Sutton Hoo
This ceremonial helmet is one of the most important finds from Sutton Hoo.
Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th- and early
7th-century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of AngloSaxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the
British Museum in London.
Sutton Hoo is of a primary importance to early medieval historians because it sheds light on a
period of English history that is on the margin between myth, legend and historical
documentation. Use of the site culminated at a time when Rædwald, the ruler of the East Angles,
held senior power among the English people and played a dynamic if ambiguous part in the
establishment of Christian rulership in England; it is generally thought most likely that he is the
person buried in the ship. The site has been vital in understanding the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of
East Anglia and the whole early Anglo-Saxon period.
The ship-burial, probably dating from the early 7th century and excavated in 1939, is 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 the profound interest of the burial ritual
itself. The initial excavation was privately sponsored by the landowner, but when the
significance of the find became apparent, national experts took over. Subsequent archaeological
campaigns, particularly in the late 1960s and late 1980s, have explored the wider site and many
other individual burials. The most significant artefacts from the ship-burial, displayed in the
British Museum, are those found in the burial chamber, including a suite of metalwork dress
fittings in gold and gems, a ceremonial helmet, shield and sword, a lyre, and many pieces of
silver plate from the Eastern Roman Empire. The ship-burial has from the time of its discovery
prompted comparisons with the world described in the heroic Old English poem Beowulf, which
is set in southern Sweden. It is in that region, especially at Vendel, that close archaeological
parallels to the ship-burial are found, both in its general form and in details of the military
equipment that the burial contains.
Although it is the ship-burial that commands the greatest attention from tourists, there is also rich
historical meaning in the two separate cemeteries, their position in relation to the Deben estuary
and the North Sea, and their relation to other sites in the immediate neighborhood. Of the two
grave fields found at Sutton Hoo, one (the "Sutton Hoo cemetery") had long been known to exist
because it consists of a group of around 20 earthen burial mounds that rise slightly above the
horizon of the hill-spur when viewed from the opposite bank. The other, called here the "new"
burial ground, is situated on a second hill-spur close to the present Exhibition Hall, about 500 m
upstream of the first, and was discovered and partially explored in 2000 during preparations for
the construction of the hall. This also had burials under mounds, but was not known because they
had long since been flattened by agricultural activity. The site has a visitor's centre, with many
original and replica artefacts and a reconstruction of the ship burial chamber, and the burial field
can be toured in the summer months.
Location
The Wicklaw region
Sutton Hoo is the name of an area spread along the bank of the River Deben opposite the harbour
of the small Suffolk town of Woodbridge. About 7 miles (11 km) from the sea, it overlooks the
tidal estuary a little below the lowest convenient fording place.[note 1] It formed a path of entry
into East Anglia during the period that followed the end of Roman imperial rule in the 5th
century.[2]
South of Woodbridge, there are 6th-century burial grounds at Rushmere, Little Bealings and
Tuddenham St Martin[3] and circling Brightwell Heath, the site of mounds that date from the
Bronze Age.[4] There are cemeteries of a similar date at Rendlesham and Ufford.[5] A ship-burial
at Snape is the only one in England that can be compared to the example at Sutton Hoo.[6]
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:[note 2] in the early 7th century,
Gipeswic (modern Ipswich) began its growth as a centre for foreign trade,[7] Botolph's monastery
at Iken was founded by royal grant in 654,[8] and Bede identified Rendlesham as the site of
Æthelwold's royal dwelling.[9][10]
Early settlement
Neolithic and Bronze Age
There is evidence that Sutton Hoo was occupied during the Neolithic period, circa 3000 BCE,
when woodland in the area was cleared by agriculturalists. They dug small pits that contained
flint-tempered earthenware pots. Several pits were near to hollows where large trees had been
uprooted: the Neolithic farmers may have associated the hollows with the pots.[11]
During the Bronze Age, when agricultural communities living in Britain were adopting the
newly introduced technology of metalworking, timber-framed roundhouses were built at Sutton
Hoo, with wattle and daub walling and thatched roofs. The best surviving example contained a
ring of upright posts, up to 30 millimetres (1.2 in) in diameter, with one pair suggesting an
entrance to the south-east. In the central hearth, a faience bead had been dropped. The farmers
who dwelt in this house used decorated Beaker-style pottery, cultivated barley, oats and wheat,
and collected hazelnuts. They were responsible for creating ditches that marked out the
surrounding grassland into sections, indicating land ownership. The acidic sandy soil eventually
