3057) Did You Know Series (87): Basil Brown, a self-taught archeologist unearthed the Sutton Hoo Treasures - a 27 metre long (86 ft.) Anglo-Saxon burial ship, and an enormous Gold, Silver and other metals Treasures which were donated to the British Museum by Mrs. Edith Pretty, the owner of the site: Year of Treasure first excavated: 1939 (when World War II was looming large):
We saw an interesting movie called "The Dig" on Basil Brown, a self-taught archeologist digging up some burial mounds in Sutton Hoo and coming up with amazing finds. I checked up online. Here is a brief description of what I found about regarding this site and the enormous treasure trove that lay in these burial mounds.
Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.
This land was known variously as "Hows", "Hough", "Howe", and eventually "Hoo Farm" by the 19th century (c.1834–65). "Hoo" probably means a "hill" – an elevated place shaped like a heel, from the Old English hóh or hó (similar to the German hohe), which is sometimes associated with a burial site.
In 1939, Edith Pretty, a landowner at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, requested archaeologist Basil Brown to investigate the largest of several Anglo-Saxon burial mounds on her property. Inside, he made one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of all time.
First excavated by Basil Brown, a self-taught archaeologist, at the request of the landowner Edith Pretty, but when the finds unearthed under the mounds evoked national interest, its importance became apparent, national experts took over. Archaeologists have been excavating the area ever since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts was discovered by Basil Brown.
An Archaeological discovery:
In the summer of 1939, as the Second World War loomed bleakly on the horizon, an incredible discovery was made beneath the earth in a quiet corner of Suffolk.
In June 1939, archaeologists painstakingly brushed away layers of sandy soil to reveal the shape of a ship beneath a mound.
In the centre of the ship, they found a burial chamber full of the most extraordinary treasures.
It turned out to be an Anglo-Saxon royal burial of incomparable richness and would revolutionise the understanding of early England.
The site is important in establishing the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia as well as illuminating the Anglo-Saxons during a period which lacks historical documentation.
Beneath the mound was the imprint of a 27m-long (86ft) ship. At its centre was a ruined burial chamber packed with treasures - silverware, sumptuous gold jewellery, a lavish feasting set, and, most famously, an ornate iron helmet. The artefacts the archaeologists found in the burial chamber include a suite of metalwork dress fittings in gold and gems, a ceremonial ornate iron helmet, a shield and sword, a lyre, and silver plate from the time of the Byzantine Empire.
Dating to the early AD 600s, this outstanding burial clearly commemorated a leading figure of East Anglia, the local Anglo-Saxon kingdom, perhaps, a king.
The Sutton Hoo ship burial provides remarkable insights into early Anglo-Saxon England.
It reveals a place of exquisite craftsmanship and extensive international connections, spanning Europe and beyond. It also shows that the world of great halls, glittering treasures and formidable warriors described in Anglo-Saxon poetry was not a myth.
During the 1960s and 1980s, the wider area was explored by archaeologists and other individual burials were revealed.
Another burial ground is situated on a second hill-spur about 500 metres (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 the River Deben estuary and other archaeological sites.
They appear as a group of approximately 20 earthen mounds 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 the National Trust; most of these objects are now held by the British Museum.
The ship burial has prompted comparisons with the world of Beowulf.
The Old English poem is partly set in Götaland in southern Sweden, which has archaeological parallels to some of the Sutton Hoo finds. Scholars believe Rædwald, king of the East Angles, is the most likely person to have been buried in the ship.
This hauntingly beautiful 255 acre estate, with far-reaching views over the River Deben, is home to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.
The Sutton Hoo Treasures:
- The objects in the burial chamber were designed to signal power on earth and in the hereafter. Each object tells a story and reveals something about the person they accompanied into the afterlife.
- Weaponry such as a pattern-welded sword suggests a great war leader, a lyre evokes a musician and poet, the exquisite gold and garnet craftsmanship on many items represents a patron of the arts, whereas objects like the drinking horns speak of a generous host.
- Items such as the shield are thought to have been diplomatic gifts from Scandinavia and speak of someone both well respected and highly connected.
- The shoulder clasps modelled on those worn by Roman emperors tell us of someone who borrowed from different cultures and power bases to assert their own authority. Together, these treasures form a potent piece of power poetry, suggesting the burial of a king.
- Most recognisable among the treasures is undoubtedly the Sutton Hoo helmet. Highly corroded and broken into more than 100 fragments when the burial chamber collapsed, the helmet took the conservation team at the British Museum many years to reconstruct.
Today, it is arguably the face of the Anglo-Saxon period.
- Byzantine silver bowls and spoons, jewelled weapons, fine Celtic enamels and large gold ornaments elaborately inlaid with bright red garnets.
- Edith Pretty donated the finds to the British Museum in 1939, and they now form a stunning centrepiece to this gallery. The site at Sutton Hoo is managed by the National Trust.
- These original finds were donated to the British Museum by Mrs. Edith Pretty, who instigated the excavation of the mounds in 1939.
Since 2002, the Sutton Hoo estate has been open to the public under the ownership and management of the National Trust.
