In the 7th century AD, a King – it was surely no less – received a magnificent burial at Sutton Hoo, in East Anglia. A ship was hauled up from the river, a burial chamber was erected in the middle of it, and a stupendous collection of magnificent objects – gold and silver brooches and dishes, the sword of state, drinking horns and a lyre – was set in the burial chamber. Fortunately, grave robbers never discovered the tomb, until in 1939 archaeologists stumbled upon what is still the greatest ‘treasure’ ever discovered in this country. Here we see a
