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Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, East Anglia, is the site of two 6th- and early 7th-century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial, including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, most of which are now in the British Museum in London. The site is in the care of the National Trust Sutton Hoo is of primary importance to early medieval historians because it sheds light on a period of English history that is on the margin between myth, legend, and historical documentation. Use of the site culminated at a time when Rædwald, the ruler of the East Angles, held senior power among the English people and played a dynamic if ambiguous part in the establishment of Christian rulership in England; it is generally thought most likely that he is the person buried in the ship. The site has been vital in understanding the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia and the whole early Anglo-Saxon period. The ship-burial, probably dating from the early 7th century and excavated in 1939, is one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England for its size and completeness, far-reaching connections, the quality and beauty of its contents, and the profound interest of the burial ritual itself. The initial excavation was privately sponsored by the landowner. When the significance of the find became apparent, national experts took over. Subsequent archaeological campaigns, particularly in the late 1960s and late 1980s, have explored the wider site and many other individual burials. The most significant artefacts from the ship-burial, displayed in the British Museum, are those found in the burial chamber, including a suite of metalwork dress fittings in gold and gems, a ceremonial helmet, shield and sword, a lyre, and many pieces of silver plate from Byzantium. The ship-burial has from the time of its discovery prompted comparisons with the world described in the heroic Old English poem ''Beowulf'', which is set in southern Sweden. It is in that region, especially at Vendel, that close archaeological parallels to the ship burial are found, both in its general form and in details of the military equipment contained in the burial. Although it is the ship-burial that commands the greatest attention from tourists, two separate cemeteries also have rich historical meaning because of their position in relation to the Deben estuary and the North Sea, and their relation to other sites in the immediate neighborhood. Of the two grave fields found at Sutton Hoo, one (the "Sutton Hoo cemetery") had long been known to exist because it consists of a group of approximately 20 earthen burial mounds that rise slightly above the horizon of the hill-spur when viewed from the opposite bank. The other, called here the "new" burial ground, is situated on a second hill-spur close to the present Exhibition Hall, about 500 m upstream of the first. It was discovered and partially explored in 2000 during preliminary work for the construction of the hall. This also had burials under mounds, but was not known because these mounds had long since been flattened by agricultural activity. The site has a visitor centre, with many original and replica artefacts and a reconstruction of the ship burial chamber, and the burial field can be toured in the summer months and at weekends and school holidays year-round. == Location == Sutton Hoo is the name of an area spread along the bank of the River Deben opposite the harbour of the small Suffolk town of Woodbridge, about 7 miles (11 km) from the North Sea, overlooking the tidal estuary a little below the lowest convenient fording place. It formed a path of entry into East Anglia during the period that followed the end of Roman imperial rule in the 5th century.〔West 1998, 261–275.〕 South of Woodbridge, there are 6th-century burial grounds at Rushmere, Little Bealings, and Tuddenham St Martin〔West 1998, 9–10, 92–3, 99.〕 and circling Brightwell Heath, the site of mounds that date from the Bronze Age.〔West 1998, 12–3.〕 There are cemeteries of a similar date at Rendlesham and Ufford.〔West 1998, 91, 100–101.〕 A ship-burial at Snape is the only one in England that can be compared to the example at Sutton Hoo.〔Bruce-Mitford 1974, 114–140.〕 The territory between the Orwell and the watersheds of the Alde and Deben rivers may have been an early centre of royal power, originally centred upon Rendlesham or Sutton Hoo, and a primary component in the formation of the East Anglian kingdom: In the early 7th century, Gipeswic (modern Ipswich) began its growth as a centre for foreign trade,〔Wade 2001.〕 Botolph's monastery at Iken was founded by royal grant in 654,〔West, Scarfe and Cramp 1984.〕 and Bede identified Rendlesham as the site of Æthelwold's royal dwelling.〔Historia Ecclesiastica, iii.22.〕〔Bruce-Mitford 1974, 73–113; however Kingston near Woodbridge (nearly opposite Sutton Hoo) is "another possibility" (see Scarfe 1986, 4, 30).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sutton Hoo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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