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Post by Andorinha on Feb 7, 2021 19:05:39 GMT -6
A very good point/ question, Stormy. Now we need to find "before and after" pictures of the cemetery complex of Sutton Hoo and see if the mound-shapes in the Saxon period were similar to those of earlier times.
My first "guess" is that ship burials are/ were few and far between, only for great lords. A ship burial, by virtue of the ship form it contains would probably leave a distinctive oval shape for the covering mound, while lesser Saxon leaders might have round mounds? A lot of the Saxon commoner graves were simple holes, body-shaped and sized with a low mound above that soon weathered away. In some cases of multi-period use sites, later Saxon graves were dug into the ring ditches around the truly ancient Bronze Age mounds -- easier digging and maybe the Saxons hoped that some of the magic and prestige of the original builders would rub-off on the Saxon commoners, kind of like one of us getting buried near George Washington's mausoleum.
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Post by Andorinha on Feb 7, 2021 22:52:10 GMT -6
Here is a schematic view of the ship burials at Sutton Hoo, and other non-nautical Anglo-Saxon mounds in this cemetery cluster. The two ship mounds are not particularly elliptical in shape as I had thought they might be. The dashed lines around mounds one and two are almost circular. I think we would be hard put to identify these as Saxon era mounds before digging into them... anglosaxon.archeurope.info/index.php?page=plan-of-the-moundsMound 1 is the "Raedwald" Ship Burial, Mound 2 is a smaller ship burial that was looted long before archaeologists could get at it. Mound 2 has since 1940 been rebuilt to its presumed original height and I include a photo of it to show how it must have looked -- much like many other mounds from differing cultures and periods. www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/specials/timeline/sutton-hoo.htmAttachments:
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Post by Stormrider on Feb 8, 2021 8:52:17 GMT -6
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Post by fanuidhol on Feb 8, 2021 12:32:32 GMT -6
I dunno about us being boring. Steve's uncle has a flask of the very best bourbon in his pocket. His Dad has rainbows of all sorts (pictures, pins, etc) in his casket. My parents niche has a couple of family pictures and a drawing from Blake. There might be more interesting finds to be had for the future archeologists.
Gorgeous artifacts there in the British museum. Blake and I often go to that site for their wonderful resources.
Thank you Andy for delving more deeply (pun definitely intended).
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Post by Andorinha on Feb 8, 2021 13:48:56 GMT -6
Sutton Hoo sword: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb9vTu73xmEBurial occupant was a southpaw Saxon?! Thanks again Fan, Deborah Sabo's article on archaeology and JRRT was a great read! OK, Stormy, I'll see if I can "shrink-wrap" all my books to protect them from age related decay, then use them to form my burial mound, put my sword and helmet collection about me, scatter my Roman coins in the fill... that ought to make me competitive in funeral goods even with Tut and whoever is in the Suton Hoo burial... I seen to remember some guy being buried in his Cadillac? Got about a full typescript page on Merry's Sword, almost ready to post it!
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Post by Stormrider on Feb 8, 2021 14:27:43 GMT -6
Gee whiz, my family is definately boring. Just some old bones and disintegrating clothing. No one I know has had anything added to their coffins. Laminated family pictures would be cool. Then archeologists would know what we looked like. My Tolkien mini swords and collectibles would be nice to add.
Rainbows would be fun to find and Andy buried in books, too!
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Post by fanuidhol on Feb 8, 2021 14:49:25 GMT -6
Andy, I love the sword curator. I love her last bit about almost touching the person who owned the sword. That's how I feel when looking at historical items or what have you. Even my fossils. Touching them, knowing they were alive millions of years ago gives me pause.
Our first house (rented) was a Revolutionary war era Tavern. On a daily basis, I would just be in awe of the history behind it and the people* who came there.
*For example: Joseph Bonaparte....yes, Napoleon's brother, very likely visited there. (I haven't seen documentation, but widely reported).
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Post by Stormrider on Feb 8, 2021 15:45:59 GMT -6
That must have been cool living in a Revolutionary War Tavern. Do you have any pictures?
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Post by fanuidhol on Feb 8, 2021 16:52:36 GMT -6
I'd have to dig out pictures....and of course it was "updated". But, you can see the outside - Smithburg Tavern. There were 3 apartments. We had most of the main house. At one point in time, it was us with 4 kids living there.
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Post by Andorinha on Feb 9, 2021 17:03:40 GMT -6
Stormy -- you can take some of your costumes with you, and, in the olde days, they would sometimes take a horse as well... I knew Nappy Boneparte's brother visited the U.S., but that is cool, Fan, that he was in your domicile at one time. While we are doing Sutton Hoo, here's our curator's take on the helmet: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYk0GH5iFYI&pbjreload=101
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Post by Stormrider on Feb 9, 2021 22:43:54 GMT -6
There was a rider and his horse buried at Sutton Hoo, as a matter of fact. Alas, I have no horses now. I hope Desi is keeping my costumes safe for me until I can get a home.
I have seen your curator's link already.
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Post by fanuidhol on Feb 10, 2021 5:25:10 GMT -6
Sue, the Curator, is soooo cool! I want to watch all of her "stuff". Thanks for posting the link to The Helmet. Joe B lived in NJ. Point Breeze Blake and I are doing a survey of World History. We covered "Nappy" recently, so the connection to Joe came to the forefront of my brain again and I did a little research. I did a quick Google Book search for Merry's Sword and was distracted by Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Tolkien’s Legendarium, by Mark Doyle. However, I am not linking directly to the preview. That you will have to search yourself. Not archaeological, but an interesting piece on the theme of providential power of objects (and the loss of that in our mass production of today)
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Post by Stormrider on Feb 10, 2021 8:06:38 GMT -6
Sue, the Curator, is pretty cool. I'll have to watch more of her videos. As she said in the end, the helmet may or may not have been worn into battle because of its detail and beauty, but the people then may have had a different view of things than we do today! The weight of armour like this may have protected it's wearer, but gosh how much did it slow down your movement and reflexes, I wonder.
It is a shame that neither of Joe Bonaparte's mansions didn't survive. I see the article is from January of this year, so it must have been a recent purchase ? And the museum will open this year? Fan, when you lived in NJ, did you ever drive past Joe's estate? I can't imagine having a 32,000sf home/mansion to live in!
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Post by Andorinha on Feb 16, 2021 14:22:23 GMT -6
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Post by Andorinha on Feb 17, 2021 9:29:10 GMT -6
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