Archaeologists Make Shocking Discovery in 6th-Century Relic

Archaeologists made a shocking discovery in a sixth-century copper bucket found several decades ago at the famous English excavation site of Sutton Hoo, according to a statement from the National Trust.

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Years after the initial discovery, known as “the Bromeswell Bucket,” specialists working with the York Archaeological Trust conducted a micro-excavation on the bucket, where they made a horrific find. Within the soil, they uncovered human bones, including an ankle and part of a skull, which had seemingly been placed in the bucket so that they could decompose.

"We knew that this bucket would have been a rare and prized possession back in Anglo-Saxon times," National Trust archaeologist Angus Wainwright said in the statement. "Now we know it was used to contain the remains of an important person in the Sutton Hoo community."

U.K. National Trust

So far, Wainwright and his team have precious little evidence to determine who this person was within the community. There were additional animal bones found within the bucket that experts believe to be horse remains. Similarly, the discovery of a comb within the bucket does little to distinguish the identity of the deceased, as both men and women were known to regularly use combs during that period. Small amounts of bone fragments found on the comb will be radiocarbon dated with the hope that it might reveal the person’s gender.

U.K. National Trust

Anglo-Saxon expert Helen Geake, who worked on the project, called the Bromeswell Bucket "a remarkable mixture—a vessel from the southern, classical world containing the remains of a very northern, very Germanic cremation” that “epitomises the strangeness of Sutton Hoo."

Further excavations will be conducted at Sutton Hoo through June 13. "This next phase of the dig offers an incredible opportunity to continue uncovering the secrets of Sutton Hoo, and we can't wait to see what new discoveries await us in 2025," project creator Tim Taylor said in the statement.

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