Sutton Hoo & Oseberg Mark Bayaua Jesica Hicks In Young Kim Jonathan Tran Lama Ziq Historical Context Sutton Hoo is a cemetery and site of a 7th century ship burial. Discovered in 1939, this magnificent archaeological find is one of the most important finds in England. Sutton Hoo is on a high bluff flanking the Deben River. Due to the common occurrence of grave robbing that plagues these "roman mounds" it is quite lucky that they left such a magnificent burial intact. Spanning twenty barrows Basil Brown began excavations at the site, the greatest find is the ship burial located at Mound 1. Generally attributed to King Raedwald of East Anglia, the ship is 27 feet long and 4.2 meters at the widest part of the ship. A burial chamber is located in the middle of the ship, archeologists usually concur that the ship itself was only built for burial purposes due to the lack of a working keel. Amongst the mounds and the burial ship is a wealth of treasure: cloisonné made of gold and garnet, gold buckles, purse lids, and a veritable armory. The discovery of Sutton Hoo provides a glimpse into England's past and further clarification of its national identity. The artifacts come from the 7th century, a time that establishes a firm link between England and the Vikings. Archaeologists connect the burial with the fact that Christianity was beginning to exert it's presence upon the pagan Vikings and the higher ranking pagans responded by having more elaborate pagan rituals. Cremation was adopted; in defiance of Christian practice, leading up to the royal ship burial. Although he was accompanied by objects of Christian significance, his burial may have been attended by human sacrifice. By Jonathan Tran Cultural Influences There were many different cultural influences on early Medieval burial ships, many originating with the Migration tribes that settled in northern Europe and Scandinavia. The Medieval church also held some developing influence and effected the type and style of burial. Ship design was influential, exhibiting styles that reach as far back as ancient Egypt. The early medieval burial ship design was similar to that used for military and commercial transportation. By Lama Ziq Osb erg Ship Subject and Style Objects, art and artifacts found at the burial ship of Sutton Hoo and Oseberg were from the Migration period during medieval times. Since this was a period of migration and movement most objects were small and portable such as weapons, jewelry, domestic items and other small personal items. Many of these items include a method known as the cloisonné technique. This technique is a process which attached small soldered metal strips to a metal foundation and then filled the created compartments with crushed semiprecious stones or glass. Art from this time is very distinguishable and easily identifiable. While Germanic art and items found from Sutton Hoo are produced mainly from metallurgy (metals), Viking and Oseberg items were mainly produced from wood. Their style was very abstract, geometrical and symmetrical. Both of these groups produced art that had very delicate interlacing patterns. Many items included very crowded designs known as Horror Vacui, Vacui, which means the fear of empty spaces. Another main characteristic found in their arts is dedication to an animal style or commonly known as zoomorphic art. This art depicted animals that were real or imagined. These animals played a very dominant role within their arts and were very symbolic within their religion. By Jesica Hicks Materials and Processes Though most renown for their barbaric nature and thirst for war, Medieval Vikings garnished everything from their ships to their household items with fabulous design. Craftsmen demonstrated the height of their talent through small metal items, armor, weaponry and even the decoration of their ships. Benefiting from the spoils of war, artisans worked extensively in gold and silver. Their geographic location, the northern regions of Europe, provided a plethora of timber to work with in wood ship building and sculpture. Precious jewels collected from war were integrated into their artwork as well, favoring the technique cloisonné. The Vikings ships were an integral part of their lives. So important to the point that ships were buried ritually with assumed leaders or royalty. Under mounds of stone and turf, the wooden ships eroded easily though their impressions make it possible to reconstruct the amazing wood carving and sculpture done by Viking artists. Elaborate carving is found throughout Viking woodcraft, an aptitude with patterns made subtractive carving, or taking away from a singular piece of wood, prominent at bows of ships. Particularly seen in the Animal-Head Post found at Oseberg, artists achieved great contrasts of depth through wood carving. Sharp edged tools were used to twiddle the details, and due to the desire to fill up all negative space, not much sanding was necessary save for a few smooth spots found in rare areas on the sculptures. Wood as a plentiful resource would be used often, though its rigid quality can be unforgiving to its carver. By Mark Bayaua Materials and Processes Cloisonné, derives from a French term ‘cloison’ or partition. It is a process of arranging metal strips onto a metal backing. The partitions must make gaps to create compartments that are later filled with stone or glass. The craftsman would had to have been careful to fill the gaps with the correct amount of precious stone during the firing process, filling it too much could cause an overflow across the partitions. The Vikings used cloisonné exclusively on a small scale, a tedious technique that requires meticulous planning already, it is an amazement to wonder the skill of the craftsmen that would have had to fill the intricate designs favored by Medieval Vikings . It’s end result is a stunning jewelrylike appearance, though it’s construction and reflective quality are similar to stained glass windows. Rather than taking each fragment and juxtaposing them through adhesives, the metal strip framing must be soldered to the backing before melting the stones in the partition in a primitive kiln. Tools necessary for this technique include a hammer and other simple metal crafts tools such as a crucible to remove the hot metals from the fire