Replicas and original finds are on display. Tranmer House, the former residence of Mrs Pretty, was built in 1910 by the Ipswich architect John Shewell Corder.
The Sutton Hoo collection now has 3,787 items online.
The Shield
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The Belt
Reconstructed Garments and battle armour & axe
Reconstructed spears and weapons
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A Clasp/Brooch
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Ornaments
Utensils and daggers
North European origins:
The helmet seems to have been influenced by earlier Roman cavalry helmets and by Swedish helmets of a similar era to the Sutton Hoo burial.
The connection with Sweden and Scandinavia can be seen in several other items, including the Sutton Hoo shield and the drinking horns. At the time of the burial, East Anglia was the western shore of a Germanic culture that spread around the North Sea.
The replica helmet at Sutton Hoo features the kind of exquisite detail that would've been seen in the real thing. The helmet can be interpreted as armour for battle, as a status symbol, as a clue to some of the beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons, and as a triumph of craftsmanship.
Travellers and traders:
The people buried at Sutton Hoo were not only closely connected to their Scandinavian neighbours, but clearly engaged in travel and trade across huge distances. Garnets that decorate many of the treasures most likely originated in Sri Lanka, and items from the Byzantine Empire, Egypt and across Europe were also uncovered.
The Coins unearthed:
The dating of coins found helps to place the burial to around the year 625 AD, a time of political and religious change across England when belief in the old gods was changing.
Some of the silver bowls found in the chamber feature cross-shaped decoration, possibly suggesting a Christian origin, while a pair of silver spoons bear the names 'Saulos' and 'Paulos', which would appear to be references to the Christian story of the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus.
The burial of a great man in a ship, surrounded by his regalia, is clearly a pre-Christian ritual, and burial practices would change enormously after the conversion to Christianity.
Replicas at Sutton Hoo. Tunic, chain mail shirt, spear and axe hammer on a bear skin
The significance of Sutton Hoo:
Sutton Hoo provides one of the richest sources of archaeological evidence for the Anglo-Saxon period of England's history.
The discovery in 1939 changed our understanding of that era, and a time that had been seen as backwards was suddenly illuminated as cultured and sophisticated.
This story of discovery didn’t end in 1939, though, as our knowledge and understanding of the Anglo-Saxons of Sutton Hoo is still changing and expanding.
Some 1,400 years ago, a community came together to haul a ship from the river, within which they buried their king along with treasured possessions for his final journey. It was a public spectacle that was intended to be remembered for all time.
Basil John Wait Brown (22 January 1888 – 12 March 1977) was an English archaeologist and astronomer. Self-taught, he discovered and excavated a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in 1939, which has come to be called "one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time. Although Brown was described as an amateur archaeologist, his career as a paid excavation employee for a provincial museum spanned more than thirty years.
Sutton Hoo excavations:
One of the 18 ancient mounds
Landowner Edith May Pretty (1883–1942) was curious about the contents of about eighteen ancient mounds on her Sutton Hoo estate in southeast Suffolk. At a 1937 fete in nearby Woodbridge, Pretty discussed the possibility of opening them with Vincent B. Redstone, member of several historical and archaeological societies. who offered the services of Brown as excavator.
With the help of Pretty's labourers, Brown excavated three mounds, discovering that they were burial sites showing signs of robbery during the medieval period.
Sutton Hoo map, highlighting in red the mounds opened by Brown between 1938 and 1939.
Brown first tackled what was later identified as Mound 3. Initially he found nothing, but evidence suggested a bowl-shaped area had been dug below.
Brown then removed the soil and found a "grave deposit", offset from the mound's centre. Its location resulted perhaps from the shape of the mound distorting over time, or from the removal of some of its material.
Early Saxon pottery was found, lying on a narrow 6-foot-long wooden tray-like object – "a mere film of rotted wood fibres", plus an iron axe that Maynard later considered to be Viking ("Scandinavian"). Pretty decided to open other mounds, and two were chosen.
In what was later known as Mound 2, Brown used the East–west compass-bearing of the excavated board found in Mound 3 to align a 6-foot-wide trench.
From outside the mound's perimeter, he began digging along the old ground surface towards the mound on 7 July 1938.
A ship's rivet was discovered, along with Bronze Age pottery shards and a bead.
On 11 July Brown found more ship's rivets, and asked Ipswich Museum to forward material on the Snape ship burial which was excavated in 1862–63.
Pretty wrote to make an appointment for Brown with the curator of Aldeburgh Museum, where artefacts from the Snape excavation were housed. Brown's suggestions and drawing showed the pattern of the Snape boat's rivets. The shape of a boat with only one pointed end was uncovered.
It seemed to have been cut in half, with one half possibly used as a cover over the other half.
Evidence suggested that the site had been looted, as the upper half was missing. Signs of a cremation were found, along with a gold-plated shield boss and glass fragments.
Brown excavated what was later called Mound 4, which he found to have been completely emptied of archaeological evidence by robbers.
Connections with Beowulf:
Beowulf, the Old English epic poem set in Denmark and Sweden (mostly Götaland) 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 Danish Scylding clan, 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 of Beowulf.
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