Silver finds from the ship's grave at Sutton Hoo

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Kingdom of East Anglia during the early Anglo / Angle Saxon period, with Sutton Hoo in the southeast near the coast

The silver finds from the Sutton Hoo ship grave are 16 silver objects found in the burial mound of a 7th century Anglo-Saxon boat grave at the Sutton Hoo archaeological site in 1939. It is a grave with the richest grave goods that have been found in England so far . The silver objects are now in the British Museum in London.

Find history

The Sutton Hoo Ship Grave is a burial mound on a burial ground of a total of 18 burial mounds on the Suffolk heathland opposite the small town of Woodbridge . At the instigation of the landowner, excavations were initiated in 1938, which continued into the 1980s. The excavators discovered abundant grave goods and a mixed burial practice, the characteristic feature of which in Sutton Hoo was both burials and cremations.

Location of the silver find in ship grave no.1

Reconstruction of the burial chamber with the Anastasius bowl

The ship's grave under Hill 1, which was excavated in 1939 and once covered a 27 m long wooden ship, proved of particular importance. The iron rivets obtained from this ship as well as clear impressions in the damp sand allow an insight into the former dimensions of this ship. In the middle of it was a wooden burial chamber in which rich grave goods had been preserved in good condition. It is the greatest discovery in English archeology. In addition to the silver objects, an iron helmet, a shield, remains of a sword as well as textile remains, gold jewelry, a scepter and 37 Merovingian gold coins were brought to light.

Assigned as Rædwald's grave

There is a scholarly view that the buried person may have been a member of the Wuffinger royal dynasty who ruled the Kingdom of East Anglia in England in the 7th century . This assumption was supported by numismatic studies of the 37 Merovingian gold coins, which allow the tomb to be dated to the first quarter of the 7th century. However, who is buried in the grave is unclear, especially since no human remains have been found. However, chemical analyzes of the burial chamber suggest that a person could have been buried there. There is almost unanimous opinion in research that it is the tomb of King Rædwald from the Wuffinger dynasty. The reasons for this assumption are taken from the church history of the Angling people, written by Beda Venerabilis , according to which Rædwald practiced both pagan and Christian customs. This practice used by Rædwald is then reflected in the grave. In burial practice and some grave goods, such as the iron helmet and the scepter, pagan references and Christian references in the silver objects are seen. In addition, according to research, Rædwald will have died around 624/5, which would exactly match the grave dating.

Composition of the silver find

The 16 silver objects are composed of a large silver plate, a ribbed silver basin, ten silver bowls and two spoons. In addition, a silver cup and a ladle were discovered. What all silver objects have in common is that they come from the Mediterranean region.

The Anastasius Plate

With a diameter of 72 cm and a height of 9.8 cm, the Anastasius plate is the largest plate of the silver objects from the ship's grave by Sutton Hoo. The foot ring and plate are made from one piece. The edge of the plate is raised, 35 cm wide and has a crack at the top. On the area on the back of the plate, enclosed by the foot ring, there are four control stamps, two of which clearly bear the name “Anastasius” in Latin letters. This allows this plate to be dated to his reign between 491 and 518. The plate consists of three decorative zones: a central rondel containing a medallion, an ornate ring running around it and an also ornate border. The decorations in all three zones consist of oval shapes, lyre motifs, zigzag and swastika patterns as well as intersecting circles.

In the central rondelle of the plate there is a bird in a small medallion relatively in the middle. He stands upright in half profile and looks behind the left of the two outstretched wings. The medallion is framed by an octagon, which consists of two overlapping squares. The eight corners are enclosed by a circle, which is also surrounded by an octagon. The respective corners contain floral decorative elements. The central roundel just discussed is surrounded by an ornamental ring with a diameter of 31.5 cm. Four medallions are shown on this ring. In medallions A and B there is a fully clothed, seated, female figure holding a spear in her right hand and a globe in her left. Both figures wear a helmet with a plume. The two figures in medallions C and D run in opposite directions with fluttering robes and a crown on their heads. They each have their arms outstretched. The figure in medallion C is holding an approximately round object in her hand, perhaps a globe, while the figure in medallion D is an object that could represent a boat with a mast. The edge of the Anastasius plate is also adorned with four medallions. Of the putti shown in the frame medallions, those in medallions E and F run to the left, the other two to the right. Three of them are naked except for a kind of waving scarf, while the figure in medallion G is fully clothed. All putti hold their hands outstretched and each carry an object.