become leached 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 BCE) by sheep or cattle that
were enclosed by wooden stakes.[12]
Iron Age and Romano-British period
During the Iron Age, iron became the dominant form of metal used in the British Isles, replacing
copper and bronze. In the Middle Iron Age (around 500 BCE), people living in the Sutton Hoo
area grew crops again, dividing the land up into small enclosures now known as Celtic fields.[13]
The use of narrow trenches implies grape cultivation, whilst in other places, small pockets of
dark soil indicate that big cabbages may have been grown.[14] Such cultivation continued into the
Romano-British period, from 43 to around 410. Life for the Britons remained unaffected by the
arrival of the Romans. Several artefacts from this period, including a few fragments of pottery
and a discarded fibula, 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, was again eventually abandoned and became a wilderness.[14]
Anglo-Saxon cemetery
Background
Further information: Burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England and Kingdom of East Anglia
The kingdom of East Anglia during the early Anglo/Angle-Saxon period, with Sutton Hoo in the southeastern area near to the coast
Following the withdrawal of the Romans from southern Britain after 410, the remaining
population slowly adopted the language, customs and beliefs of the Germanic Angles, Saxons
and Jutes. Much of the process may have been due to cultural appropriation, due to a widespread
migration into Britain, although the people that arrived may have been relatively small in
numbers and aggressive towards the local populations they encountered.[15]
The Anglo-Saxons developed new cultural traits. Their language developed into Old English, a
Germanic language that was different from the languages previously spoken in Britain, and they
were pagans, following a polytheistic religion. Differences in their daily material culture
changed, as they stopped living in roundhouses and constructed rectangular timber homes similar
to those found in Denmark and northern Germany. Their jewellery began to exhibit the
increasing influence of Migration Period Art from continental Europe.[citation needed]
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 at Spong Hill and Snape, where a large number of cremations and inhumations were
found. Many of the graves were accompanied by grave goods, which included combs, tweezers
and brooches, as well as weapons. Sacrificed animals had been placed in the graves.[16]
At the time when the Sutton Hoo cemetery was in use, the River Deben would have formed part
of a busy trading and transportation 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 when wealthier families buried their dead in burial mounds, these
were later used as sites for early churches. In such cases, the mounds would have been
destroyed.[17]
The Sutton Hoo grave field contained about twenty barrows and 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.[citation needed]
Mound 11 (front left), Mound 10 (foreground, masking Mound 1), Mound 2 (middle distance) and
Sutton Hoo House
The cremations and inhumations, Mounds 17 and 14
Mound 17 (orange), Mound 14 (purple), inhumations (green) and cremation graves (blue) at Sutton Hoo
Carver believes that the cremation burials at Sutton Hoo were "among the earliest" in the
cemetery.[17] Two were excavated in 1938. Under Mound 3 were the ashes of a man and a horse
placed on a wooden trough or dugout bier, a Frankish iron-headed throwing-axe and imported
objects from the eastern Mediterranean, including the lid of a bronze ewer, part of a miniature
carved plaque depicting a winged Victory and fragments of decorated bone from a casket.[18]
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.[19]
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 an ivory 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 a pyre. 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.[20] 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 decorative foil.[21] 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 a chatelaine.[22]
Finds from Mound 17
The most impressive of the burials without a chamber is that of a young man who was buried
with his horse,[23] in Mound 17.[24] 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 oak coffin contained his pattern
welded sword on his right and his sword-belt, wrapped around the blade, which had a bronze
buckle with garnet cloisonné cellwork, two pyramidal strapmounts and a scabbard-buckle. By
the man's head was a firesteel and a leather pouch, containing rough garnets and a piece of
millefiori glass. Around the coffin were two spears, a shield, a small cauldron and a bronze bowl,
a pot, an iron-bound bucket and some animal ribs. In the north-west corner of his grave was a
bridle, mounted with circular gilt bronze plaques with interlace ornamentation.[25] These items
are on display at Sutton Hoo.
Inhumation graves of this kind are known from both England and Germanic Europe,[note 3] with
most dating from the 6th or early 7th century. In about 1820, an example was excavated at
Witnesham.[26] There are other examples at Lakenheath in western Suffolk and in the Snape
cemetery:[27] other examples have been inferred from records of the discovery of horse furniture
at Eye and Mildenhall.[28]
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.[29]
Mound 2
Mound 2 is the only Sutton Hoo tumulus to have been reconstructed to its estimated original height.
