So, how much influence did spiritualism and dowsing have in the discovery of the ship burial? I have no idea. The treasure was then taken to the London Underground for the duration of the war. Mrs Pretty was offered the honour of Dame of the British Empire, which she declined” (Carver, p.
Pretty did donate the treasure to the British Museum, “thus making the most generous donation to the Museum ever made in the lifetime of a donor. Her spiritualist counsellor soon came to stay with her, and Phillips took a stroll with him that evening on the heath, volunteering his opinion that a presentation of all the finds to the nation “would be a splendid gesture” (Carver, p. Martin Carver, who led the most recent excavations at Sutton Hoo, describes what happened after the inquest:Ĭharles Phillips mentions family pressure to keep the jewellery, but Mrs. The court decided that the treasure belonged to Mrs. The soil is highly acidic almost no wood from the ship survived either.Īfter the treasures were unearthed, a coroner’s inquest was held to decide who was the rightful owner: the crown or Mrs. No body or bones were actually found, but in subsequent excavations, phosphate traces were found in the soil, suggesting that a body had once lain there. Mound 1 proved to be an unlooted, probably royal Anglo-Saxon ship burial: Consequently, the initial excavation was a rather hurried affair, but worth it. At this point, the Office of Works and the British Museum got involved, even though they had other things to worry about: the Office of Works was busy building airstrips, and the British Museum was busy crating up its treasures and sending them to the London Underground for safekeeping in anticipation of WWII.
The dark coloration of the sandy soil also showed the outline of an enormous ship (larger than any other Migration Era or Viking Age ship yet discovered). As with Mound 2, he found ship rivets, but in Mound 1, they were still in place. Pretty again suggested that Brown excavate Mound 1. It was a ship burial, but it too had been looted. Mound 2–one of the largest mounds–produced a number of scattered rivets. Mounds 3 and 4 were cremation burials that had been looted. Pretty), but concluded, logically if erroneously, that Mound 1 had been looted. Brown did begin to excavate Mound 1 (using a long probe designed by Mrs.
Pretty suggested that Brown excavate Mound 1. She paid him 30 shillings a week and provided him with accommodation in the chauffeur’s cottage and the assistance of two estate workers (one of whom was named Tom Sawyer).īased (allegedly) on the supernatural insights she had gained, Mrs. She consulted with Guy Maynard, curator of the Ipswich Museum, who suggested Basil Brown, a self-taught but conscientious and successful excavator. Pretty decided to hire herself an archaeologist. Armed with this supernatural information, Mrs. He said there was treasure under Mound 1. Pretty also had a nephew who was a dowser. Pretty “claimed to have strange dreams and visions of the place, including a vivid dream where an Anglo-Saxon funeral procession buried the body of their king inside a ship in the largest of the mounds.” According to the video below, it was a friend of Mrs. According to Joseph Allen McCullough, Mrs. Pretty became interested in spiritualism, frequently travelling to London to consult with a spiritualist medium. Four years later, her husband died.Īfter her husband’s death, Mrs. Pretty found herself pregnant at the age of 47. Frank Pretty, and the two of them bought Sutton Hoo House, a large Edwardian mansion near Woodbridge in Suffolk. Edith May Pretty was the daughter of a wealthy northern industrialist. In this case, our Big Damn Hero is the delightfully named Mrs. I guess what I’m saying is that someone who is a bit of a woo can also be a Big Damn Hero. Ghosts and magic sticks didn’t actually lead to the discovery, but the belief in ghosts and magic sticks may have acted as a catalyst. Secondly, I’m not saying that anything extraordinary actually happened. Now, right off the bat, I should make two things clear: in the first place, it’s unclear to what extent unconventional beliefs contributed to England’s greatest archaeological discovery. The excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial may be an instance where fringe beliefs actually did contribute to the discovery of a great treasure and human remains (sort of). We’ve also heard of dowsers claiming to have found…well, all sorts of things using their magic sticks. In every instance, these claims have proved to be dubious, at best. More seriously, though, we’ve all heard psychics claiming that they have worked with the police and provided material assistance in finding missing persons and dead bodies and in solving cases. All right, I admit it, I am writing this post mostly as an excuse to use the phrase “Sutton Hoo woo.” It’s a lovely phrase.
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