Josef Engemann undertook further reflections on the interpretation of the iconographic program on the Anastasius plate . For him, the figure in medallion A represents the Tyche of Rome, the figure in medallion B the personification of the city of Constantinople . The figure in medallion C could be Alexandria and accordingly the figure in medallion D could be Antioch. Engemann refers to the city ​​personifications shown in the Tabula Peutingeriana . Engemann sees Gaben-Bringer in the boys in the medallions on the edge of the plate. The fully clothed boy even covered his hands, a sign of homage. As the addressee of the homage, Engemann sees the bird in the central roundabout of the plate, which he identifies as an eagle. The eagle is the emperor's symbolic animal. According to Engemann, there is also a connection between the city personifications and the eagle, referring to the Barberini Diptych in Paris. This shows an emperor on horseback receiving homage from a barbarian ruler and a consul , while angels above him carry the Clipeus image of the blessing Christ. Similarly, the eagle appears above the Roma in medallion A as a symbol of the emperor. The gift-bringing represented in the medallions on the edge of the Anastasius plate are to be seen as an indication of the expected felicitas temporum (= happiness of times) and felicia tempora (= the happy times). The city personifications Rome and Constantinople point to the gloria romanorum (= fame of the Romans) and the gloria rei publicae (= fame of the state). The entire figurative decoration of the Anastasius plate refers to the eagle, so that, according to Engemann, "the plate must be viewed as an imperial missorium." As an example of another imperial plate, the Theodosius missorium should be mentioned. This is assumed to be dated to 388 AD. It has a diameter of 74 cm, making it even larger than the Anastasius plate. Emperor Theodosius I , who ruled from 379 to 395, is shown in the foreground on the plate . He can be identified by means of a circumferential inscription on the picture side. Theodosius is depicted here as a magnificently dressed person, sitting frontally with a diadem on his head and a nimbus towering over him , while his two co-regents are also seated behind him. As with the Anastasius plate, geniuses move towards the emperor with outstretched hands. In view of the fact that the Anastasius plate is around two centuries older than the ship's grave, it seems reasonable to assume that the plate must have been in the family for a longer period and that it was passed on to the next generation. Accordingly, the Anastasius plate will have been highly valued.

The ribbed silver basin

Since the silver basin is badly deformed, its diameter varies between 39 and 41 cm. It has a height of approximately 15 cm. The evenly worked 53 ribs were driven out, the basin itself forged. The back is plain. The medallion pushes through at the thinnest point. A foot ring 1.9 cm in diameter was soldered to the basin, as were the two teardrop-shaped handles.

The 53 ribs encircle a single central roundel, in the medallion of which there is a female head. The head is not attached in the middle. Signs such as the formal profile, an abrupt bend in the neck and the long, curved hair that was tied into a knot at the back of the head are reminiscent of heads from classical times , according to Ernst Kitzinger . The proportions of the profile head do not match: the eye appears frontally on the face and, moreover, too large, the neck in turn too strong and long for the face. The woman's forehead is crowned by an object that could be interpreted as a diadem . Noticeable is a hole with a diameter of 2.5 mm exactly in the middle of the plate, which appears in the extension of the woman's jaw. The hole was created by the lathe pivot pin. The face looks expressionless and stylized. The only parallels for detailed profile heads on bowls can be found on four pearl basins in the Mildenhall treasure . One of the four basins dates from the 2nd to 4th centuries and is 28.6 cm in diameter and 8.6 cm in height smaller than the ribbed basin from Sutton Hoo. The basin has an animal frieze on its edge. There is also a profile head in its central medallion. Although the head looks to the right when viewed from the observer, there are similarities in both the execution of the hairstyle and the eye area, which was also used frontally on the face. The neck shows an even more clearly visible kink, the neck is short and strong. Here, too, the head is disfigured by a hole created by a pivot pin. In contrast to the comparison object, the medallion of the ribbed bowl from Sutton Hoo has a Kymation frieze. It consists of a three-leaf clover arrangement, each of which seems to grow out of a pear-like space. The background was structured with a hallmark , the head of which contained a pattern of six small squares.

