It was spring 1939 when Cambridge archaeologists arrived at the ancient cemetery of Sutton Hoo to investigate the contents of a nine-foot high, one hundred foot long earthen mound. For years, the locals in the nearby towns of Suffolk and Ipswich, England had been turning up interesting finds, like Dark Age-era amulets, pottery and coins, while farming or venturing into the countryside to explore similar, albeit smaller, formations.

However, mounds the size of the one found at Sutton Hoo had only two archaeological precedents: Gokstad, Norway and Ladby, Denmark. Both were the burial places of Anglo-Saxon kings, who had been interred inside of full-sized, sea-faring ships, replete with gold, weapons and whatever else a revered warrior was thought to need in the afterlife. Such a discovery had never been uncovered in Britain.

The investigators’ first exploration of the mound was bittersweet; while it did indeed contain a ship, the vessel itself had collapsed under the weight of the dirt encasing it. But, any doubts as to the site’s historical value were soon dispelled when further excavation yielded gold ingots, shields, drinking horns, a jewel encrusted saber, and a helmet inlayed in silver and gold, to name just a few of the hundreds of artifacts unearthed in total. All told, it was the greatest archaeological find in the history of Britain and the British Museum stepped in to collect and catalogue its contents, some of which remain on display today.

Museum officials have dated some of the Anglo-Saxon coins recovered at the site to between 625 and 630 AD. Curiously enough, though, not a single bone or trace of human remains was ever found within the Sutton Hoo “burial” mound, leading to much speculation. Some postulate that the formation was dedicated to a ruler who was lost at sea, thereby resulting in no body for a burial.

The prevailing theory of the modern era, however, pegs the mound at Sutton Hoo as the final resting place of Raedwald, the fourth king of East Anglia, and one of the leaders identified as a Bretwalda (“ruling chieftan”) in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He is recorded as having died in 524 AD, after being the first East Anglian monarch to accept Christianity into his kingdom. As the Sutton Hoo find included a few early Christian artifacts – including two spoons engraved with the names Saul and Paul, respectively – both those facts make him an all the more likely suspect.

Medieval Store Sutton Hoo Helmet Damascus Viking Sword Drekar Viking Longship Replica Viking Drinking Horn Replica

So why wasn’t Raedwald in Raedwald’s ship? As a convert to Christianity, it is possible the monarch eschewed his pagan roots in favor of a burial on consecrated ground. His followers, some of who surely had yet to be swayed to side of their king’s new god, might have built Sutton Hoo to pay their respects in the traditional manner. Nonetheless, that authenticity of that assessment remains in question some seventy years on. As no Sutton Hoo artifacts have ever yielded a direct connection to the Raedwald, King of East Anglia, the true identity of who wasn’t buried there – and why – remains a mystery.

Tags: 1939, 524 A.D., 625 A.D., 630 A.D., Anglo-Saxon Chieftan, Anglo-Saxon Kings, Bretwalda, Damascus Viking Sword, Dark Ages, Denmark, Drekar Viking Longship Replica, East-Anglia Anglo Saxon King, first Christian King of East Anglia, Gokstad, Ladby, Norway, Raedwald, sutton hoo, Sutton Hoo Burial Mound, Sutton Hoo Helmet, Viking Drinking Horn Replica