BEFORE SUTTON HOO: THE PREHISTORIC REMAINS AND EARLY ANGLO- SAXON CEMETERY AT TRANMER HOUSE, BROMESWELL, SUFFOLK.

CHRISTOPHER J. R. FERN.

ISBN 10: 0956874754 / ISBN 13: 9780956874757

Published by Suffolk County Council,, Bury St Edmunds,, 2015

First Edition. Paperback. Quarto. xiv, 245pp. Near fine copy. East Anglian Archaeology, 155. Seller Inventory # C95492

Synopsis:

In 2000, a second early Anglo-Saxon cemetery was found at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, 500m north of the famous royal burial-ground. The new burial-ground probably began as a ‘folk' cemetery where the rites of cremation and inhumation were practiced. Nevertheless, the findings suggest a wealthy local population in the period just prior to the founding of the mound cemetery at Sutton Hoo. A small Bronze Age barrow and part of an Iron Age field system were recorded. It is argued that these earthworks survived to at least the time of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery, and that they influenced its location and layout. Just over thirty early Anglo-Saxon graves were recorded, including thirteen weapon-burials. Grave-goods from the inhumation burials and a programme of radiocarbon dates for the cremation burials indicate that the majority date to the second half of the 6th century just as the earliest, ritually-related funerals started at Sutton Hoo. Ultimately, this raises the possibility of an ancestral connection between the buried populations of the two cemeteries. Thus, the findings present a key new episode for our understanding of the origins of Sutton Hoo, and potentially therefore of the kingdom of East Anglia and its dynasty.

Bibliographic Details

Title: BEFORE SUTTON HOO: THE PREHISTORIC REMAINS ...
Publisher: Suffolk County Council,, Bury St Edmunds,
Publication Date: 2015
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Fine
Edition: 1st Edition