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Sutton Hoo: Beowulf

Sutton Hoo is the site of two 7th century cemeteries in Suffolk, England. One cemetery contained an undisturbed ship burial holding a wealth of artifacts that provided insight into Anglo-Saxon culture. The ship burial, dating to the early 7th century, contained ornate weapons, armor, and silver items and is one of the most significant archaeological finds in England. Sutton Hoo sheds light on a transitional period between myth and history in early medieval England and has helped historians understand the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia.

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105 views2 pages

Sutton Hoo: Beowulf

Sutton Hoo is the site of two 7th century cemeteries in Suffolk, England. One cemetery contained an undisturbed ship burial holding a wealth of artifacts that provided insight into Anglo-Saxon culture. The ship burial, dating to the early 7th century, contained ornate weapons, armor, and silver items and is one of the most significant archaeological finds in England. Sutton Hoo sheds light on a transitional period between myth and history in early medieval England and has helped historians understand the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia.

Uploaded by

Erika Calistro
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sutton Hoo, at Sutton near Woodbridge, Suffolk, is the site of two 6th- and early 7th-

century cemeteries. One cemetery contained an undisturbed ship-burial, including a


wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical
and archaeological significance, most of which are now in the British Museum in London.
The site is in the care of the National Trust.
Sutton Hoo is of primary importance to early medieval historians because it sheds light
on a period of English history that is on the margin between myth, legend, and historical
documentation. Use of the site culminated at a time when Rædwald, the ruler of the East
Angles, held senior power among the English people and played a dynamic if
ambiguous part in the establishment of Christian rulership in England; it is generally
thought most likely that he is the person buried in the ship. The site has been vital in
understanding the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia and the whole early Anglo-
Saxon period.
The ship-burial, probably dating from the early 7th century and excavated in 1939, is
one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England for its size and
completeness, far-reaching connections, the quality and beauty of its contents, and the
profound interest of the burial ritual itself. The initial excavation was privately sponsored
by the landowner. When the significance of the find became apparent, national experts
took over. Subsequent archaeological campaigns, particularly in the late 1960s and late
1980s, have explored the wider site and many other individual burials. The most
significant artefacts from the ship-burial, displayed in the British Museum, are those
found in the burial chamber, including a suite of metalwork dress fittings in gold and
gems, a ceremonial helmet, shield and sword, a lyre, and many pieces of silver plate
from Byzantium. The ship-burial has, from the time of its discovery, prompted
comparisons with the world described in the heroic Old English poem Beowulf, which is
set in southern Sweden. It is in that region, especially at Vendel, that close
archaeological parallels to the ship-burial are found, both in its general form and in
details of the military equipment contained in the burial.
Although it is the ship-burial that commands the greatest attention from tourists, two
separate cemeteries also have rich historical meaning because of their position in
relation to the Debenestuary and the North Sea, and their relation to other sites in the
immediate neighborhood. Of the two grave fields found at Sutton Hoo, one (the "Sutton
Hoo cemetery") had long been known to exist because it consists of a group of
approximately 20 earthen burial mounds that rise slightly above the horizon of the hill-
spur when viewed from the opposite bank. The other, called here the "new" burial
ground, is situated on a second hill-spur close to the present Exhibition Hall, about
500 m upstream of the first. It was discovered and partially explored in 2000 during
preliminary work for the construction of the hall. This site also had burials under mounds
but was not known because these mounds had long since been flattened by agricultural
activity. There is a visitor centre with many original and replica artefacts and a
reconstruction of the ship-burial chamber. The burial field can be toured in the summer
months and at weekends and school holidays year-round.
Sutton Hoo is the name of an area spread along the bank of the River Deben at the
small Suffolk village of Sutton and opposite the harbour of the small town
of Woodbridge, about 7 mi (11 km) from the North Sea, overlooking the tidal estuary a
little below the lowest convenient fording place.[note 1] It formed a path of entry into East
Anglia during the period that followed the end of Roman imperial rule in the 5th
century.[2]
South of Woodbridge, there are 6th-century burial grounds at Rushmere, Little Bealings,
and Tuddenham St Martin[3] and circling Brightwell Heath, the site of mounds that date
from the Bronze Age.[4] There are cemeteries of a similar date
at Rendlesham and Ufford.[5] A ship-burial at Snape is the only one in England that can
be compared to the example at Sutton Hoo.[6]
The territory between the Orwell and the watersheds of the Alde and Deben rivers may
have been an early centre of royal power, originally centred upon Rendlesham or Sutton
Hoo, and a primary component in the formation of the East Anglian kingdom:[note 2] In
the early 7th century, Gipeswic (modern Ipswich) began its growth as a centre for
foreign trade,[7] Botolph's monastery at Iken was founded by royal grant in
654,[8] and Bede identified Rendlesham as the site of Æthelwold's royal dwelling.[9][10]

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