Message #67510

[Roman Centurion]

Plan of Sutton Hoo



The two ship burials are marked by ship signs. The great burial is centre left, the smaller ship burial -see below - is at the top.

These graves mark Act II of the drama. Christianity was beginning to make itself felt, and the pagans, under pressure, responded by indulging in ever more elaborate ritual. Cremation was adopted, in defiance of Christianity: two burials were in bronze bowls, one was placed on an oak tray.

Most sinister of all, there is a hint of human sacrifice. Mound 5, just below the the ship burial mound 2, has several burials - inhumations - surrounding a central cremation. Most enigmatic of all is the small group of graves to the right, many of them buried in distorted positions. Were they sacrifices round a central tree?