Historians are reassessing the origins of the Sutton Hoo helmet after a discovery in Denmark suggested that it may have been made there, rather than in Sweden as thought.
First excavated in 1939, a buried ship at the Sutton Hoo site in Suffolk was found to contain a hoard of more than 260 artefacts. It has been described as Britain’s equivalent of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and is thought to be the burial site of King Raedwald, an East Anglian ruler who died in AD624.
Chief among the finds were hundreds of fragments from a single helmet. It was reassembled over many years to reveal a distinctive design with two eye holes, ear flaps, a crest, nose and mouthpiece. It is now on display in the British Museum and has featured on many posters and guidebooks.
The excavation site at Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, in August 1939
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For decades it was thought that the helmet originated in Uppland in eastern Sweden and may have come to Britain as an heirloom or a diplomatic gift. Two panels on the helmet show warriors on horseback and bear similarities to motifs used on helmets found in Sweden.
Researchers at the National Museum of Denmark have now cast doubt on this, after unearthing a metal stamp with “striking similarities” to the motifs on the Sutton Hoo helmet.
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The copper alloy stamp was found two years ago by Jan Hjort, a local archaeologist who was using a metal detector on the Danish island of Tasinge and realised that it was something “extraordinary”.
“What is unique is the motif,” he told the BBC. “It’s a very powerful image.”
Peter Pentz, a curator at the Danish museum, said: “The stylistic similarities are so significant. This is the closest link we’ve ever seen.”
The Netflix film The Dig, starring Ralph Fiennes, tells the story of the excavation at Sutton Hoo
LARRY HORRICKS/NETFLIX © 2021
He said that Tasinge may have hosted a metal workshop in the 7th century, pointing to metal scraps and a thin sheet of silver found on the island.
“I would say this dye comes from the same workshop, or comes from the environment of the Sutton Hoo helmet,” he said. “Production probably took place here or trade.”
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Laura Howarth, a manager at the Sutton Hoo estate, said of the stamp: “Looking at it, it’s definitely part of this kind of family of designs that are happening at this time.”
However, similar motifs were also being used in Germany, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where the helmet was made.
The Sutton Hoo helmet on display at the British Museum
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Howarth said that the theory showed the finds at Sutton Hoo are “not a finished book”, adding: “It’s quite a lot to pinpoint exactly the relationship and the power dynamic that was existing between Denmark, Sweden and the community at Sutton Hoo at this time, just based off one find.”
Pentz said he hoped that 3D scanning of the motifs and of the Danish stamp may shed more light. The stamp will go on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen next month.