The dating of this bowl is not certain. Rupert Bruce-Mitford assumes a date of around the 6th century and relies mainly on the Kymation frieze. According to Bruce Mitford, this occurred in the classical period and still existed in the Byzantine period. As examples of this assumption, he cites a fragment from the Colerain Hoard of chopped silver from the 5th century and a Kymation frieze from Malaia Pereshchepina , which is dated to the 6th century - but he does not state whether it is this frieze is an established date. According to Bruce-Mitford, the female head points back to the classical period through the features discussed above and remains in the Byzantine Empire. The basin may have been used as a wash basin as toilet items were found in it.

The two silver spoons

While the Anastasius plate and the ribbed silver basin were silver objects with no Christian reference, research on the silver spoons from the ship's grave at Sutton Hoo disagreed on whether or not they should be placed in a Christian context.

Both spoons have a total length of 25.5 cm and a lengthwise oval bowl of 9.4 cm in Inv.-No. 88 and 9.3 cm for inv. No. 89. They belong to the so-called cochlear type, which can be recognized by their structure: A disc placed vertically between the bowl and the handle sets the handle to a higher level than the bowl. The fact that the disc with the spoon was made from one piece of metal is proven by a connecting piece on the underside of the spoon that resembles a “rat's tail”. The disc is soldered to the handle, which ends in a baluster . With both spoons, the spoon remains unadorned. On each of the handles there is an inscription in the square fields, preceded by a small Greek cross. Both spoons show significant differences in the execution of their inscriptions: The spoon with the inv. No. 88 bears the name Paulos in engraved Greek letters. The letters are uniform in size and design. The inscription on the spoon with the inv. No. 89. It is not engraved, but the letters have been cut and shaped by connecting individual dots. It is noticeable that the letters vary in size and shape. In addition, the letters lean slightly to the left and get smaller and smaller from left to right. The cross line of the alpha is V-shaped. The lambda is crooked and the arms of the Y do not touch. There is some research controversy about the first letter and, accordingly, the interpretation of the inscription. Bruce-Mitford understands the first letter as a sigma and accordingly reads the inscription as "Saulos" based on Paulus, who was converted to Christianity. Bruce-Mitford sees a christening gift to King Rædwald in both spoons. Bruce-Mitford explains the differences in the execution of the inscriptions by the fact that the spoons were made in an undescribed state in the region around Constantinople. While the Paulos spoon was made there by a skilled craftsman, the Saulos spoon was probably inscribed in Merovingian royal or ecclesiastical centers. He is referring to the Merovingian gold coins from the Sutton Hoo Fund. These show the same alpha with the v-shaped connecting line, letters that vary in size and tapered lettering. According to Bruce-Mitford, the spoons were made around 600 and given to Rædwald before 618, the last possible date of his conversion. Kasky, Kent and Engemann argue against this theory that it could be a copy of the Paulos spoon. They read the first letter of the inscription as Pi , not as Sigma. An inexperienced handyman could have rotated this pi 90 degrees, as well as twisted the lambda. According to this theory, Bruce Mitford's baptism theory would no longer be tenable. In addition, the inscription "Saulos" has not been found on any spoon to date. What is certain is that the inscriptions on the Sutton Hoo spoons come from different hands.

It cannot be determined with certainty whether a Christian reference can be ascribed to the spoons, especially since they do not have to have been decorated by their last owner. They may have been decorated beforehand, which is why it is difficult to make a statement about faith, according to Stefan Hauser. Joseph Braun was also able to work out that the communion spoons were never used in Latin rites and in the Orthodox rite only from the 8th century at the earliest. This would refute Bruce-Mitford's theory that the spoons have a liturgical character. However, a comparison with six spoons of the Lampsakos treasure , which was buried after 613, suggests that the inscription could be the apostle Paul. The spoons are also of the cochlea type . They bear the names of the apostles Simon, Peter, Luke, James, Matthew and Mark in Greek letters. These inscriptions are also preceded by a cross and the letters are evenly worked out. However, it is not clear whether the Lampsakos treasure is really a church treasure . Using the Sutton Hoo spoons as dinnerware would suggest itself. The Sutton Hoo spoons by Kitzinger and Bruce-Mitford are dated to AD 600.

