Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
• Anglo-Saxon England, @ 625 AD
• Burial of a longship - @ 90 ft - with treasures
• Believed to be a memorial to Raedwald,
Bretwalda of East Anglia & surrounding area
• 263 objects of gold, garnet, silver,bronze, enamel,
iron, wood, bone, textiles, feathers and fur
uncovered. They even uncovered a ladybird and the
crushed remains of a flowering plant.
• No evidence of a body or ashes
Why is it significant?
• Demonstrates that literary works like Beowulf
accurately represent Anglo-Saxon culture
• Demonstrates that “Dark Ages” after the fall of the
Roman Empire were not so “dark”
• Wealth
• Travel
• Communications
• Art
The Site
England & France
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~huma103/lec9IV_V.html#D3E24_32
Eastern England
http://www.battle1066.com/sutton2.shtml
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm
“Bid my warriors
raise a splendid mound
on the shore-cliffs
after my funeral fire
that a remembrance shall
tower high on Hronesness.
Sea-farers shall afterward
call it Beowulf's Mound.”
http://www.suttonhoo.org/index.html
The Dig
Why is it called “Sutton Hoo?”
• Name of the estate of Mrs. Edith Pretty
• Sutton is a village in Suffolk. A “hoo” is a spur of
a hill. Sutton Hoo was the name of an estate
near Sutton, and the burial site is named after
that estate.
• 1937, Mrs. Pretty decided to have some of the
burial mounds on her estate examined
• 1937 – 38, local archaeologist from Ipswich
Museum begins work
• May, 1939, determines from placing of iron rivets
that an entire ship was buried
Chronology
1939
• May – archaeologist from Cambridge takes charge of dig
• July 21 – first piece of jewelry found
• August – Coroner’s Inquest determines that the treasure belongs to
Mrs. Pretty
• August – Mrs. Pretty decides to donate the treasure to the nation
• August 25 – digging is concluded, all 263 items are sent to the
British Museum
• Nine days later, war begins between Britain & Germany
• Treasures are stored, wrapped in damp moss, in the London
Underground until after the War
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs4a/sutton.htm
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm
The Treasure
Royal
Accoutrements
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
37 coins
3 blanks
2 ingots
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
The
Silver
The Bowls
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm
Fluted Bowl with Handles - Mediterranean
Silver Bowl Set With Christian Motifs
Set of Christening Spoons –
“Saulus” & “Paulus”
Bronze Coptic Bowl – Egypt
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/eliot/722/Sutthoo.htm#
Bronze Hanging Bowl - Celtic
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm
Wooden Tub with Iron Fittings
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/kids/sutton_pics5.html
• The hanging bowl
with suspension
chain
• Sometimes
referred to as the
Cauldron
Party On…
Riddle 12 – The Exeter Book
Ic wæs wæpenwiga.
Nu mec wlonc þeceð
Once I was a plain warrior's weapon--
golde ond sylfore,
Now a stripling prince wraps my body
geong hagostealdmon
woum wirbogum;
hwilum weras cyssað.
Hwilum ic to hilde
wilgehleþan;
hleoþre bonne
hwilum wycg byreþ
mec ofer mearce;
Sometimes men kiss me, or carry me to battle
Where I call my lord's companions to wage war.
hwilum merehengest
Bright with jewels, I am borne by a horse
frætwum beorhtne,
Over hard plains, sometimes by the sea-stallion
fereð ofer flodas
hwilum mægða sum minne gefylleð
bosm beaghroden;
With bright twists of silver and gold.
hwilum ic bordum sceal,
heard, heafodleas,
behlyþed licgan,
Over storm waves. Sometimes a woman,
Ring-adorned, fills my breast for the table-Later I lie stripped of sweet treasure, to lie
hwilum hongige
hyrstum frætwed,
Hard and headless on the long boards.
wlitig on wage,
þær weras drincað,
Clothed in gold, I may grace the wall
freolic fyrdsceorp.
on wicge wegað,
sincfag swelgan
Hwilum folcwigan
þonne ic winde sceal
of sumes bosme;
hwilum ic gereordum
wlonce to wine;
stefne minre
rincas laðige
hwilum wraþum sceal
forstolen hreddan,
flyman feondsceaþan. Frige hwæt ic hatte.
Where men sit drinking, a soldier's gem.
Wound with silver, I sometimes ride
A warrior's horse, swallowing soldier's breath,
Blasting battle-song. Sometimes I bring
Bold men to wine, sometimes I sing caution
-Or rescue thieves' catch or scatter foes
For my lord. Say what I am called.
http://www2.kenyon.edu/AngloSaxonRiddles/Riddles/Riddle12.htm
Spoke then the queen of the Danes:
"Receive this cup,
my dear lord,
giver of treasure.”
The Auroch Drinking Horns
l. 1167 - 1169
http://www.highfiber.com/~bohemond/Bootshop/horn-page/sutton_hoo_horn.htm
Maple-wood Bottles
http://people.westminstercollege.edu/faculty/mmarkowski/212/6/sut1.JPG
“…Day
after day the
music rang
Loud in that
hall, the
harp’s
rejoicing
Call and the
poet’s clear
songs…”
l. 89 - 92
http://www.saphir.u-net.com/lyre/
Accoutrements
The Buckle
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/
Buckles for
Sword Belt
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
Fittings for Sword Belt
Fittings for
Sword Hanger
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
Shoulder Cloak Clasp – one of a pair
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
Decorations & Bosses for Sword, Scabbard
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
Weapons &
Armor
The Shield
…”My lord
Hygelac
Might think less
of me if I let my
sword
Go where my feet
were afraid to, if
I hid
Behind some
broad linden
shield…”
l. 435 - 438
http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm
Bird of Prey
Dragon
Mail Shirt
The Axe
Spears
• Originals
• Reconstructions
The
Sword
... cherished swords
by rust eaten through, since they in earthen fathom
[a] thousand winters there had lain.
l. 3048 - 3050
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
The
Helm
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
Then a proud Danish warrior asked
them:
"From where have you carried
these gold-inlaid shields,
these shirts of mail,
masked helmets, and battle shafts?
I am Hrothgar's messenger and
officer.
Never have I seen braver strangers.
I expect you're here
to find adventure, not asylum.“
l. 237 - 243
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs4a/sutton.htm
“Boar shapes flashed
Above their cheekguards,
The brightly forged
Work of goldsmiths,
Watching over
Those stern-faced men.”
l. 303 - 306
http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm
What is NOT in the burial?
1. No body or ashes of a cremated body.
Raedwald converted to Christianity, then
renounced it. There are non-Christian and
Christian artifacts in the burial. Perhaps
Raedwald’s body is buried somewhere in
consecrated ground, just in case there is a
heaven. But if there is a Valhalla instead,
Raedwald has everything he needs.
What is NOT in the burial?
2. No rings. Anglo-Saxon Kings were supposed to
be “Ring-givers,” so evidently all his rings were given
out before he died:
“Then that brave king gave the golden
Necklace from around his throat to Wiglaf,
Gave him his gold-covered helmet, and his rings,
And his mail shirt, and ordered him to use them well”
l. 2809 - 2812
Wiglaf hurried
from his wounded lord,
obeyed the battle-sick one,
rushed in his mail
under the cave's roof.
There by a seat
the brave young man saw
many precious jewels,
shining gold on the ground,
and works of art
on the walls.
There in the dragon's den
Wiglaf saw the cups
of ancient men,
ornaments fallen.
There were helmets,
old and rusty,
and many arm-rings
twisted with skill.
(Treasure, gold in
the ground, may be easily
seized by any man,
hide it who will.)
l. 2752 - 2766