Excavations and metal detection at the site of a famous ship burial in Suffolk, England, have revealed missing pieces that could help archaeologists better understand an intriguing but incomplete artifact from the sixth century.
A team of archaeologists, volunteers and conservators excavated more fragments of a Byzantine bucket at Sutton Hoo. The discovery of the ship burial in the late 1930s changed the way historians understand Anglo-Saxon life.
The bucket is made of a thin sheet of copper alloy and depicts a North African hunting scene with warriors wielding an array of weapons, as well as lions and a hunting dog. A Greek inscription running around the top reads, "Good health Master Count, for many happy years." The lettering helped researchers date the vessel to the sixth century.
Experts have meticulously cleaned, reshaped and assembled parts of the Bromeswell bucket that were previously found in 1986 and 2012. These are now on display in the High Hall exhibition at the site, allowing visitors to see what the bucket once looked like.
New research at Sutton Hoo has not only unearthed more fragments of the bucket, but also provides new insights into the history of the ship, which once sailed from Antioch, part of the Byzantine Empire in modern-day Turkey, to the east coast of Britain.
"It's like a jigsaw puzzle with more and more pieces added over the years," said Laura Howarth, archaeology and engagement manager for the National Trust's Sutton Hoo site.
Putting together an old puzzle
The first pieces of the artefact were accidentally unearthed with a tractor harrow in 1986. The Tranmer family owned the Sutton Hoo estate at the time, before it became part of the National Trust.
Metal detection surveys in 2012 revealed additional pieces of the bucket.
Researchers are trying to determine whether modern farming practices disturbed and scattered pieces of the bucket, or whether it was intentionally left in pieces. Other digs have yielded parts of other buckets that appear to have been intentionally cut into small fragments before being placed in the ground, Howarth said.
The research team also wants to know what the purpose of the bucket was. Was it buried as a luxury item in a grave, or was it used to hold food, drink or cremated remains?
"It was a kind of luxury import that came to (what is now) modern-day England, but just thinking about some of the Anglo-Saxons holding it or using it and maybe having never seen a lion or not being able to read Greek, you think, 'Wow, what is this?'" Howarth said.
Analysis of new pieces found in June in freshly dug pits at Garden Field is ongoing. After careful digging, pieces were revealed that appeared to show the hand of one of the figures on the bucket. The team decided to lift the pieces and the surrounding soil "in block."
Researchers dug out the large block around the bucket pieces, carefully wrapped it and placed it on a tray to conduct an analysis of the soil around the fragments, Howarth said.
The soil analysis can be used to determine when the bucket was buried and what it was used for.
Two other Byzantine buckets have been found in England, including the Breamore bucket at the Rockbourne Roman Villa archaeological site and museum in Hampshire. The Breamore bucket, which also features an ancient Greek inscription and armed warriors, was probably made in a workshop in Antioch in the sixth century.
The team used an X-ray fluorescence tool, which resembles a ray gun, to perform chemical and elemental analysis on the newly found fragments. The analysis confirmed that the pieces were part of the Bromeswell bucket.
The team was also able to confirm that some unidentifiable pieces of metal collected during the 2012 metal detecting survey were also in the bucket.
Based on the shapes of Greek letters at the top of the artifact, researchers believe the ship was already 100 years old when it arrived at Sutton Hoo, Howarth said. The new analysis confirms that theory.
"Further inspection leads us to believe that the bucket was previously damaged and subsequently repaired," Angus Wainwright, regional archaeologist for the National Trust, said in a statement. "Deep analysis of the metalwork suggests that it may even have been soldered back together."
An archaeological treasure trove
The new research at Sutton Hoo is part of a two-year project carried out by the National Trust, Field Archaeology Specialists (FAS), Heritage and the British television programme "Time Team".
The aim of the project is to gain a better understanding of the prehistoric and early medieval history of Sutton Hoo. With over 80 volunteers, the team carried out metal detection throughout the Garden Field and the artefacts found were recorded in 3D. Some of the volunteers were members of the 1980s excavations at Sutton Hoo and an organisation that enables people with mental health problems to use archaeology and heritage as part of their wellbeing.
"There were a lot of people who came as strangers but left as friends," Howarth said.
Further discoveries from the June dig and metal detecting work will be shared in a Time Team documentary early next year, and the finds will be returned to Sutton Hoo after processing and cataloguing. Eventually, the bucket pieces will be reunited with the exhibits. Currently, some of the sides and part of the base of the bucket are still missing.
The project also complements an ongoing documentary by "Time Team" which is documenting the reconstruction of the Anglo-Saxon ship that made Sutton Hoo famous.
The 'ghost' ship
The ship burial, one of three known Anglo-Saxon ship burials, was discovered between 1938 and 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War.
In 1926 the Pretty family moved to the Sutton Hoo estate and Edith Pretty arranged for the excavation of burial mounds found 500 yards (457 metres) from her house.
The 90-foot-long (27.4-meter) wooden ship was towed half a mile (0.8 kilometers) up the River Deben when an Anglo-Saxon warrior king died 1,400 years ago. The burial was probably that of Rædwald of East Anglia, who died around 624, and he was placed in the ship, surrounded by treasure and buried in a mound.
The ship's wood rotted in the acidic soil, but the precise position of the planks left an imprint in the sand, as did rows of iron rivets.
Excavations unearthed Byzantine silverware, jewelry made of precious metals and stones, garnets from what is now Sri Lanka, an iron warrior's helmet and a banquet set. Pretty donated the treasures to the British Museum, and a curator at the museum called it "one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time."
Since then, excavations have been carried out at Sutton Hoo, revealing both a royal and a popular cemetery dating from the sixth and seventh centuries. There is also evidence of earlier occupants of the site, including Roman conquerors.
Howarth said future research into Sutton Hoo could reveal the wider history of the site and what prompted people to settle there over time.
"I also like that it retains some of its mystery at the same time," Howarth said.
"Sometimes I think people expect these famous archaeological sites to have all the answers. But there are so many questions and answers that we still don't know. The aim of this project is to look at the landscape and think about who lived there and how that fits into the wider Sutton Hoo story."
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