Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings?

Description

The Sutton Hoo ship-burial is one of the most significant archaeological finds ever made in Europe and arguably in the world. It lies in a site that contains all the elements of archaeological mystery and romance: seventeen burial mounds, buried treasure, great works of art, sacrificed horses, and evidence of human execution. In the first accessible account of the whole story to date, Martin Carver explains what we know of Sutton Hoo burial ground, in which the leaders of the Dark Age kingdom of East Anglia signaled their belief in a pagan and maritime kingdom independent of the Christian Europe of the day. Since the rediscovery of the first ship-burial in 1939, the site has been the subject of three major campaigns of excavation and research, the last of which ended in 1993. In "Sutton Hoo", Martin Carver, director of the most recent excavations, tells the story, not only of one of the most dramatic historic places in early England but of the fifty years of its exploration — a history of British archaeology. With 12 colour and 104 black and white illustrations. Acknowledgments vi Preface: Introducing Sutton Hoo ix PART 1 THE SUTTON HOO STORY Investigations 1 Mrs Pretty digs up a Ship 2 2 The British Museum's Treasure 25 3 The Message of the Mounds 52 PART 2 THE SUTTON HOO STORY Interpretations 4 Putting down Roots 94 5 Burial Ground of Kings? 107 6 The Gallows and the Gentry 137 7 A Monument for the Millennium 154 8 Open Forum Fifty questions - and a few answers 162 Digest of Evidence - An inventory of burials and finds so far encountered at Sutton Hoo 178 Location of Sutton Hoo 184 Further reading 185 Notes 186 Index 192