Above: “The King’s Helmet from Sutton Hoo” by The British Museum, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. © The Trustees of the British Museum
One of the most popular exhibits in The British Museum is found in Room 41: Sutton Hoo and Europe AD 300–1100, featuring artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk. Delightfully, you can even take a virtual tour on Google Street View. Looking into the eyes of the reconstructed late 6thC-early 7thC Sutton Hoo Helmet is a memorable thing.
Netflix has just released a new film called The Dig, staring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, recreating the excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial in 1939.
The Dig: Trailer
Prompted by viewing and enjoying this film, I wanted to learn more. Here are a few first resources I’ve found helpful.
Sutton Hoo National Trust Website
Did you know that you can visit the Sutton Hoo estate? When I was studying history in England (going on ten years ago, gosh), one of my classmates mentioned that he had done so, which surprised me. As Sutton Hoo had a somewhat mythical place in my mind, it never occurred to me that you could do that! It turns out that the site was given to the National Trust in 1998, and underwent a £4 million update in 2019.
Next to The British Museum, I’m finding that one of the best places to start learning about the burial site’s history and archaeology is the Sutton Hoo National Trust website.
Podcasts
Lately I’ve been turned on to podcasts. Up to now, I’ve been focusing on news and current events, but wow, I’m learning that (of course) there is a world of history programming out there.
2. BBC HistoryExtra Podcast: Spectacular Discoveries at Sutton Hoo
3. The British History Podcast
Articles
How close is The Dig movie to the facts? Want to look at some photos from the original dig? Here are a few articles to start.
1. British Museum Blog: Inside ‘The Dig’: How the Star-Studded Film Squares with Reality of Sutton Hoo
2. British Museum Blog: Eighty Years (and More) of Sutton Hoo
3. National Trust Sutton Hoo: Digging the Dirt: The True Story Behind The Dig
Videos
1. Sutton Hoo – Masterpieces of the British Museum – BBC Documentary
2. National Trust – Digging the dirt on Sutton Hoo – Your Questions Answered
3. British Museum – Sue Takes on the Sutton Hoo Helmet, Curator’s Corner S6 E5
Someday (post-pandemic), I hope I’ll have a chance to visit Sutton Hoo. In the meantime, it’s very satisfying to learn that so much educational material is available for free on the web. Enjoy!