This important grave, much damaged by looters, was probably the source of the many iron shiprivets 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.[30] Carver's reinvestigation revealed that there was a rectangular plank-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.[31]
Chemical analysis of the chamber floor has suggested the presence of a body in the southwestern corner. The goods found included fragments of a blue glass cup with a trailed
decoration, similar to the recent find from the Prittlewell tomb in Essex. There were two giltbronze discs with animal 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.[32] Although the rituals were not identical, the association of the contents of the grave
shows a connection between the two burials.[33]
The execution burials
"Sand body" preserved for museum display
The cemetery also contained a number of inhumations of people who had died by violent means,
in some cases by hanging or decapitation. Often the bones had not survived, but the fleshy parts
of the bodies had stained the sandy soil: the soil was laminated as work progressed, so that the
emaciated figures of the dead could be revealed. Casts were taken of several of these tableaux.
The identification and discussion of these burials was led by Carver.[34] 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 a gallows 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.
The new grave field
In 2000, a Suffolk County Council team excavated the site intended for the National Trust's new
visitor centre, north of Tranmer House, at a point where the ridge of the Deben valley veers
westwards to form a promontory. When the topsoil was removed, early Anglo-Saxon burials
were discovered in one corner, with some possessing high-status objects.[35] 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 "Bromewell bucket" was decorated with a Syrian- or Nubian-style frieze, depicting
naked warriors in combat with leaping lions, and had an inscription in Greek that translated as
"Use this in good health, Master Count, for many happy years."[36]
In an area near to a former rose 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 irregular oval pit that contained two vessels, a stamped black
earthenware urn of late 6th-century type and a well-preserved large bronze hanging bowl, with
openwork hook escutcheons and a related circular mount at the centre.[37] 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.[38]
Mound 1
Mound 1: posts mark the ends of the ship.
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.[39][40]
The burial
Mound 1 (in red) within the burial ground (possible burial mounds are coloured grey)
Model of the ship's structure as it might have appeared, with chamber area outlined
Although practically none of the original timber survived, the form of the ship was perfectly
preserved.[41] 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 rising stem 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 the keel line. From the keel board, the hull was
constructed clinker-fashion with nine planks on either side, fastened with rivets. Twenty-six
wooden frames strengthened the form. Repairs were visible: this had been a sea-going vessel of
excellent craftsmanship, but there was no descending keel. The decking, benches and mast were
removed. In the fore and aft sections, there were thorn-shaped oar-rests along the gunwales,
indicating that there may have been positions for forty oarsmen. The central chamber had timber
walls at either end and a roof, which was probably pitched.
The heavy oak 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.[42] 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.[43] 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.[44]
Long afterwards, the roof collapsed violently under the weight of the mound, compressing the
ship's contents into a seam of earth.[45]
The body in the ship-burial
As a body was not found, there was early speculation that the ship-burial was a cenotaph, but soil
analyses conducted in 1967 found phosphate traces, supporting the view that a body had
disappeared in the acidic soil.[46] The presence of a platform (or a large coffin) that was about 9
feet (2.7 m) long was indicated.[47] An iron-bound wooden bucket, an iron lamp containing
beeswax 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.
Artefacts near the body have been identified as regalia, pointing to it being that of a king.[48]
Most of the suggestions for the occupant are East Anglian kings because of the proximity of the
royal vill of Rendlesham.[48] Since 1940, when H.M. Chadwick first ventured that the ship-burial
was probably the grave of Rædwald,[49] scholarly opinion divided between Raedwald and his son
(or step-son) Sigeberht.[46] The man who was buried under Mound 1 cannot be identified,[50] but
the identification with Rædwald still has widespread scholarly acceptance, though from time to
time, other identifications are suggested, including his son Eorpwald of East Anglia, who
succeeded his father in about 624. Rædwald is the most likely of the candidates 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.[note 4]
The objects in the burial chamber
A replica of the Sutton Hoo helmet produced for the British Museum by the Royal Armouries
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".[51]
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 the
Insular style".[52] The gold and garnet fittings show the creative fusion of earlier techniques and
motifs by a master goldsmith. Insular art drew upon Irish, Pictish, Anglo-Saxon, native British
and Mediterranean artistic sources: the 7th-century Book of Durrow owes as much to Pictish
sculpture, British millefiori and enamelwork and Anglo-Saxon cloisonné metalwork as it does to
Irish art.[note 5] 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 and liturgical or dynastic objects.
