Let's Discuss... 'The Dig' and the Sutton Hoo Excavation

 POST CONTAINS SPOILERS BELOW

I recently watched ‘The Dig’ – starring Lily James, Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes.

The film itself was based on the 2007 book written by John Preston, his aunt Margaret Preston was one of the archaeologists who participated in the dig. Whilst watching a historical film, you must take it with a pinch of salt as most historical films are not entirely factually correct. In this instance, the cousin of Edith Pretty known as Rory Lomax who was in a romantic relationship with Peggy Piggott was not entirely correct, you can find more comparisons of the film vs real life here. 

    Overall, it was a feel-good film.  I personally sympathised with archaeologist Basil Brown, who in the film was constantly undermined by Charles Phillips, a British archaeologist known for ‘leading’ the 1939 excavation. At the end of the film, it mentioned that Basil's work was not recognised until recently. The dig itself saw the excavation of the ‘Sutton Hoo’ Anglo-Saxon burial ship from the 6th/7th century. The film also mentioned the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamun's burial chamber by Howard Carter in 1922. Brown was known for his interest in astronomy and was also involved in excavating a Roman settlement at Stanton Chair and Roman pottery kilns in the Wattisfield area, his work intrigued Ipswich Museum.  (taken from a BBC article found here)

            What is ‘Sutton Hoo’?

The burial site of the ship was found at Edith Pretty’s former home on the Sutton Hoo estate, ‘Sut’ meaning south and ‘ton’ meaning farm or settlement, with ‘hoo’ meaning hill or mound. (I have attached an image below taken from: https://www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk/things-to-do/attractions/national-trust-sutton-hoo). Edith Pretty became the rightful owner after an inquest, and she donated the finds to the British Museum, she, unfortunately, died in  1942 at the age of 59. 

I was disappointed that the Sutton Hoo helmet was not shown, as I believe that it is one of the most important artefacts from the find. In parts, I felt that the film was dragged on a bit to cover the romantic relationship between Peggy and Rory, rather than focusing on the importance of 'the dig' itself. 

    

        What was found at Sutton Hoo?

Most notably was the Anglo-Saxon ship, however, the Sutton Hoo helmet has become the face of the dig. Before watching the film I was blind to the Sutton Hoo ship, however, I was fully aware of the mask (photo attached below) so the film put a nice spin on something that people might not be aware of. 

This image was taken from the British Museum website and can be found here

A brief description of the helmet states that it is made from iron. A series on 'The Sutton Hoo Hoard' was presented by historian Dr. Janina Ramirez and was broadcast on BBC Two. 

Unfortunately, the ship was decayed and its rotting form did not survive. However, the burial chamber was found to be full of riches. The British Museum website states that Basil and the team of archaeologists found artefacts including 'fine feasting vessels, deluxe hanging bowls, silverware from distant Byzantium, luxurious textiles, gold dress accessories set with Sri Lankan garnets and the iconic helmet with human mask'. (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/death-and-memory/anglo-saxon-ship-burial-sutton-hoo/) Furthermore, the website also states that the Sutton Hoo helmet is 'one of only four complete Anglo-Saxon helmets to survive', thus, highlighting the importance of this excavation. 

A gold belt buckle, made from 400g of gold portraying intertwining creatures (taken from here)

A purse lid, Frankish gold coins found inside, and the leather pouch had decayed, (taken from here)

To conclude, I really did enjoy the film. The actors did a good job portraying the excavation of the Sutton Hoo estate, and the way Basil Brown was portrayed by Ralph Fiennes as a lovable character really stuck with me throughout the film. As stated previously, Brown's work has only started to become recognised recently. After the artefacts were displayed at the Festival of Britain, Brown's name was not mentioned on the information boards, however, the curator of the Sutton Hoo Collection stated that his name has been put on the boards of the permanent display since 1985 (information taken from here)