20th January 2021
History
Can I make conclusions from Anglo-Saxon artefacts?
Today you will be trying to solve a mystery from over 1000 years ago. You will need to use your skills to work out the mystery.
The Mystery of Sutton Hoo
By about 600, England was divided into small Anglo-Saxon kingdoms each ruled by a king.
Sutton Hoo
Figure 1 Map of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
On a small hill above the river Deben, at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk is a field, covered with grassy mounds of different sizes. For several hundred years what lay under the mounds remained a mystery.
Figure 2 Mounds at Sutton Hoo What could be under them? Watch the video on archaeology. Start the video from 0:15 seconds to ignore the school trip section of the video.
Archaeology video
In 1939 an archaeologist named Basil Brown explored the largest mound and discovered a ship buried in the mound. The mounds are Anglo Saxon graves. Anglo-Saxons were often buried with their possessions so the contents show the technology and traditions of a culture that was in England 1,600 years ago. Much of what we know about the Anglo-Saxons comes from graves like the one discovered at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk.
An Anglo Saxon Ship Burial
It was a mystery who was buried in the ship grave. It could have been:
A Saxon soldier? A Saxon King? A Saxon monk?
Who do you think was buried in the ship grave?
To work out who was buried in the ship grave we need to look at all the items that were found there. Look at the Sutton Hoo artefacts worksheet and answer the questions about each object.
What is it? How was it used? Who used it?
Using the pictures, create a poster entitled ‘The Mystery at Sutton Hoo’. Show your ideas and theories about the items that were uncovered. Sketch a picture of who you think the items belong to in the middle.
Click on the link and vote on who you think was buried. We will find out if you were right tomorrow.
Vote on who you think was buried in the Sutton Hoo grave