custom of furnished burial may have reached a natural culmination as Christianity began to make its mark.[137]
The Vendel and Valsgärde graves also included ships, similar artefact groups, and manysacrificed animals.[138] Ship-burials for this period are largely confined to eastern Sweden and East Anglia. The earlier mound-burials at Old Uppsala, in the same region, have a more direct bearing on theBeowulf story, but do not contain ship-burials. The famousGokstad andOseberg ship-burials ofNorway are of a later date.
The inclusion of drinking-horns, lyre, sword and shield, bronze and glass vessels is typical of high-status chamber-graves in England.[139] The similar selection and arrangement of the goods in these graves indicates a conformity of household possessions and funeral customs between people of this status, with the Sutton Hoo ship-burial being a uniquely elaborated version, of exceptional quality. Unusually, Sutton Hoo included regalia and instruments of power and had direct Scandinavian connections.[140][dubious –discuss]
A possible explanation for such connections lies in the well-attested northern custom by which the children of leading men were often raised away from home by a distinguished friend or relative.[140] A future East Anglian king, whilst being fostered in Sweden, could have acquired high-quality objects and made contact with armourers, before returning to East Anglia to rule.
Carver argues that pagan East Anglian rulers would have responded to the growingencroachment of Roman Christendom by employing ever more elaborate cremation rituals, so expressing defiance and independence. The execution victims, if not sacrificed for the ship-burial, perhaps suffered for their dissent from the cult of Christian royalty:[141] their executions may coincide in date with the period ofMercian hegemony over East Anglia in about 760–825.[142]
The parallels with the Swedish burials has led some historians, such as Rupert Bruce-Mitford to put forward a Scandinavian origin for theWuffingas dynasty,[143] although the significant differences, and lack of exact parallels with the workmanship and style of the Sutton Hoo artefacts means the connection is generally regarded as unproven.[144][145]
Beowulf, the Old Englishepic poem set in Denmark and Sweden (mostlyGötaland) during the first half of the 6th century, opens with the funeral of the great Danish king,Skjöldr (a.k.a. Scyld Scefing or Shield Sheafson), in a ship laden with treasure and has other descriptions of hoards, including Beowulf's own mound-burial. Its picture of warrior life in the hall of the DanishScyldingclan, with formal mead-drinking,minstrel recitation to the lyre and the rewarding of valour with gifts, and the description of a helmet, could all be illustrated from the Sutton Hoo finds. The east Sweden connections seen in several of the Sutton Hoo artefacts reinforce the link to the world ofBeowulf.[146]
Several scholars have explained how interpretations of Sutton Hoo andBeowulf have had a bearing on the other.[147][148] Roberta Frank has demonstrated that the Sutton Hoo discovery initiated an increase in appearances of 'silver' inBeowulf translations despite the absence of Old English words connoting silver in the poem.[148]
Sam Newton draws together the Sutton Hoo andBeowulf links with the Rædwald identification. Using genealogical data, he argues that the Wuffing dynasty derived from theGeatish house ofWulfing, mentioned in bothBeowulf and the poemWidsith. Possibly the oral materials from whichBeowulf was assembled belonged to East Anglian royal tradition, and they and the ship-burial took shape together as heroic restatements of migration-age origins.[149]
Christopher Brooke inThe Saxon & Norman Kings (1963) gives copious notes regardingBeowulf and the Sutton Hoo treasure and relates the life of the chiefs in the literary work with the 1939 discovery of the ship-burial.[150]
In medieval times the westerly end of the mound was dug away and a boundary ditch was laid out. Therefore, when looters dug into the apparent centre during the sixteenth century, they missed the real centre: nor could they have foreseen that the deposit lay very deep in the belly of a buried ship, well below the level of the land surface.[151]
In the 16th century, a pit, dated by bottle shards left at the bottom, was dug into Mound 1, narrowly missing the burial.[151] The area was explored extensively during the 19th century, when a small viewing platform was constructed,[152] but no useful records were made. In 1860 it was reported that nearly twobushels of iron screw bolts, presumably ship rivets, had been found at the recent opening of a mound and that it was hoped to open others.[153][154]
In 1910, a mansion,Tranmer House, was built a short distance from the mounds. In 1926 the Tranmer estate was purchased by Colonel Frank Pretty, a retired military officer who had recently married. In 1934, Pretty died, leaving a widow,Edith Pretty, and young son, Robert Dempster Pretty.[155] Following her bereavement, Edith became interested inSpiritualism, a popular religious movement that purported to enable the living to communicate with the dead.
