Archaeologists excavating the mound in 1939 found weapons, a warrior’s helmet and intricately designed treasures made of precious metals and gems, along with rows of iron rivets.
Edith Pretty, owner of the Suffolk property, including the mounds, donated the treasure to the British Museum in London. The burial is probably that of Redwald of East Anglia, who died in 624 AD.
If you’ve seen “The Dig” on Netflix, the history of the Sutton Hoo site and its seventh-century royal cemetery is familiar. It remains one of only three known Anglo-Saxon ship burials.
“This has somewhat revolutionized our understanding of who the Anglo-Saxons are. This discovery illuminated the so-called dark ages and showed that these people were culturally sophisticated with incredible levels of craftsmanship and extensive commercial connections, “said Laura Haworth, an archaeologist. and a commitment manager for the National Trust and Sutton Hoo site.
The ship itself, which conquered so much, no longer exists. The wood rotted in the acidic soil, but the exact positions of the boards left an imprint in the sand, resembling the ghostly outline of a ship.
Two photographers, Mercy Luck and Barbara Wagstaff, photographed the ship’s fossil footprint in 1939, before the mound was covered once more as World War II loomed.
Now Martin Carver, an honorary professor of archeology at York University, and the charity The Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company are embarking on the monumental task of bringing the ship back to life and attracting a crew to row it across the rivers of England again.
Raising a ghost ship
In the town of Woodbridge, near Sutton Hoo, it has long been a dream to build a full-scale replica of the famous ship. Of the hundreds of burial finds, almost all of which were initially found in pieces, the ship is the only one that has not been reconstructed, Carver said.
After the shipping company’s charity was formed in 2016, the team began designing the plans.
Carver, who led the excavations at Sutton Hu between 1983 and 1992, oversaw the ongoing construction and raised funds for the project. The team hopes to raise £ 1.5 million to build the ship, transport it across rivers and estuaries and give the ship a permanent home.
The reconstruction project involves 70 volunteers, and the oldest volunteer recently turned 90. Their task is to reconstruct the ship as accurately as possible with techniques from the Anglo-Saxons themselves, such as the use of axes to shape the timber. Oak trees from the East of England are used to build the ship.
Anyone interested in supporting the reconstruction can sponsor handmade rivets and other parts of the ship on the Sutton Hoo charity website, Carver said.
The company plans to launch the ship and begin rowing tests in the spring of 2024. A team of 40 rowers will train and learn how to handle 16.4-foot (5-meter) wooden oars.
The original ship served as a ceremonial purpose for the king’s funeral, but there is evidence that the ship was repaired and had life in the water before the funeral, Carver said.
Between 2024 and 2029, the ship will take three voyages that trace where the earliest English kingdoms were formed.
“We want to put the rivers in the spotlight, the highways of the day,” Carver said. “The travels will take us past many of the great early settlements discovered by archaeologists over the past few decades.”
Anglo-Saxon ships were used to transport warriors, kings and cargo and were elegantly decorated and painted.
“I hope that when the ship makes its voyages, it will excite people in many different ways, but especially by giving them a sense of what a brilliant period this has been in seventh-century Britain,” Carver said.
By 2030, the ship will have completed its voyages and will be on display – probably across the Woodbridge River at the Sutton Hoo Visitor Center.
Stepping back in time
Working on the ship is a kind of experimental archeology, Haworth said. She has been with Sutton Hoo since 2014 and holds a master’s degree in medieval studies specializing in seventh-century Anglo-Saxons.
When visitors arrive at Sutton Hoo, they are greeted by a sculpture that shows the scale of the ship. The intrigue of the ghost ship continues to attract people, which is why Haworth believes that a tangible re-creation will allow them to connect with the adventurous spirit of their ancestors – as well as with the symbolism of the ship.
“It’s all about travel, both life and death, and the ship is that kind of metaphor,” Haworth said.
Research continues at Sutton Hoo and a number of troubling questions remain. There is no written record of the period left, but the artifacts and cemeteries left behind by the Anglo-Saxons are beginning to come together like a puzzle, revealing connections between communities.
A new exhibit, “Swords of Kingdoms: Staffordshire’s Treasure in Sutton Hu,” combines items from the Staffordshire Treasure – the largest Anglo-Saxon gold and silver treasure ever discovered in 2009 – with treasures from the Sutton Hu site. The exhibition runs until October 30.
The similarity in both the design and the workmanship of the items in the two collections suggests they were made in the same workshops in East Seventh-century England, Haworth said.
She still marvels at the small pyramids with swords of gold and garnet, decorative elements associated with scabbards, found in the tomb of the ship by archaeologist Peggy Pigot in 1939.
“How did they come up with such intricate designs and concentrate them on these little shiny treasures?” Haworth said. “That would probably be one thing I’d like to go back to and see if I can jump into a time machine.”
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