[Steppes] Fw: Saxon King's Tomb

[Michael Smith]

another story

Morg


My apologies if you've already seen this. I just read it and thought it was very cool! 

Link:  http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2494225

Fabulous Finds as Saxon King's Tomb Is Unearthed 

By Tony Jones, PA News 

The tomb of an East Saxon king containing a fabulous collection of artefacts has been unearthed, it was announced today.

The burial chamber, believed to date from the early 7th century, has been described by experts as the richest Anglo-Saxon find since the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk – one of Britain’s most important archaeological locations.

The site in Prittlewell, Southend, Essex was filled with everything a King might need in the afterlife, from his sword and shield to copper bowls, glass vessels and treasures imported from the farthest corners of the then known world.

The remains of the nobleman’s body have dissolved in the acidic soil, but two gold foil crosses were found which suggest he was a newly-converted Christian.

Ian Blair, the senior archaeologist on the site who carried out the work for the Museum of London Archaeology Service, said: “To find an intact chamber grave and a moment genuinely frozen in time is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.

“The fact that copper-alloy bowls were still hanging from hooks in the walls of the chamber, where they had been placed nearly 1,400 years ago, is a memory that I’m sure will remain with all of us forever.”

He added: “Two foil crosses, probably originally laid on the body or sewn to a shroud, suggest that the King had converted from paganism to Christianity.”

The tomb was discovered last autumn when Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s consultants Atkins Heritage and the Museum of London Archaeology Service began an evaluation survey in an area due for road improvements.

Saxon artefacts had been found at the site in the past, and on a verge between a road and a railway line they discovered the burial chamber, which measured about four metres square by one and a half metres high.

The contents of the tomb had been held in place because the sand from the mound sealing the grave gradually seeped into the chamber, silting up the air spaces and supporting the roof-timbers.

Most of the organic material on the site had been destroyed by the acidity of the soil, but fragments of wood from the burial chamber and from some of the vessels had survived.

A spokesman for the Museum of London Archaeology Service said: “The find is spectacular in its size and quality, but what makes it unique is that all the objects were in their original positions, just as they had been arranged on the day of the funeral.”

He added: “The burial is probably contemporary with the Sutton Hoo burial (c.AD 630) and it is quite possible that the two men knew each other.

“This is the period when royalty flaunted their wealth at extravagant feasts in smoky halls, and epic poems like Beowulf told of heroic feats of valour.”

The most exotic finds are a decorated flagon and at least one bowl that were both imported from the eastern Mediterranean, possibly Asia Minor.

Other highlights among the sixty or more finds are a hanging bowl decorated with metallic strips and medallions, and two cauldrons, one small and one very large.

There are also two pairs of coloured glass vessels, eight wooden drinking cups decorated with gilded mounts, buckets and the remains of a large casket that may have originally contained textiles.

A particularly unusual item is the frame of a folding stool, which could be from Asia Minor or Italy.

The dead man had also been provided with two Merovingian gold coins from northern France.

Conservation and study of the material that has been found is continuing but a selection of the objects found in the burial chamber will be on display free of charge at the Museum of London, from tomorrow, and at the Southend Central Museum from February 21