safely. Metallurgy was also favored amongst Viking craftsmen. Created by forming and carefully shaping the metal through heating and bending, much of the crafts created were in-laid with jewels. Reliefs were created by pounding sheets of metal from the back as to make the front protrude into the artists chosen subject. Found especially in the entangled details of smaller items, artisans needed similar tools found to those used in cloisonné. By Mark Bayaua Head Gear: Analysis of the Helmet Found at Sutton Hoo Among the many items found in the burial mounds of Sutton Hoo were pieces of a helmet - a necessity to the warrior Vikings of the Medieval Ages. Though only fragments of the helmet survived the tests of time, careful reconstruction reveals that the helmet was made of silver panels and gold reinforcements that detail the nose, eyebrows, and a crest that runs from the forehead to the back of the skull. Observed closely, these gold elements take on zoomorphic forms; the eyebrows finish as heads of boars, a serpent-like creature the crest. Rich from the spoils of war, jewels take place of the eyes of these creatures. The panels are decorated with intricate, decorative weaving patterns in relief, typical of other metallurgy items found from the same era. One can only assume that these panels held significance pertaining to the Vikings traditions and beliefs, maybe in commemoration of past battles or objectives Also found on the helmet are two distinguishable details of warriors. In one detail two warriors holding spears are symmetrically placed, holding spears and swords, their arms crossing at the center above two similarly crossing spears. The other detail is equestrian, showing a horsemounted with two warriors sharing one spear trampling a man desperately clinging to the reigns and stabbing at the creature. By Mark Bayaua Analysis: Purse Lid from Sutton Hoo Originally this purse was produced out of leather but throughout the years it has decomposed and disappeared. Although the original leather is gone, the magnificent lid and several gold coins that it contained are still in existence. The ornamentation and details of the purse lid are very intricate and detailed. It is made of gold and glass and is highly decorated with garnets and emeralds through the process of cloisonné. In addition, zoomorphic, or the interpretation of animals, are very dominantly represented in this piece. During this time, animals were very symbolic and many times used as significant icons. For example, on the lower left and right hand side (which are identical) a man is placed in the center of two wolves. These images are believed to have had royal significance, but it is difficult to interpret them today. It is thought that the wolves are significant as a reference to the family name of those buried, the “Wuffingas”, translated as Wolf’s People. One cannot dismiss the obvious symmetrical layout, which is presented in great detail. Each side is a mirror image of the other and it is highly decorated with geometric and abstracted forms. Another important aesthetic element is the delicate interlacing patterns that connect and unite the figures. This piece is a wonderful example and representation of Germanic art during the Migration Period By Jesica Hicks Sutton Hoo Burial Ship Built around the year 817 the Oseberg ship is one of the many Viking ships. The Oseberg ship was found in 1904 in Oseberg Vestfold County Norway by a framer. It is one of the two most complete Viking ships unearthed in Norway , it is 19 feet and 2 inches long. It included bodies of two women, it is believed that one of the women may have been the famous Queen Asa from name Oseberg derives: Asa’ Asa’s mountain or mound. mound. Items buried in the ship where an ornate cart, beds, sledges, wooden chests, riding equipment, and twelve horses. The ship was built in oak and contains 12 board planks and 15oar on each side, indicating a crew of 35-40. The stem and stern were decorated with ornate wood carvings, with the ship likely used for voyages in fjords along the coasts of Norway by people of high rank. This Viking ship with a beautifully carved keel has brought back the Viking days . By Lama Ziq Animal Head of Osberg Burial Ship This is a 5” 5” high prow post animal head from the Viking ship burial of the 9th century, ca 825 made of wood. The animal head post is a part of the 70 ft ship long covered be a mound like the earlier Sutton Hoo. This is from Oseberg, Norway. In the old days, people usually buried the deceased in the ground or sent them away on a boat. By the way, there also is a ship burial site found in Europe that contained the dead treasures. The Viking ship which contains this animal head is ornamented at the end of the ship. The animal head is a wood carved ornament heavily influenced by the early Christian art of the 11th century Norway. It is carved very deeply on the side and toward the back of the head, and has a pattern that seems like mixed and tangled together. In reality, this animal’ animal’s head has brindled pattern, but in this prow, the artist depicted the pattern of the head using carved wooden lines instead of the brindle. The eyes are carved very deeply and roundly to express the glaring intensity of the eyeball. The top of the face and both side of cheeks are dug like square shapes, which look like tiled floor. This part of the real animal’ animal’s face pattern is colored gray or white, but the artist employed the pattern of the square shape instead. The ears are very small, not standing out that much so they are very hard to see at the back side of the head and eyes. This animal could be either a cheetah or panther and looks very fierce. They are the fastest animals in the prairie and jungle, respectively, so the Vikings and their contemporaries frequently used them as symbols of fierceness and strength. By In Young Kim & Jonathan Tran Sources Graham-Campbell, James. The Viking World. Published by Ticknor & Fields, 1980 Cagner, Ewert. The Viking. Published by Cagner & Co., 1966 Nicolaysen, N.. The Viking-Ship from Gokstad. Republished by Gregg International Publishers Limited. http://www.abc.se/~pa/uwa/wreck-no.htm http://www.khm.uio.no/english/viking_ship_museum/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseberg_ship http://www.bergen-guide.com/348.htm