The British Museum & Sutton Hoo

 

Two weeks ago, I watched a movie on Netflix called "The Dig" staring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes. It was a fascinating story about a woman who hired a self-taught archeologist, Basil Brown to excavate burial mounds on her estate in Sutton Hoo in Suffolk England.  When Brown finds evidence of a very important burial site, several accredited archeologists try to push Brown aside to claim the dig.  The woman who owned the property rebuffed them and allowed Brown to continue his work.  The discoveries were magnificent and through a gift to the museum, they now reside in the British Museum.

I highly recommend the movie.  You can read a synopsis of it here.  Or, you can read the book of the same name written by John Preston.  

Seeing that movie inspired me to take a look at my photos taken at the British Museum which is always one of the first places I visit on any trip to London.

Wandering through the British Museum never gets old.  The sheer magnitude of amazing artifacts and historical treasures is staggering.  I always leave the museum with a sense that I've touched a bit of history.  

As I looked at my photos, I was thrilled to find a photo of one of the most significant discoveries at the dig at Sutton Hoo.  The helmet dates to the year 625 and is believed to have belonged to King Raedwald of East Anglia.  

The movie gave me context for the importance of this and the other artifacts found at this site.  Now I want to go back to the British Museum to see them again and take a closer look at all the other pieces in this collection.