Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 04:43:08 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: FARMING FROM 6,000 YEARS AGO
http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=156622&command=displayContent&sourceNode=156618&contentPK=18789712&folderPk=87030
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

AD 700 - Sutton Hoo

Pages: [1] 2   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: AD 700 - Sutton Hoo  (Read 1379 times)
0 Members and 13 Guests are viewing this topic.
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« on: February 26, 2008, 10:05:27 pm »


AD 700 - Sutton Hoo 

The magnificent treasure 

In the 7th century AD, a King - it was surely no less - received a magnificent burial at Sutton Hoo, in East Anglia. A ship was hauled up from the river, a burial chamber was erected in the middle of it, and a stupendous collection of magnificent objects - gold and silver brooches and dishes, the sword of state, drinking horns and a lyre - was set in the burial chamber.



Fortunately, grave robbers never discovered the tomb, until in 1939 archaeologists stumbled upon what is still the greatest 'treasure' ever discovered in this country.

 
Report Spam   Logged

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2008, 10:06:09 pm »



Here we see a photo of the excavations in 1939, with the excavators uncovering the chamber built at the middle of the ship, and Mrs Pretty, the landowner and sponsor of the excavations, sitting with her friends in the background. Photo: British Museum

 

In 2002 was acquired by the National Trust, and a new Visitor Centre was opened, and the site was made available to the public.

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=30
Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2008, 10:07:14 pm »

The magnificent treasure in the British Museum

The Sutton Hoo burial forms one of the greatest treasures of the British Museum. Here we see a few of the most spectacular objects were found in the burial chamber that had been constructed at the centre of the ship.


 

The helmet has become a symbol of the Sutton Hoo burial; yet it survived as a mass of small pieces, and was only reconstructed after years of painstaking work in the British Museum Laboratory.

Photo: British Museum

 

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2008, 10:08:04 pm »

At the centre of the chamber was presumably the body - though as the soil was so acid, it had not survived. Around the body were the most personal treasures. Bellow is the great 'purse lid' with elaborate gold decorations on the outside. The purse was probably attached to a wide leather belt by the three hinges at the top and fastened by the sliding catch at the bottom. The purse contained 37 gold coins, dated to around AD 625.  Left. One of the buckles that fastened the king's belt, made of gold, inlaid with red garnets

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2008, 10:08:45 pm »

The burial was accompanied by numerous exotic items - this set of silver bowls come from the Byzantine world.

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2008, 10:09:30 pm »

This hanging bowl, by contrast, is commonly considered to be 'Celtic'. The red roundels are decorated with Celtic swirls, typical of Celtic art from the Iron Age.

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2008, 10:10:46 pm »

Some of the weapons buried with the dead man



Left. This ring, surmounted by a stag, is thought to have been set at the top of a whetstone: the whole is generally interpreted as a sceptre, an emblem of royal authority.

Right. The great shield, found up against the wall of the burial chamber. The actual shield seen here is a reconstruction; however the central boss, and the various strips of metal that decorated the shield, are the originals.

 
These are but a few of the treasures to be seen in the British Museum

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2008, 10:11:59 pm »

Cemetery

The excavations in 1939 revealed a magnificent ship burial. However the excavations took place under the shadow of war, and had to be hurriedly concluded. However the great barrow that covered the ship did not stand alone.was merely the largest mound in a cemetery of 19 mounds and numerous other burials, and in the 1980s, a new excavation was launched to reveal the rest of the cemetery.

Martin Carver, who directed the excavation on behalf of the British Museum and the Society of Antiquaries, presented his work as a drama in Three Acts in which we see the grand Twilight of the Gods of the pagan Saxons in face of the rising tide of Christianity that was to overwhelm them.

 

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2008, 10:12:46 pm »

Aerial View


The excavations lie at the centre of this panoramic view. The Ship burial mound is below and to the left - between the excavations and the excavators' compound.

In the distance, at the top, is the River Deben, with the town of Woodbridge beyond it.

 

 

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2008, 10:13:47 pm »

Burial of horse and rider

The most spectacular of the recent discoveries was this double burial under a single mound, of a young man in the pit to the left, and his horse in the right hand grave. Some of the grave goods can be seen to the right of the young man, first a bucket, then a bronze cauldron with a pot inside it beneath. At the top of the coffin is the horse harness.



The excavator sees this as being the beginning of the cemetery - Act 1 of the drama. This is indeed a very high caste grave, - but it is not a royal grave. This rich burial, though unusual, would not be out of place in a folk cemetery. But the cemetery is beginning to become a high status cemetery.

The ship that was buried was presumably hauled up the steep slope from the river


Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2008, 10:14:32 pm »

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?
Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2008, 10:15:24 pm »

The ship Burials




In the final phase - Act III - the most extravagant burial method of all was adopted - ship burial. There were two ship burials at Sutton Hoo - the great ship burial excavated in 1939, and the smaller one in mound 2, excavated in 1938 and here being re-excavated in 1985.

Instead of the ship being buried first and a chamber built inside it, here the chamber was built first, and the ship was then placed on top of it. Here we see the rectangular chamber at the bottom, with the outline of the ship above it. Unfortunately it had already been robbed, probably in 1860, but the excavators were still able to find a few fragments from which they were able to suggest the position of the body, and that it was accompanied by a sword, a shield, drinking horns, and a cauldron and cauldron chain.

The mound has now been reconstructed and forms the most prominent feature on the site.

The final Scene - Act III, Scene 2 - was the great ship burial, excavated in 1939 - but for this you will have to go and see the actual treasures, now in the British Museum! After that, the curtain falls. Christianity triumphs, and the cemetery is abandoned. Paganism suffers the fate of the losers: it is derided, disparaged - and forgotten.

 

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2008, 10:16:20 pm »

Visiting Sutton Hoo

For long, Sutton Hoo was in private hands, but in 1998 it was given to the National Trust. A Visitor Centre has been opened, and visitors are now welcome. It is situated off the B10832 road, two miles east of Woodbridge [TM288487]. Here is a short guide to what you may see on your visit.

Click here for the official National Trust web site, with the opening hours.

(Note there is a charge for entering the car park. Opening hours are restricted: it closes at 5 in the summer, and is only open at weekends in the winter. However it is, (I believe) possible to walk round the site even when the Visitor Centre is closed).

Click here for the web pages of the Sutton Hoo society who occasionally conduct excellent guided tours of the site.

 

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2008, 10:16:54 pm »

Approaching the visitor Centre



The Visitor Centre (which is the dark building on the left) is set in the courtyard of the former stables of Tranmer House

Report Spam   Logged
Roman Centurion
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 2146



« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2008, 10:17:39 pm »

The Visitor Centre

 
 

The Centre consists of two buildings, the Exhibition Hall (right) and the shop and cafe (left)

 

Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy