Picture Gallery - General Images
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Sandbody
sandbody excavated 1980's
Aerial View of Excavation
Sandbody flexed in coffin/box
Sandbody flexed in coffin/box 1980's excavations
Aerial View of Excavation
Mounds 2&5 during 1980's excavations Photo:N.Macbeth
Sutton Hoo Excavation
Mound 2 excavated in 1987. Note the variation of sand colour showing infill (brown) and natural (yellow)
Aerial View of Excavation
Excavation Find
Pyramidal strap-mount made of copper alloy with garnet & glass inlay. Discovered on side of Mound 6 in turf layer
Sutton Hoo Excavation
Thsi mound had originally covered a cremation burial. Cremated bone and fragments of grave goods from the original pyre burning had been scattered along a robber trench.
Excavation Find
One half of a biconical reticella glass bead, perhaps part of a sword suspension system was found on th side of Mound 7 during the 1980's excavations.
Archeologist
Andy Copp, site supervisor, carefully records detailed drawings of burial.
Excavation Burial
Mound 17 covered an Anglo-Saxon man and his horse. The young man was laid in a wooden coffin, within which was a sword with wooden scabbard decorated with garnets, a leather pouch containing rough-cut garnets, and a knife in a leather sheath. Outside the coffin lay various bowls, an iron bound tub, a cauldron, two iron spear heads, a shield with central iron boss, a doeble-sided bone comb and a haversack containing ribs of lamb. In the corner of the grave lay a large deposit which turned out to be a splendid horse bridle and harness with associated leather and bronze-gilt decoration.
Excavation Find
A bone comb was found within the grave. It appears to have been thrown in after the coffin lid was placed in position. We don't know who owned the comb, or who placed it in the grave, but it demonstrates a personal and grieving gesture to the death of this young Anglo-Saxon 'warrior'
Grave of Horse
The horse was found next to, but in a separate grave to that of the young 'warrior' Both graves were covered by the same mound. The horse was male, about 14.2 hands high. It would have been sacrificed as part of the burial ritual, not unusual in Anglo-Saxon funerary practice, but a rare find in Britain, and another example of the extraordinary high status burials at Sutton hoo.
Mound 17
Aerial View of Sutton Hoo
Sandbody flexed in coffin/box
Sandbody flexed in coffin/box 1980's excavations
Aerial View of Excavation
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Sandbody prone on back
One of a group of graves found on the eastern edge of the burial site and associated with an early Christian gallows site. Research strongly suggests that at some time, probably around 650AD, the high status Anglo-Saxon burial ground at Sutton Hoo became an early gallows site. The positions and mutilations of the bodies suggest various methods of execution, including hanging.
Grave with two bodies
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Excavating Mound 2 1980's
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Arial view of excavation site 1980's
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Cleaning mound to reveal central grave
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Partly excavated grave of young warrior - the coffin edge can be clearly seen
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Mound 17 grave of young Anglo-Saxon warrior in coffin
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Mound 17 grave of Horse
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Aerial View of Excavation 1980's
Image courtesy of N Macbeth
Raedwald 2005
Raedwald 2005
Young Warriors
Half-size replica of Mound 1 Anglo-Saxon Ship
Photo courtesy of Edwin Gifford
On the Mounds
In 1994 the Eastern Angles Theatre Company performed The Sutton Hoo Mob, a play about the 1939 excavations, written by Ivan Cutting and Peppy Barlow. The action took place in the open air around Mound 1
Ready for Battle
1939 Ship Excavation
The Mound 1 ship in the later stages of excavation 1939. Photo by courtesy of Ipswich Museum
Bird of prey ornamentation from Mound 1 Shield
The body, wing and tail were originally made of gold foil impressed with animal interlace and mounted on alderwood. The gilt-bronze head and leg are decorated with cloisonne garnets and hand tooled punch-work. The foot is tinned and the talons gilded.
Map of Sutton Hoo
Excavation Finds
Fittings from the Mound 1 sword belt and scabbaord, decorated with cable-twist decoration and an overall pattern of steeped mushroom cells.
Silver Bowls
The silver in the Mound 1 burial is the largest collection yet found in the context of an Anglo-Saxon burial deposit It was probably all made in East Mediterranean workshops and found its way into East Anglia via the European trading routes. It may have been given as a diplomatic gift to the East Anglian Royal House, or as an offering at Raedwald's funeral. The damaged fluted bowl (top) was 40 cm in diameter, it has a flat out-turned rim with a beaded edge. The central motif shows the head of a woman with piled-up hair and wearing a diadem. Each bowl is decorated with an equal-armed cross springing from a central roundel. This cross-motif should not be read as necessarily having a Christian meaning - a cross was often used as a recurring design in pre-christian artwork.
River Deben
1939 Mound 1 Ship Excavation
The ladies (seated) watching the excavation of the burial chamber in 1934. Mrs Edith Pretty (Owner of the Sutton Hoo Estate)seated centre
The Sutton Hoo Helmet
The Sutton Hoo helmet has become possibly the most enigmatic and well known image of Anglo-Saxon Warrior Kingship. It was discovered in 1939 within the Mound 1 ship burial chamber and lay broadly level with the dead man's head. When the chamber roof collapsed the helmet shattered into tiny pieces. Its construction and design suggest it was a battle helmet capable of protecting its wearer from blows to the head. Attached to the iron skull cap is a face mask, with hinged cheek pieces and neck guard. The decorative feature on the front of the mask is made of gilded bronze in the form of a bird or dragon with outstretched wings (which cover the wearer's eyebrows)and tipped with gold and garnets. The body of the bird lies over the nose-piece, with tail feathers above the mouthpiece.
The Sutton Hoo Shield
The Sutton Hoo Purse Lid
The base was made of bone or ivory overlain with seven decorative plaques worked in gold with cloisonne garnets and millefiori glass. The purse held gold coins and ingots.
The Sutton Hoo Great Gold Buckle
The Great Gold Buckle from Mound 1 is one of the most superbly decorated objects in the burial. It weighs over 412gm and has a functional and sophisticated locking mechanism.
Garnet Cloisonne - detail
Hanging Bowl Detail
Sutton Hoo burial mounds at sunset
Overlooking the burial mounds at Sutton Hoo
Shoulder Clasp Detail
The Sutton Hoo Shoulder Clasps
The shoulder clasps are unique to Sutton Hoo, consisting of two curved clasps enabling them to sit over the shoulders. The wearing of shoulder clasps harks back to ancient Rome, worn by high-ranking officals. The art work shows the Anglo-Saxon love of stylised animal interlace, including two entwined boars with gold filigree cloisonne garnets and millefiori glass
The Sutton Hoo Shoulder Clasps