In 1937, Pretty decided to organise an excavation of the mounds.[156] Through theIpswich Museum, she obtained the services ofBasil Brown, a self-taught Suffolk archaeologist who had taken up full-time investigations of Roman sites for the museum.[157] In June 1938, Pretty took him to the site, offered him accommodation and a wage of 30 shillings a week, and suggested that he start digging at Mound 1.[158]
Because it had been disturbed by earlier grave diggers, Brown, in consultation with the Ipswich Museum, decided instead to open three smaller mounds (2, 3 and 4). These only revealed fragmented artefacts, as the mounds had been robbed of valuable items.[159] In Mound 2 he found iron ship-rivets and a disturbed chamber burial that contained unusual fragments of metal and glass artefacts. At first, it was undecided as to whether they were Early Anglo-Saxon orViking objects.[160] The Ipswich Museum then became involved with the excavations;[161] the finds became part of the museum's collection.
In May 1939, Brown began work on Mound 1, helped by Pretty's gardener John (Jack) Jacobs, her gamekeeper William Spooner, and another estate worker Bert Fuller.[162] (Jacobs lived with his wife and their three children at Sutton Hoo House.) They drove a trench from the east end and on the third day discovered an iron rivet which Brown identified as a ship's rivet.[h] Within hours others were found still in position. The colossal size of the find became apparent. After several weeks of patiently removing earth from the ship's hull, they reached the burial chamber.[163]
The following month,Charles Phillips ofCambridge University heard rumours of a ship discovery. He was taken to Sutton Hoo by Mr Maynard, the Ipswich Museum curator, and was staggered by what he saw. Within a short time, following discussions with the Ipswich Museum, the British Museum, theScience Museum, andOffice of Works, Phillips had taken over responsibility for the excavation of the burial chamber.[164]
Initially, Phillips and the British Museum instructed Brown to cease excavating until they could get their team assembled, but he continued working, something which may have saved the site from being looted by treasure hunters.[164] Phillips's team includedW.F. Grimes andO.G.S. Crawford of theOrdnance Survey, Peggy Piggott (later known asMargaret Guido) andStuart Piggott, and other friends and colleagues.[165] Extensive photography of the ship excavation was made byMercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff.
The need for secrecy and various vested interests led to a confrontation between Phillips and the Ipswich Museum. In 1935–1936 Phillips and his friendGrahame Clark had taken control ofThe Prehistoric Society. Maynard, then turned his attention to developing Brown's work for the museum. Phillips, who disliked the museum's honorary president, Reid Moir, F.R.S., had now reappeared, and he deliberately excluded Moir and Maynard from the new discovery at Sutton Hoo.[166] After Ipswich Museum prematurely announced the discovery, reporters attempted to access the site, so Pretty paid for two policemen to guard the site 24 hours a day.[167]
The finds, having been packed and removed to London, were brought back for atreasure trove inquest held that autumn at Sutton village hall, where it was decided that since the treasure was buried without the intention to recover it, it was the property of Pretty as the landowner.[168] Pretty decided to bequeath the treasure as a gift to the nation, so that the meaning and excitement of her discovery could be shared by everyone.[169]
WhenWorld War II broke out in September 1939, the grave-goods were put in storage. Sutton Hoo was used as a training ground for military vehicles.[170] Phillips and colleagues produced important publications in 1940 including a dedicated issue ofAntiquity.[171]
After the war ended in 1945, the Sutton Hoo artefacts were removed from storage. A team, led byRupert Bruce-Mitford, from the British Museum's Department of British and Medieval Antiquities, determined their nature and helped to reconstruct and replicate the sceptre and helmet.[172] They also oversaw the conservation of the artefacts, to protect them and enable them to be viewed by the public.[173]
From analysing the data collected in 1938–39, Bruce-Mitford concluded that there were still unanswered questions. As a result of his interest in excavating previously unexplored areas of the Sutton Hoo site, a second archaeological investigation was organised. In 1965, a British Museum team began work, continuing until 1971. The ship impression was re-exposed and found to have suffered some damage, not having been back-filled after excavation in 1939.[174]
Nevertheless, it remained sufficiently intact for aplaster cast to be taken and afiberglass shape produced. The decision was then made to destroy the impression in order to excavate underneath. The mound was later restored to its pre-1939 appearance. The team also determined the limits of Mound 5 and investigated evidence of prehistoric activity on the original land-surface.[174] They scientifically analysed and reconstructed some of the finds.
