If you’re infinitely fascinated by these discoveries, Netflix’s new film, “The Dig”, a historical drama starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, should pique your interest.
Based on a true story, “The Dig” recounts the story of how a widow and a self-taught archaeologist unearthed an Anglo-Saxon funerary on a private site in Suffolk, UK, in 1939. The incredible discovery, which took place across the spectrum World War II hovered over Europe, became one of the country’s most important treasures and helped dispel the notion that the British Isles were culturally and economically isolated during the Dark Ages.
Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown, the self-taught archaeologist who discovered Britain’s greatest treasure. Credit: Larry Horricks / Netflix
“The film is about time and the fragility of our existence,” said screenwriter Moira Buffini, who adapted the script for John Preston’s book of the same name, in a video interview. “It’s about the brevity of life and what lasts – what we leave behind.”
In the film, Mulligan plays Edith Pretty, a landowner and mother whose husband died of cancer. Although part of his life has been taken from her and returned to the ground, the land gives him something in return.
Broad plans in “The Dig” show a recreation of the spot where an 89-foot-long funerary vessel left an underground imprint. Credit: Larry Horricks / Netflix
Pretty has a hunch about the two large hills on her land, which are said to be a Viking cemetery. After she hires Basil Brown, played by Fiennes, to assess and excavate the site, they discover the remains of an 89-foot ship from the 7th century.
“We are digging to find the dead,” Pretty told Brown in one scene.
Lasting impressions
As the film reports, the wooden boat buried in Sutton Hoo has completely rotted away, although it left a well-preserved mark on the earth, like the fossil of a large beast. Inside was a chamber filled with hundreds of valuable artifacts, including a ornate iron helmet, an intricate golden belt buckle and luxurious products from the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East, illuminating the trade and cultural exchange that took place.
A photograph of Sutton Hoo’s actual site in Suffolk, taken in 1939 after his discovery. Credit: ANL / Shutterstock
The ship had apparently been used for a ship burial, where large boats were used as tombs for important figures. But there was no trace of the man, presumably Anglo-Saxon royalty, who had been buried with the ship.
“I read the coroner’s report on the king,” said Buffini. “They found nothing: not a tooth, not a hair, nothing of his body. Everything turned to dust, sand and earth. And yet, you have a feeling of … the whole society in Europe of what is buried in that boat with him. “
The hideout’s most famous treasure is this full-face iron helmet. Edith Pretty donated all artifacts to the British Museum. Credit: Georgie Gillard / ANL / Shutterstock
Although the ship’s remains are a ghostly presence in “The Dig”, the film focuses on the human stories behind its discovery. Each character struggles with the things he will leave behind, from his physical assets to his broader legacies.
“Excavation“is available for streaming on Netflix.
Add to queue: Digging up rare discoveries
The Netflix movie is based on this 2007 novel, which recreates the summer after discovering Sutton Hoo’s treasures from the perspective of three people at the center of the discovery.
In 2019, Egyptian archaeologists discovered a huge hiding place for mummified animals, including cats and snakes, at the Saqqara necropolis outside Cairo. This documentary follows a team of experts as they explore the tomb, which has remained intact for over 4,000 years.
A still image from the documentary “Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb”. Credit: Netflix
Set in a mysterious world of endless rooms and corridors filled with shifting ocean tides, the novel’s protagonist, Piranesi, explores its alternate reality through the thousands of enigmatic statues that line its corridors and the strange ephemera left behind by unknown visitors .
Over 20 seasons, archeologists on British television’s “Time Team” have found their fair share of Saxon cemeteries. In this episode of Season 11, the team investigates what could be a 5th century cemetery hidden under a field.