Sutton who?

[caddyman]

It’s rare that my interest in early English history is rekindled by a news website, in fact I’d go so far as to say it’s never happened before. But today we have the once in a century report of a discovery that may lead to hefty revisions to the history books akin to those that followed the discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial in 1939.

The largest ever Anglo-Saxon hoard has been found by a bloke with a metal detector in an undisclosed location in Staffordshire. The value of the 1,500 or so pieces of gold and silver found dwarfs the Sutton Hoo find and may possibly be valued in seven figures.

Archaeologists have described it as like finding the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels for the first time.

I hope that a revision to Sir Frank Stenton’s history comes out while I am still young enough to read it. Having worked for a couple of years at English Heritage in the mid 1980s, I rather doubt it…

Comments

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

It badly needs updating in the light of more recent discoveries, but I *think* it's still regarded as the single most authoritative volume.

I am more than willing to be corrected on that, mind.

[failing-angel.livejournal.com]

Well I'm rather rusty on the old Angle-land, so I may have to swot up plenty first.

Still, as I said, I'll keep an eye out.