After about 1,400 years, archeologists have finally pieced together the puzzle of one of Sutton Hoo’s most intriguing treasures.
The Bromeswell bucket is a stunning copper alloy vessel that broke into pieces after it was buried at the historic site in Suffolk in the sixth century.
It is decorated with a hunting scene featuring naked warriors in combat with leaping lions.
An intriguing inscription on the relic in Greek translates as ‘Use this in good health, Master Count, for many happy years’.
Following a fresh dig at Sutton Hoo, experts have located the bucket’s intact base, showing it contained the cremated remains of an ‘important person’.
And ancient DNA analysis may shed more light on its owner, they hope.
‘We knew that this bucket would have been a rare and prized possession back in Anglo-Saxon times, but it’s always been a mystery why it was buried,’ said Angus Wainwright, National Trust archaeologist.
‘Now we know it was used to contain the remains of an important person in the Sutton Hoo community.’
The sixth century Byzantine bucket has been pieced back together after fragments of it were found at Sutton Hoo. It was used to contain the remains of an ‘important person’, an archaeologist has said
The full findings are set to be revealed in a four-part Time Team special, presented by Sir Tony Robinson.
‘I’m often asked what my favourite find has been on Time Team and this has got to rank in my top three,’ he said.
Fragments of the 1,400-year-old Greek inscribed bucket were first uncovered at Sutton Hoo in 1986, but more were located in 2012.
Working with FAS Heritage at the National Trust site, Time Team experts found further pieces at the Suffolk site last year, including the bucket’s intact base.
Held in the base was a burnt comb, likely made from antler, probably from a deer, and cremated human and animal bones.
The animal bones are said to be from a creature ‘larger than a pig’ – possibly a horse, which were often included on early Anglo-Saxon cremation pyres as a sign of status.
Meanwhile, the human bones include part of an ankle bone and fragments of skull, which are undergoing further analysis.
It is hoped that ancient DNA from the owner might survive on the comb, which may allow the researchers to learn the sex and age of the cremated individual.
The bucket (left) features a hunting scene with naked warriors, while the intact base had a comb, plus human and animal remains (right)
The full findings are set to be revealed in a four-part Time Team special, presented by Sir Tony Robinson (pictured)
Results from the analysis could also shed light on the cremation process used and what was on the funeral pyre.
‘I’m hopeful that further analysis will uncover more information about this very special burial,’ said Mr Wainwright.
The latest fragments include missing pieces from the exterior engraving – feet, paws, the base of shields and even the missing face of one of the men.
Regardless of whose remains it contained, the Bromeswell bucket is a remarkable example of of Anglo-Saxon craftmanship.
Concentric rings visible in CT scans indicate the bucket was made by ‘cold hammering’ – where the metal is shaped by force without heating.
According to the National Trust, the Bromeswell bucket was probably made in the eastern Mediterranean region in the 6th century before being imported to England.
It’s an example of Byzantine craft – referring to the Byzantine Empire, the powerful civilization based at Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).
It is thought to have been made several decades before the famous Sutton Hoo ship and its treasure were buried
The Sutton Hoo ship burial dates to between around AD 610 and AD 635, when the site belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia.
Justin Garner-Lahire, managing director at archaeological service FAS Heritage, in one of the trenches at Garden Field, Sutton Hoo
The Sutton Hoo ship burial dates to between around AD 610 and AD 635, when the site belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia. It was discovered in 1939 by Basil Brown
Helen Geake, Time Team’s Anglo-Saxon expert, said the team had ‘finally solved the puzzle of the Bromeswell bucket’.
‘Now we know that it is the first of these rare objects ever to have been used in a cremation burial,’ she said.
‘It’s a remarkable mixture – a vessel from the southern, classical world containing the remains of a very northern, very Germanic cremation.
‘It epitomises the strangeness of Sutton Hoo – it has ship burials, horse burials, mound burials and now bath-bucket burials.
‘Who knows what else it might still hold?’
Three Time Team episodes following the project are already available to watch on YouTube, with a special ‘fly on the wall’ documentary airing at 7pm on May 20.
The second phase of Time Team’s research collaboration project with FAS Heritage and the National Trust will continue until June 13.
Visitors can see the main bucket fragment on display at Sutton Hoo, on long-term loan from the Annie Tranmer Charitable Trust.
The mysterious history of Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo is a rich archaeological site in Suffolk, England, estimated to be around 1,400 years old.
It was back in 1939 that amateur archaeologist Basil Brown discovered the site, when he brushed away the Suffolk soil on request of local woman Edith Pretty.
He uncovered evidence of a epic funerary monument – a 88.6-foot-long ship with a burial chamber full of luxury goods.
The ship’s wood rotted away in the acidic soil over the course of 1,300 years, leaving only a ghostly imprint.
The ship’s wood rotted away in the acidic soil over the course of 1,300 years, leaving only an imprint (pictured)
Later analysis detected phosphate in the soil – an indicator that a human body once lay at rest there.
Out of about 20 burial mounds at the site, the most famous is this so called ‘ship burial’, though to hold the remains of a man – possibly a king – as well as the 90-foot ship.
The figure was buried surrounded by opulent treasures, including a decorated helmet, gold coins and an iron sword.
The Sutton Hoo ship burial dates to between around AD 610 and AD 635, when the site belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia.
But Sutton Hoo was the site of multiple burials, as evidenced by the numerous mounds which visitors can see today.
The people buried there left no written records, so we don’t know exactly who they were, but historians have long claimed Sutton Hoo was the cemetery for the royal dynasty of East Anglia, the Wuffingas.
It’s been said a king or great warrior of East Anglia was laid to rest surrounded by his treasures – possibly King Rædwald, according to the National Trust.
