Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Anglo-Saxon England, @ 625 AD Burial of a longship - @ 90 ft - with treasures...

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

http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~huma103/lec9IV_V.html#D3E24_32

England & France

Eastern England

http://www.battle1066.com/sutton2.shtml

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm

http://www.suttonhoo.org/index.html

“Bid my warriorsraise a splendid moundon the shore-cliffsafter my funeral firethat a remembrance shall

tower high on Hronesness.Sea-farers shall afterwardcall it Beowulf's Mound.”

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

Chronology1939

• 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

RoyalAccoutrements

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

http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm

37 coins3 blanks2 ingots

TheSilver

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm

The Bowls

Fluted Bowl with Handles - Mediterranean

Silver Bowl Set With Christian Motifs

Set of Christening Spoons – “Saulus” & “Paulus”

http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/eliot/722/Sutthoo.htm#

Bronze Coptic Bowl – Egypt

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/timeline/saxon/suttonhoo/suttonhoo.htm

Bronze Hanging Bowl - Celtic

http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/kids/sutton_pics5.html

Wooden Tub with Iron Fittings

• The hanging bowl with suspension chain

• Sometimes referred to as the Cauldron

Party On…

Ic wæs wæpenwiga.     Nu mec wlonc þeceð

geong hagostealdmon     golde ond sylfore,

woum wirbogum;     hwilum weras cyssað.

Hwilum ic to hilde     hleoþre bonne

wilgehleþan;     hwilum wycg byreþ

mec ofer mearce;     hwilum merehengest

fereð ofer flodas     frætwum beorhtne,

hwilum mægða sum    minne gefylleð

bosm beaghroden;     hwilum ic bordum sceal,

 heard, heafodleas,     behlyþed licgan,

hwilum hongige     hyrstum frætwed,

wlitig on wage,     þær weras drincað,

freolic fyrdsceorp.     Hwilum folcwigan

on wicge wegað,     þonne ic winde sceal

sincfag swelgan     of sumes bosme;

hwilum ic gereordum     rincas laðige

wlonce to wine;     hwilum wraþum sceal

stefne minre     forstolen hreddan,

flyman feondsceaþan.    Frige hwæt ic hatte.

Once I was a plain warrior's weapon--

Now a stripling prince wraps my body

With bright twists of silver and gold.

Sometimes men kiss me, or carry me to battle

Where I call my lord's companions to wage war.

Bright with jewels, I am borne by a horse

Over hard plains, sometimes by the sea-stallion

Over storm waves. Sometimes a woman,

Ring-adorned, fills my breast for the table--

Later I lie stripped of sweet treasure, to lie

Hard and headless on the long boards.

Clothed in gold, I may grace the wall

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.

Riddle 12 – The Exeter Book

http://www2.kenyon.edu/AngloSaxonRiddles/Riddles/Riddle12.htm

http://www.highfiber.com/~bohemond/Bootshop/horn-page/sutton_hoo_horn.htm

Spoke then the queen of the Danes:"Receive this cup,my dear lord,giver of treasure.”l. 1167 - 1169

The Auroch Drinking Horns

Maple-wood Bottles

http://people.westminstercollege.edu/faculty/mmarkowski/212/6/sut1.JPG

“…Day after day the music rangLoud in that hall, the harp’s rejoicingCall 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/

http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm

Buckles forSword 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

Weapons & Armor

The Shield…”My lord HygelacMight think less of me if I let my swordGo where my feet were afraid to, if I hidBehind 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

TheSword

http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm

... cherished swords by rust eaten through, since they in earthen fathom [a] thousand winters there had lain.

l. 3048 - 3050

TheHelm

http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm

http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs4a/sutton.htm

Then a proud Danish warrior asked them:"From where have you carriedthese 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 hereto find adventure, not asylum.“

l. 237 - 243

http://www.wuffings.co.uk/MySHPages/SHTreasure/SHHelm.htm

“Boar shapes flashed

Above their cheek-guards,

The brightly forged

Work of goldsmiths,

Watching over

Those stern-faced men.”

l. 303 - 306

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 hurriedfrom his wounded lord,obeyed the battle-sick one,rushed in his mailunder the cave's roof.There by a seatthe brave young man sawmany precious jewels,shining gold on the ground,and works of arton the walls.

There in the dragon's denWiglaf saw the cupsof ancient men,ornaments fallen.There were helmets,old and rusty,and many arm-ringstwisted with skill.(Treasure, gold in the ground, may be easilyseized by any man,hide it who will.)

l. 2752 - 2766