Wednesday, 28 November 2007

ABC WEDNESDAY - S

S IS FOR SUTTON HOO



Sutton Hoo is an estate in Suffolk that is the site of an early burial site. One of the most important archaeological finds was the remains of the ship burial of the Anglo-Saxon King Rædwald, who died in AD 624/5 along with one of the greatest treasure-hoards ever discovered which included the gold and regalia of a warrior-king and silver feasting equipment. A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to join some of the local school children when they visited the site as part of their Anglo-Saxon History lessons; I promised to post some photos on my 'S' post.

Sadly on the day of the trip the weather was pretty bleak.......................and there were many heavy downpours as we made our way to the burial ground. We passed Sutton Hoo House where Mrs Edith May Pretty J.P. who owned the estate used to live.She and her family had often wondered what the strange mounds were in the grounds.On the way we passed the grave of a warrior's horse.................it was quite common in those days for a dead warrior and his horse to be buried side by side.In 1937 Mrs Pretty sought advice from Ipswich Museum's curator, who in 1938 released Basil Brown to work for her. He opened three mounds in the first season. He found plundered cremation burials with goods in two of them. In the larger mound he found iron ship-rivets and a disturbed chamber burial with fragments of metal and glass artifacts. In 1965–1971 re-excavation took place to resolve certain problems posed by the first discovery. The ship impression was again exposed (this is a photo of a photo in the museum) A plaster cast taken, from which a fibre-glass shape was produced. The mound was afterwards restored to its pre-1939 appearance.

After a long wet walk .................we finally reached the mound in which the remains of the buried ship was found.........
Archaeologists have reconstructed how the burial at Sutton Hoo must have taken place. A long trench was dug atop a 100 ft. high cliff above the River Deben. The ship was dragged up from the river and set in the trench. In this photo you can see the river and part of the hill that the ship was dragged up.A hut was built in the centre of the ship, and there was placed a large coffin and the grave goods. The trench was then filled in and a large mound erected over the top.

On the way back and absolutely soaked...(the rain was torrential when we stood on top of the mound...no chance of taking photographs!)...we were shown the remains in one of the smaller burial areas. The actual bones had long gone but the impression they had left had been filled with plaster.


After a hasty lunch we went into the museum and saw a recreation of an Anglo-Saxon hut.
I loved the cooking utensils....just think how much jam I could make in a pan as big as this!We also saw this replica of the Sutton Hoo helm or 'battle mask'. The original (which had to be reconstructed from fragments) can be seen in the British Museum. Unfortunately with 29 children jostling to see my photos of the gold coins and the sword belt buckle came out rather blurred....My photo of the Anglo-Saxon alphabet is clearer........I guess the children weren't quite as interested in seeing this!!!!It was a really long day; the journey itself was over an hour each way and when you consider how wet and tired the children were...they were really well behaved. I think they and we adults were glad to go home rather than back to the classroom.
abc wednesday



S is also for

"Sayonara"

...not sure if that's the way to spell it but I think it means Farewell. Unfortunately I'll no longer be on the Computer for an indefinite period...apologies for all the posts I've not read yet, all the emails that will go unanswered and the Blogspals Birthdays etc I'm going to miss.....including ICARUS whose birthday is on Friday (there is a card in the post Icarus...hope it gets to you at some point). I do have some ABC posts still in draft which I'll try and post through a friends pc........admittedly they could turn up any day of the week...but I'd like to get to 'Z'.


broke

44 comments:

Unknown said...

FIRST!! This is better than time-team!!

Where are you going?

Gledwood said...

This is one way of spelling sayonara in Japanese:

サヨナラ !

But because they have 2 alphabets plus a casserole of Chinese widgets to chuck in too I'm not too sure and Google translate told me the above!

Hope you're fine Ruth, take care

Gleds
xx

Anonymous said...

What a brilliant day out, even with the weather.
Where are you going and more importantly when will you be back?

Akelamalu said...

That's fascinating Ruth. I was so disappointed when, on our recent trip to London, I didn't get to see the Sutton Hoo mask in the British Museum - by the time we got there I was totally worn out from all the gadding about we'd done and was too kn.......ed to walk round any more!

hpy said...

That's very interesting. We learn a lot from dead people.

RUTH said...

Just to make it clear. I'm not going anywhere. It's my computer that's having a break..it's rather poorly.
Rx

Mike said...

I was hoping to take a ride to Sutton Hoo on my motorbike this year but never got round to it. Hopefully I'll manage it next year. Interesting write-up.

Gerald (Ackworth born) said...

what an interesting history lesson - I knew the name of Sutton Hoo but never before read its history - I like the Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet.

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Hi ruth,

I was loving this post until I read the end. I hope you can check back in sometimes. I will miss this blog dearly.

I loved your pictures that battle mask is way cool.

Andrea said...

Very interesting post and pictures.

Anonymous said...

What an interesting post and I'm sorry to hear that you won't be on the computer for some time. I hope you keep well. Blessings, Nicole
http://themoderngoddess.wordpress.com/

kml said...

What an interesting place to visit! Thanks for sharing!

Annie said...

Sad is another S word and one that describes how I felt upon reading your Sayonara, Ruth. It will be a loss for us to have the hole in our hearts you will have left by your leaving.

And before I say my own goodbye to you, let me tell you how much I enjoyed your Sutton Woo tour. It was fascinating to see the mounds and what lay beneath.

Neva said...

I hope your compouter issue lets you come back sooner than later! I loved this post...I had never heard of this before....the things I have learned from Blogging. Very interesting and Ireally liked the alphabet. Hope to see you again soon!

