If you’re infinitely fascinated by these discoveries, the new Netflix movie “The Dig,” a historical drama starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, should pique your interest.
Based on a true story, “The Dig” tells the story of how a widow and a self-taught archaeologist unearthed an Anglo-Saxon funeral boat on private land in Suffolk, UK, in 1939. The incredible find, which occurred as the specter of World War II looms over Europe, became one of the country’s most important treasures, and helped dispel the notion that the British Isles were culturally and economically silenced 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 the time and fragility of our existence,” said screenwriter Moira Buffini, who adapted the screenplay for the book of the same name by John Preston 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 has died of cancer. Although part of his life has been taken from him and returned to the land, the land gives him something in return.
The extensive plans for “The Dig” show a recreation of the site where an 89-foot-long funeral boat left an underground footprint. Credit: Larry Horricks / Netflix
Pretty has an intuition about the two large mounds in her land, which are rumored to be a Viking burial site. After hiring Basil Brown, played by Fiennes, to evaluate and excavate the site, they discover the remains of an 89-foot ship from the 7th century.
“We’re digging to find out about the dead,” Pretty tells Brown in a scene.
Lasting impressions
As the film explains, the wooden ship buried at Sutton Hoo had completely rotted, though it left a well-preserved imprint on the ground, like the fossil of a large beast. Inside was a room full of hundreds of valuable artifacts, including one ornate iron helmet, an intricate golden belt buckle, and lavish articles from the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East that shed light on the trade and cultural exchange that took place.
A photograph of the actual location of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, taken in 1939 after its discovery. Credit: ANL / Shutterstock
Apparently, the ship had been used for the burial of a ship, with which large vessels were used as tombs for important figures. But there was no trace of the man, presumably of Anglo-Saxon royalty, who had been buried with the ship.
“I read the coroner’s report on the king,” Buffini said. “They found nothing: not a tooth, not a hair, not anything from their body. Everything had turned to dust, sand and earth. However, you have the feeling of … the whole European society of what is there. she’s buried in that boat. with him. “
The most famous treasure of the cache is this full-face iron helmet. Edith Pretty donated all the artifacts to the British Museum. Credit: Georgie Gillard / ANL / Shutterstock
While the wreckage of the ship is a spooky presence in “The Dig,” the film focuses on the human stories behind its discovery. Each character faces the things he will leave behind, from his physical possessions to his broader legacies.
“The Dig“is available for playback on Netflix.
Add to the queue: digging up rare discoveries
The Netflix film is based on this 2007 novel, which recreates the summer after the discovery of the treasures of Sutton Hoo from the perspective of three people at the center of the find.
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