The three volumes of Bruce-Mitford's definitive text,The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial, were published in 1975, 1978 and 1983.[175]
In 1978 a committee was formed in order to mount a third and even larger excavation at Sutton Hoo. Backed by theSociety of Antiquaries of London, the committee proposed an investigation to be led byPhilip Rahtz from theUniversity of York and Rupert Bruce-Mitford,[176] but the British Museum's reservations led to the committee deciding to collaborate with theAshmolean Museum. The committee recognised that much had changed in archaeology since the early 1970s. TheConservatives'privatisation policies signalled a decrease in state support for such projects, whilst the emergence ofpost-processualism inarchaeological theory moved many archaeologists toward focussing on concepts such as social change.[177]
The Ashmolean's involvement convinced the British Museum and the Society of Antiquaries to help fund the project. In 1982,Martin Carver from the University of York was appointed to run the excavation, with a research design aimed at exploring "the politics, social organisation and ideology" of Sutton Hoo.[177] Despite opposition by those who considered that funds available could be better used forrescue archaeology, in 1983 the project went ahead.
Carver believed in restoring the overgrown site, much of which was riddled with rabbit warrens.[178] After the site was surveyed using new techniques, the topsoil was stripped across an area that included Mounds 2, 5, 6, 7, 17 and 18. A new map of soil patterns and intrusions was produced that showed that the mounds had been sited in relation to prehistoric and Roman enclosure patterns. Anglo-Saxon graves of execution victims were found which were determined to be younger than the primary mounds. Mound 2 was re-explored and afterwards rebuilt. Mound 17, a previously undisturbed burial, was found to contain a young man, his weapons and goods, and a separate grave for a horse. A substantial part of the gravefield was left unexcavated for the benefit of future investigators and as yet unknown scientific methods.[179] Martin is also the chair of the Sutton Hoo Ship's Company since Aug 2021[180] which is the charity in Woodbridge that iscreating a replica of the Saxon burial ship using only known tools and techniques of the time.
In August 2024, an excavation conducted by theNational Trust and the online archaeological programTime Team unearthed more fragments of a 6th-centuryByzantine bucket at Sutton Hoo.[181] By May 2025 the bucket had been pieced back together and was believed to have been a cremation vessel. The copper alloy bucket was decorated with a hunting scene, and was thought to have been manufactured several decades before the Sutton Hoo ship.[182]
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The ship-burial treasure was presented to the nation by the owner, Edith Pretty, and was at the time the largest gift made to the British Museum by a living donor.[183] The principal items are now permanently on display at the British Museum. A display of the original finds excavated in 1938 from Mounds 2, 3, and 4, and replicas of the most important items from Mound 1, can be seen at theIpswich Museum.
In the 1990s, the Sutton Hoo site, including Sutton Hoo House, was given to the National Trust by the Trustees of the Annie Tranmer Trust. At Sutton Hoo's visitor centre and Exhibition Hall, the newly found hanging bowl and the Bromeswell Bucket, finds from the equestrian grave, and a recreation of the burial chamber and its contents can be seen.[citation needed]
The 2001 Visitor Centre was designed byvan Heyningen and Haward Architects for the National Trust. Their work included the overall planning of the estate, the design of an exhibition hall and visitor facilities, car parking and the restoration of the Edwardian house to provide additional facilities.[184]
The £5m visitor centre was opened in March 2002 by Nobel laureateSeamus Heaney, who had published atranslation ofBeowulf.[185]
the resting place of a warrior and the gruesome 'sand bodies'. ... when the soil was scraped back, the outlines of more graves appeared. With careful excavation, human forms could be detected as areas of harder, darker sand. These 'sand bodies' lay in a variety of distorted positions, indicating that, unlike previous finds, these individuals had not been ceremoniously buried.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)We can do computer simulations of this, but to actually find out there's only one way to do it and that's to build it and put it in the water and row it and then perhaps sail it.
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I am arguing that it is likely that the men buried in the princely burials at Prittlewell and Sutton Hoo mound 1 served, with a group of their contemporaries, as cavalry soldiers in the Foederati recruited by Tiberius in 575 in the wars with the Sasanians on the eastern front.
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