The ten dome shells

The ten dome bowls are often associated with the two silver spoons because of their presumed religious reference and their proximity to the two silver spoons. The dome bowls vary in diameter between 20 and 23 cm and in depth between 4.4 and 5.4 cm. The inside of the bowl was polished on a lathe while the back was left unpolished. Eight bowls are still in good condition, two are only fragmented. All bowls contain four equal-armed bands, the arms of which extend to the edge of the bowls. The arms are decorated on all bowls with slightly different patterns of star flowers, which are created by overlapping circles. In addition, the bands vary in shape from shell to shell. While in some the bands run the same width to the edge of the bowl, they taper towards the rondel on the other bowls. This appears on every bowl, but varies in its pattern. For example, three bowls in their rondelle show a hexagonal star, which is formed from two overlapping triangles and surrounded by a rosette; two bowls carry a rosette, the rosette arms of which swirl around a small bolt. Another four bowls show a so-called wheel rosette (Kitzinger) in the center.

Both in form and in the idea of ​​the structure, the two bowls from the Lampsakos treasure are closest to the ten dome bowls . These have a diameter of 18.5 cm and 15.7 cm. They also have a central rondel containing a monogram. In addition, the bowls are each decorated with four equal-armed ribbons, which also taper towards the roundel. In contrast to those of the dome shells, the ribbons are not decorated. Both Lampsakos bowls bear the control stamp of Heraclius (613-639 / 49), which enables these bowls to be dated to his reign. Based on these bowls, Kitzinger assumes a date between 600 and 625/26 for the dome bowls from the Sutton Hoo Fund. So far it has not been possible to determine a specific use of the Sutton Hoo bowls. Bruce-Mitford sees a possible use of the dome bowls in the liturgical area, not least referring to the ribbons of the dome bowls, which he interprets as being specifically Christian.

Transfer to the ship's grave at Sutton Hoo

In principle, the objects found in the grave could have reached England via trade, gifts, booty, tributes or migration through individual groups. The Christianization of the British in the 5th and 6th centuries connected England with continental Europe. Close trade relations developed, especially between England and the Byzantine Empire, which in turn shipped goods across the Atlantic to the west of England. There the goods were forwarded to the east via the Thames and the Severn . Due to its geostrategic location, the east of England came into contact with the Byzantine Empire indirectly via the Frankish Empire and Rome . Traders, such as Egyptians, brought their goods into the Franconian Empire via northern Italy or the Rhne; from there the objects were forwarded along the Rhine route to the east of England. The Franks themselves came into possession of Byzantine goods through raids and war expeditions, trade and migration. In addition to trade, another way that Byzantine objects came to England is through diplomatic contacts. According to Anthea Harris, the Anastasius plate could have been a possible diplomatic gift. It probably belonged to objects that emperors gave to high-ranking personalities or kings on a special occasion. If so, the plate will have been transported across the Atlantic to the west of England and from there to the east. The other objects could also have reached England as a gift, but also as a tribute or booty.