The head area: the helmet, bowls and spoons
On the head's left side was placed a "crested" and masked helmet wrapped in cloths.[53] With its
panels of tinned bronze and assembled mounts, the decoration is directly comparable to that
found on helmets from the Vendel and Valsgärde cemeteries of eastern Sweden.[54] 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 solid neck guard and deep cheekpieces. These features have suggested
an English origin for the basic structure of the helmet; the deep cheekpieces have parallels in the
Coppergate helmet, found in York.[55] 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 are known in England, apart from a fragment from a burial at Caenby,
Lincolnshire.[56] The helmet rusted in the grave and was shattered into hundreds of tiny
fragments when the chamber roof collapsed. Restoration of the helmet thus involved the
meticulous identification, grouping and orientation of the surviving fragments before it could be
reconstructed.[note 6]
To the head's right was placed inverted a nested set of ten silver bowls, probably made in the
Eastern Empire during the sixth century. Beneath them were two silver spoons, possibly from
Byzantium, of a type bearing names of the Apostles.[58] One spoon is marked in original nielloed
Greek lettering with the name of PAULOS, "Paul". The other, matching spoon has 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.[59]
The weapons on the right side of the body
On the right of the "body" lay a set of spears, tips uppermost, including three barbed angons,
with their heads thrust through a handle of the bronze bowl.[60] Nearby was a wand with a small
mount depicting a wolf.[61] Closer to the body lay the sword with a gold and garnet 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.[62] Attached to this and
lying towards the body was the sword harness and belt, fitted with a suite of gold mounts and
strap-distributors of extremely intricate garnet cellwork ornament.[63]
Upper body area: purse, shoulder-clasps and great buckle
Great Buckle
Shoulder-clasps
Purse lid
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 quite exceptional.[64]
The "great" gold buckle is made in three parts.[65] The plate is a long ovoid of a meandering but
symmetrical outline with densely interwoven and interpenetrating ribbon animals rendered in
chip-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 a relic. Both the tongueplate and hoop are solid, ornamented, and expertly engineered.
Each shoulder-clasp consists of two matching curved halves, hinged upon a long removable
chained pin.[66] The surfaces display panels of interlocking stepped garnets and chequer
millefiori insets, surrounded by interlaced ornament of Germanic Style II ribbon animals. The
half-round clasp ends contain garnet-work of interlocking wild boars with filigree surrounds. On
the underside of the mounts are lugs for attachment to a stiff leather cuirass. 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.[67] The cuirass itself, possibly worn in the grave, did not survive. No other
Anglo-Saxon cuirass clasps are known.
The ornamental purse lid, covering a lost leather pouch, hung from the waist-belt.[68] The lid
consists of a kidney-shaped cellwork frame enclosing a sheet of horn, on which were mounted
pairs of exquisite garnet cellwork plaques depicting birds, wolves devouring men, 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. In his work they are
transferred into the cellwork medium with dazzling technical and artistic virtuosity.
These are the work of a master-goldsmith who had access to an East Anglian armoury containing
the objects used as pattern sources. As an ensemble they enabled the patron to appear
imperial.[note 7][69]
The purse contained thirty-seven gold shillings or tremisses, each originating from a different
Frankish mint. They were deliberately collected. There were also three blank coins and two small
ingots.[70] This has prompted various explanations: possibly like the Roman obolus they may
have been left to pay the forty ghostly oarsmen in the afterworld, or were a funeral tribute, or an
expression of allegiance.[71] They provide the primary evidence for the date of the burial, which
was debatably in the third decade of the 7th century.[72]
The lower body and 'Heaps' areas
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 an aurochs, extinct since early
mediaeval times.[73] 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.[74] In the same area stood a set of maplewood cups with similar rimmounts and vandykes,[75] 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 long coat of ring-mail, made of alternate rows of welded and riveted iron links,[76]
two hanging bowls,[77] leather shoes,[78] 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.[79]
On top of the folded heaps was set a fluted silver dish with drop handles, probably of Italian
make, with the relief image of a female head in late Roman style worked into the bowl.[80] This
contained a series of small burr-wood cups with rim-mounts, combs of antler, 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.[81] (Traces of bone
above the head position have suggested that a gaming-board was possibly set out, as at Taplow.)
