A team of archaeologists and detectorists have discovered missing parts of a bucket from the ship's most famous burial

During a detector search and excavation, a team of archaeologists, conservators and volunteers from the popularTV show Time Team, the British National Trust and FAS Heritage, missing parts of a 1,500-year-old copper bucket from the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial.

Sutton Hoo is a world famous spectacular intact seventh century ship burial. Its 1939 discovery was filmed in the award-winning 2021 film 'The Dig'. The burial was part of a complex of 18 separate burial mounds found near Suffolk in south-east England. Many contained staggering treasures, weapons, jewellery or coins, but Sutton Hoo by far the most.

It also contained imported artefacts such as. Egyptian bowls, silver objects from the eastern Mediterranean or bitumen - a type of natural petroleum-based asphalt found only in the Middle East. The bucket itself comes from far away Antioch, which was then part of the Byzantine Empire. It is made of a copper alloy and was at least a century older than the famous ship burial, probably dating from the early 6th century.

"The 'Bromeswell Bucket', as the detailed bucket is called, depicts a hunting scene from North Africa - beautifully rendered lions and dogs. It also bears an inscription in Greek: 'Use it in health, Master Prince, for many happy years,' suggesting that it may have been a diplomatic gift. The largest part of the bucket was discovered in 1986, other pieces in 2012 and now the rest.

When the newly discovered pieces were analyzed, they were shown to come from the same bucket. In addition, it turned out that the bucket had been repaired at the time: "Thanks to closer examination, we now know that the bucket was previously damaged and the laterrepaired," Angus Wainwright, a regional archaeologist with the National Trust in East Anglia, said in a statement. "In-depth analysis of the metals suggests that (parts of it) may even have been soldered," he added.

East Anglia has been inhabited since at least the 4th millennium BC. By the sixth and seventh centuries, the area was relatively densely populated and part of a busy trading network. The valuables from the Sutton Hoo burial represent a variety of objects, including pagan and Christian artefacts from across Europe and the Middle East. The burial of the ship and the cosmopolitan nature of Sutton Hoo may be associated with the Old English epic poem Beowulf, which was composed around this timeand which tells tales of monarchs bringing gifts from faraway lands.

According to Angus Wainwright, earlier Time Team surveys have recorded mysterious anomalies in the Garden Field area: "Because of the proximity of fragments discovered in the past, we hoped that this year's excavation would yield more parts Bromeswell bucket," he explained, adding that the whole area was scanned with a metal detector and the objects found were recorded in 3D. They were then sent for processing and cataloguing before being returned to Sutton Hoo at a later date.

"We experimented with some new technologies and perspectives, including the use of a live 360° camera and a special first-person view camera person, which really brought our fans closer to the action," said Tim Taylor, producer and creator of the Time Team series, describing the circumstances of the research. And he added that being there was absolutely fantastic, with "Sutton Hoo being widely regarded as England's 'Valley of the Kings'."

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Sources: bbc.com, livescience.com, archaeology.org

Anglish gold and gemstone epaulet pin from the burial of Sutton Hoo

Reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo ship burial

Vover the years, the broken bucket from Sutton Hoo has been gradually pieced together

Angus Wainwright

From the excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1939

Reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helmet and mask at the British Museum

Za restored belt loop from a Sutton Hoo funeral

Archeologists and volunteers with metal detectors

Dfate of an unpreserved newly discovered fragment

Vhe excavation lasted all through June

Nn the excavation site