literature

  • Ernst Kitzinger : The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial. The Silver. In: Antiquity 14 (1940) pp. 40–63 [basic processing of silver objects from the ship's grave].
  • DA Sherlock: Saul, Paul and the silver spoons from Sutton Hoo. In: Speculum 74 (1972) pp. 91-95 [considerations on the inscriptions on the spoons and possible uses of the spoons].
  • Rupert Bruce-Mitford : The Sutton Hoo Ship burial. A handbook. London ³1979, ISBN 0-7141-1343-3 . ISBN 0-7141-1344-1 [overview-like representation of the course of the excavation and the grave inventory including the silver objects].
  • Rupert Bruce-Mitford: The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial. Vol. 3. London 1983, ISBN 0-7141-1348-4 [detailed description and interpretation of all silver objects and their manufacturing technology].
  • Katherine East: The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial. A case against the Coffin. In: Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archeology and History 3 (1984) pp. 79-84 [With reference to the Anastasius plate, the theory that a dead person was placed in a coffin is questioned].
  • Joachim Werner : Gleanings on the ship grave of Sutton Hoo. Notes, Considerations, and Suggestions on Sutton Hoo Volume 3 (1983). In: Germania 64 (1986), ISSN  0016-8874 , pp. 465-497 [detailed discussion of the silver objects from Sutton Hoo].
  • Josef Engemann : A Missorium of Anastasius. Thoughts on the iconographic program of the "Anastasius" plate from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial. In: Marcell Restle (Ed.): Festschrift for Klaus Wessel on his 70th birthday. Munich 1988 (Munich works on art history and archeology, 2), ISBN 3-925801-02-2 , pp. 103–115 [drawings for the iconographic program of the Anastasius plate].
  • François Baratte : Un exemple de conservatisme dans la vaiselle d'argent: le plat d'Anastase de la tombe de Sutton Hoo. In: Means and Ways. On the importance of material and technology in archeology. 2006, pp. 113–123 [supplement to the essay by Josef Engemann on the iconographic program of the Anastaisus plate].

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl Hauck provides a deeper insight into the Wuffinga dynasty : On the first volume of the Sutton Hoo edition. In: Frühmittelalterliche Studien 12 (1978), pp. 438–456; see also: Joachim Werner: The ship grave of Sutton Hoo. Research history and information status between 1939 and 1980. In: Germania 60 (1982), pp. 193-209. Harald Kleinschmidt offers an overview of the Anglo-Saxons with a brief excursus on the ship grave of Sutton Hoo: Die Anglo-Saxons. Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-62137-6 .
  2. ^ Rupert Bruce-Mitford: The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial. Vol. 3. London 1983, pp. 4-45; for the production of the Anastasius plate see: Ibid., pp. 166–178; Josef Engemann: A Missorium of Anastasius. Thoughts on the iconographic program of the "Anastasius" plate from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial. In: Marcell Restle (Ed.): Festschrift for Klaus Wessel on his 70th birthday. Munich 1988 (Munich works on art history and archeology, 2), pp. 103–115.
  3. ↑ The control stamp system deals extensively with: Erica Cruikshank Dodd: Byzantine silver stamps. Washington 1961 ( Dumbarton Oaks Studies , 7), pp. 1-59.
  4. ↑ Engemann, Ein Missorium des Anastasius, p. 112.
  5. ^ Richard Delbrueck: The Consular Diptychs and related monuments. Berlin, Leipzig 1929 (Studies on Art History of Late Antiquity), pp. 235–242.
  6. ↑ Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo, pp. 45-69; for production see: Ibid. Pp. 178-184.
  7. ↑ KS Painter: The Mildenhall Treasure. Roman Silver from East Anglia. London 1977, ISBN 0-7141-1365-4 , pp. 27-28 (reg.no. 1946-10-7.6).
  8. ↑ : Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo, pp. 125-146; for manufacturing technology see: Ibid. Pp. 189-190. The spoons are listed below under their inventory numbers (Inv.No.).
  9. ↑ See Stefan R. Hauser : Late antiquity and early Byzantine silver spoons. Comments on the production of luxury goods in the 5th to 7th centuries. Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity Erg. Volume 19. Münster 1992, ISBN 3-402-08538-0 ; ISBN 3-402-08539-9 . For Sutton Hoo Spoons: pp. 32, 82-83. 115.
  10. ↑ Bruce-Mitford, Sutton Hoo, pp. 69-125; for manufacturing technology see: Ibid., pp. 184-189.
  11. ↑ Ibid., Pp. 115–116.
  12. ↑ A detailed insight into the trade routes and goods between the Byzantine Empire, the West and Great Britain offers: Anthea Harris: Byzantium, Britain and the West. The Archeology of cultural identity AD 400-650. Charleston 2003, ISBN 0-7524-2539-0 , pp. 139-188; see also Jörg Drauschke: Between trade and gift. Studies on the distribution of objects from the Orient, Byzantium and Central Europe in the eastern Merovingian Empire. Leidorf, Rahden 2011 (Freiburg contributions to archeology and history of the first millennium, 14), ISBN 978-3-89646-774-4 , pp. 234–238.