Lilli & Nevada said...

very nice post and i am sorry that you won't be on, i just found your blog.

dot said...

Interesting post and great pictures! I would love to visit that place.

Oswegan said...

The battle helm is really cool.

Sorry to hear that you will be away, but sometimes life happens.

Cheers,

~Oswegan

Oswegan said...

p.s. on the computer, is this a choice or a technology problem?

Calamity Jane said...

I hope your pooter makes a speedy recovery Ruth. Great post about Sutton Hoo - think I'll have to visit sometime soon.

Pete M said...

Sutton Hoo, definately one of the places I will visit before I see the great lens in the sky

Icarus said...

There I was,taking the tour & wondering what "Hoo" meant, loving it all and then....Sayonara?????????? Hoooooooo!! And Boooo!! And booooo-hooooo!!!!!!

Officially, it is tomorrow, but that doesn't matter at all. Main hope is that the card arrives.
I'm coming looking for you. Hang on a minute! I'm in shock.
OK, I've now seen that you have pc problems, just like Auds. It is bad. And like Annie, all I can now think of is a string of "S" words. And other non-S words.
But I am still:
SXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bless you, R.

SXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

lilymarlene said...

Hope you enjoy your rest and come back refreshed when your computer is recovered. Best of luck with your course.

Jean M Fogle said...

Ruth,
What an interesting post, it makes my posts so boring! My son is an archeologist , working on his PHd now so I really enjoyed this one.
I cant imagine being so highly esteemed that someone would drag a ship up a big hill for me to get planted in!

Tom said...

Well it Sttarted out to be a very interesting post... but ended on a rather Sad note.
What ever your reasons are Ruth.. good luck with your studies, and I'll keep dropping by hoping to see you posting again

CG said...

I am really sorry you're going away and I hope you will be back one day. {{HUGS}}

Analía said...

Oh noooooo, all my friends are leaving. Pleaseeeeee don't leave me alone :( Love you Ruth

Rune Eide said...

A very interesting and instructive posts. I love to see (and visit) such sites. Two visits to various museums by t Hadrian's Wall is a fond memory (not to mention York, for a Norwegian).

I hope you get on-line again soon!

sam said...

I adored this absolutely fascinating post, except the last bit... will miss you, but DO understand, real life has a way of intervening! I wish we lived closer, I have a spare computer from when i closed the business that i would happily give you if it meant keeping you in blogland! hugs

Anonymous said...

Great post - look forward to your return

A wildlife gardener said...

Thanks for that amazing post, dear Ruth. The information and the photos to go with it were all new to me, though I knew of Sutton hoo, of course...just not in so much detail.

Where are you going? I shall miss catching up with your posts.

Today is St Andrew's Day, here in Scotland and it's also my first blogging birthday...

Since you were one of the first bloggers to correspond with me, you are invited to read about my little snail :)

SandyCarlson said...

This is wonderful. I really enjoy photographic essays such as these. Thanks for the history lesson.

Sylvia said...

We will miss you. Hurry Back. I do envy you. You get to see such neat places and you are good with the camera. it's like we get to be there with you.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

I'm gonna miss u around, Ruth :)

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi dear RUTH,
Thats so interesting, knowledge is better than being scared, I was before (stil I am a little)

Take care Ruth, See you when You're back I will miss you!

I Just want to let you know that: I POSTED TODAY (FRIDAY) again 3 more HUGH works of the LOUVRE on my blog, a slide- show with 34 photo's and 8 collages, also a close-up of the MONA LISA, so please watch it :)

Have a great weekend! :)AND MORE!!!

JoAnn:)

Libbys Blog said...

Fascinating what history can be found not far from where you live, Just have to make the time to go and look for it!!!!

Unknown said...

Looks like you had an interesting day out. Hope your computer soon recovers and you are able to rejoin the land of blog soon. In the meantime take care and good luck with your studies!

Jeanette said...

Hi Ruth, Thank for the history lesson and great photo's and i didnt have leave my chair.. Hurry back Ruth Miss you already...

Mauigirl said...

Ruth, I'm so sorry you're saying you're not going to be on your blog for an indefinite period...

Computer problems or taking a break? Either way I hope you'll be back. We will miss you dearly.

Gledwood said...

Hi Ruth... did the computer have to go back to the shop? Jeanette from Australia's computer stayed there for ages (maybe 6 weeks!) so keep hassling them saying you have an "assignment" to do... that's my advice!!

Sheila said...

I'm missing you already..!
My Godmother lived near Ipswich, but I was too young to be interested in this type of thing when we visited her in those days. Now I'd love it and enjoyed the visit through you.
Hoo knew..!

Analía said...

Pleaseeeeeee, someone fix Ruth's PC!! I miss her a lot!!
I hope you come back soon dear friend :)
Oh my, now that I show up, you go away. Life is life

Akelamalu said...

Don't forget to come and check you answers on the carols quiz when your pc is mended Ruth. And can you hurry please I miss you.xx

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading about Sottun Ho (hope I got the spelling right). Imagine living there and finally discovering what was under these mounds! I wonder if there were rumors about what was beneath the mounds?

I live on the ocean on land that was once part of a large farm. The original stone wall that separated the land (about 200 years old) is still here between our small properties. Near to the wall is an old grave stone of the farmer who owned all the surrounding area. It is said that his horses are buried with him.

I thought about this after you said that the warriors were buried with their boats.

Nice to visit your blog again. Hope school is going well for you.

Anonymous said...

What an interesting post. i am so interested in history and would love to visit Sutton Hoo. Thanks for taking us on the trip. Sara from farmingfriends

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