AD 700 - Sutton Hoo - The magnificent treasure
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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
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
The burial was accompanied by numerous exotic items - this set of silver bowls come from the Byzantine world.
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.
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