Above these was a silver ladle with gilt chevron ornament, also of Mediterranean origin.[82]
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 in around 500
and bearing the control stamps of Emperor Anastasius I (491–518).[83] On this plate was
deposited a piece of unburnt bone of uncertain derivation.[84] The assemblage of Mediterranean
silverware in the Sutton Hoo grave is unique for this period in Britain and Europe.[85]
The west and east walls
The shield-fittings reassembled
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.[86] Beside this rested a very large circular shield,[87] with a central boss,
mounted with garnets and with die-pressed plaques of interlaced animal ornament.[note 8] 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[89] near Old Uppsala in Sweden.[90] A small bell,
possibly for an animal, lay nearby.
Along the wall was a long square-sectioned whetstone, tapered at either end and carved with
human faces on each side. A ring mount, topped by a bronze antlered stag figurine, was fixed to
the upper end, possibly made to resemble a late Roman consular sceptre.[91] The purpose of the
sceptre has generated considerable debate and a number of theories, some of which point to the
potential religious significance of the stag.[92] South of the septre was an iron-bound wooden
bucket, one of several in the grave.[93]
In the south-west corner was a group of objects which may have been hung up, but when
discovered, were compressed together. They included a Coptic or eastern Mediterranean bronze
bowl with drop handles and figures of animals,[94] found below a badly deformed six-stringed
Anglo-Saxon lyre in a beaver-skin bag, of a Germanic type found in wealthy Anglo-Saxon and
north European graves of this date.[95] Uppermost was a large and exceptionally elaborate threehooked hanging bowl of Insular production, with champleve 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.[96]
At the east end of the chamber, near the north corner, stood an iron-bound tub of yew containing
a smaller bucket. To the south were two small bronze cauldrons, which were probably hung
against the wall. A large carinated bronze cauldron, similar to the example from a chamber-grave
at Taplow, with iron mounts and two ring-handles was hung by one handle.[97] 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.[98] All these items were of a domestic character.
Textiles
The burial chamber was evidently rich in textiles, represented by many fragments preserved, or
by chemicals formed by corrosion.[99] They included quantities of twill, possibly from cloaks,
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 the weft is
looped around the warp 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.
Comparisons
Similarities with Swedish burials
A Swedish shield from Vendel
Helmet from the 7th century ship burial at Vendel
In 1881-1883 a series of excavations by Hjalmar Stolpe revealed 14 graves in the village of
Vendel in eastern Sweden.[100] 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.[101] In 1828,
another gravefield containing princely burials was discovered at Valsgärde.[102] The pagan
custom of furnished burial may have reached a natural culmination as Christianity began to make
its mark.[103] The Vendel and Valsgärde graves also included ships, similar artefact groups and
many sacrificed animals.[104] 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 the Beowulf story, but do not contain ship-burials. The famous Gokstad and
Oseberg ship-burials of Norway 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.[105] 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. A possible explanation for such connections lies in the wellattested northern custom by which the children of leading men were often raised away from
home by a distinguished friend or relative.[106] 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 growing
encroachment of Roman Christendom by employing ever more elaborate cremation rituals, so
expressing defiance and independence. The execution victims, if not sacrificed for the shipburial, perhaps suffered for their dissent from the cult of Christian royalty:[107] their executions
may coincide in date with the period of Mercian hegemony over East Anglia in about 760–
825.[108]
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 a king 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 interpretation of each has a bearing on the other,[109] and the east
Sweden connections with the Sutton Hoo material reinforce this link.[110]
Sam Newton draws together the Sutton Hoo and Beowulf links with the Raedwald identification
and using genealogical data, argues that the Wuffing dynasty derived from the Geatish house of
Wulfing, mentioned in both Beowulf and the poem Widsith. Possibly the oral materials from
which Beowulf was assembled belonged to East Anglian royal tradition, and they and the shipburial took shape together as heroic restatements of migration-age origins.[109]
Excavations
Prior to 1939
In mediaeval 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.[111]
In the 16th century, a pit, dated by bottle shards left at the bottom, was dug into Mound 1,
narrowly missing the burial.[111] The area was explored extensively during the 19th century,
when a small viewing platform was constructed,[112] but no useful records were made. In 1860 it
was reported that nearly two bushels 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.[113]
Basil Brown and Charles Phillips: 1938-1939
In 1910, a mansion with fifteen bedrooms was built a short distance from the mounds and in
