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.

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.

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

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?

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.

 This is based on a fuller account in Current Archaeology 128.