In 1939, the burial mound of an Anglo-Saxon king was excavated at Sutton Hoo, in England. The king had been laid to rest in all his royal regalia and with all his most prized possessions. Burial findes constitute one of the most highly-valued archaeological treasures ever found in England.
The king's artifacts included an elaborate helmet, and a richly-decorated sword.
This ship burial dates to around 625 AD - the same year the 7th Century Yassiada ship sank. By the early 7th century, the Anglo-Saxon migrations to england were over and a half-dozen Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had emerged. They were stable and prosperous enough to attract a significant importation of luxury goods from as far away as the Byzantine empire in the Mediterranean. Byzantine imports found at Sutton Hoo include wine and olive oil in amphorae, including the two types present on the 7th-century Yassiada ship, Byzantine silver plates and bowls, and two Byzantine silver spoons (one engraved with the name Saul, and the other, Paul).
One amazing thing about the Sutton Hoo ship is how poorly preserved the ship was. In fact, almost nothing remaind of the actual ship, except for soil stains. The acidic soil completely deteriorated the vessel, leaving oxides and other stains and impresssions of features in the soil. Imagine how careful the excavators needed to be to reveal the shape of the ship from these stains alone!
The king was buried ina wooden chamber erected within the hull of the ship. Almost nothing of the wooden parts of the hull survived, except two small fragments, as well as the rusted iron fasteners.
From the stains, archaeologists could make otu the details of the caprail at the top of the hull. Each section of the rail was nailed onto the upper edge of the sheer strake, and each had a triangular thole pin carved from the crook of a branch. We also see that the strakes overalapped and were fastened with iron rivets (again, this is clinker built).
The planking here again is light, about an inch thick, with widely spaced frames. Unlike earlier frames which were lashed to the planks, these were nailed to the planks.
The Sutton Hoo vessel had an overal length of 89 ft, a breadth of 16 ft. It has a keel plank (2.5 inches thick) with 9 planking strakes to each side. The vessel was rowed by between 36 - 40 rowers. There was no trace of a mast step or any other evidence that the ship was sailed.