1926 the mansion and its arable land 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.[114] Following her bereavement, Mrs Pretty became interested in Spiritualism, a religion that
placed belief in the idea that the spirits of the deceased could be contacted. Some of her
Spiritualist friends claimed to have seen 'shadowy figures' around the mounds and one had a
vision of a man on a white horse there. Pretty's nephew, a dowser, repeatedly detected the
presence of buried gold from what is now known to be the ship-mound,[115][116] reflecting a claim
around 1900 by an elderly resident of Woodbridge, of "untold gold" lying under the Sutton Hoo
mounds.[117]
Such occurrences caught Mrs Pretty's interest and in 1937 she decided to organise an excavation
of the mounds.[116] Through the Ipswich Museum, she obtained the services of Basil Brown, a
self-taught Suffolk archaeologist who had taken up full-time investigations of Roman sites for
the museum.[118] 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.[119] 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.[120] In Mound 2 he found iron shiprivets 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 or Viking
objects.[121] The Ipswich Museum then became involved with the excavations:[122] all 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.[123] (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.[124] 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.[125]
A ghost image of the buried ship was revealed during excavations in 1939
The following month, Charles Phillips of Cambridge 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, the Science Museum, and Office of Works, Phillips had taken over
responsibility for the excavation of the burial chamber. 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.[126]
Phillips' team included W.F. Grimes and O.G.S. Crawford of the Ordnance Survey, Peggy and
Stuart Piggott, and other friends and colleagues.[127]
The need for secrecy and various vested interests led to confrontation between Phillips and the
Ipswich Museum. In 1935–6 Phillips and his friend Grahame Clark had taken control of the
society. The curator, Mr Maynard then turned his attention to developing Brown's work for the
museum. Phillips, who was hostile towards 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.[128] After Ipswich Museum prematurely announced the discovery, reporters
attempted to access the site, so Mrs Pretty paid for two policemen to guard the site 24 hours a
day.[129]
The finds, having been packed and removed to London, were brought back for a treasure 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 Mrs Pretty as landowner.[130]
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.[131]
When war broke out in September 1939, the grave-goods were put in storage. Sutton Hoo was
used as a training ground for military vehicles.[132] Phillips and colleagues produced important
publications in 1940.[133]
Rupert Bruce-Mitford: 1965-1971
Following Britain's victory in 1945, the Sutton Hoo artefacts were removed from storage. A
team, led by Rupert 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.[134] They also oversaw the conservation of the artefacts, to protect them and enable
them to be viewed by the public.[135]
From analysing the data collected in 1938-39, Bruce-Milford 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 and in 1965, a British
Museum team, later described by Carver as being on a "truly impressive scale", began work,
continuing until 1971. The ship-burial site, overseen by Bruce-Mitford, had not been backfilled
in the 1930s,[136] so that a plaster cast could be taken from the re-exposed ship impression and a
fiberglass shape produced. 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.[137] 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.[138]
Martin Carver: 1983-1992
Recent excavations revealed a figure that had been rolled into a shallow grave
In 1978 a committee was formed in order to mount a third, and even larger excavation at Sutton
Hoo. Backed by the Society of Antiquaries of London, the committee proposed an investigation
to be led by Philip Rahtz from the University of York and Rupert Bruce-Mitford,[139] but the
British Museum's reservations led to the committee deciding to collaborate with the Ashmolean
Museum. The committee recognised that much had changed in archaeology since the early
1970s. The Conservatives' privatisation policies signalled a decrease in state support for such
projects, whilst the emergence of post-processualism in archaeological theory moved many
archaeologists towards focussing on concepts such as social change. 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.[140] Despite opposition by those who considered that funds available could be better
used for rescue archaeology, in 1983 the project went ahead.
Carver believed in restoring the overgrown site, much of which was riddled with rabbit
warrens.[141] 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 and 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.[142]
Sutton Hoo Exhibition Hall
The recreated burial-ship at Sutton Hoo
Exhibition
The ship-burial treasure was presented to the nation by the owner, Mrs Pretty, and was at the
time the largest gift made to the British Museum by a living donor.[143] 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 the Ipswich 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.
The 2001 Visitor Centre was designed by van Heyningen and Haward Architects for the National
Trust and involved the overall planning of the estate, the design of an exhibition hall and visitor
facilities, car parking and the restoration of a fine Edwardian house to provide additional
facilities.[144]