Visiting my son 200 miles away this week, I took the opportunity to visit the site of the big archaeology news of the year, The Prittlewell Hoard. Prittlewell is a part of Southend on Sea in Essex. The name Essex of course, means East Saxon so when the town council wanted to investigate any Romano-Saxon remains, there was a good chance they would find some. But they never expected to find a royal burial site under a pub car park in Prittlewell.
It has been called euphemistically, " Britain's answer to Tutankhamun" and while it isn't on that scale it is certainly very impressive. I know because I visited the display this week in Southend Museum. It is a free exhibit.
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Although my work covers several eras i think the Anglo Saxon is my favourite era. Frank and
I do have an Anglo Saxon surname of course so that might help.
Southend Museum which houses the Prittlewell hoard is a fine example of how a tiny museum can present an excellent exhibition.
This wizzley draws me back time and time again because of the informative images and information.
Name and word origins and their evolving meanings always ensure my enthusiastic interest.
Several readings and research forays into its applications and implications finally find me with my favorite: name meanings!
English Wiktionary links the Prittlewell Saxon name Seaxa with "Saxon" but in terms of origins with West German for "dagger, knife."
The Prittlewell Saxon grave indeed maintains a sword.
Might Seaxa as brother to a king have a duty to defend -- as epitomized and symbolized by his sword -- God and monarch (even as the king's son might do their duty ;-D as heir and spare)?
Derdriu
It looks like a doll of some sort to me. They had toys and games as grave goods for the afterlife to take with them.
Veronica, Previously, I intended to ask you about the item (looks like a body or doll) to the left of the burial casket. The Museum of London makes no mention of it.
Tolovaj
I like to DO things on holiday. I could never sit by a hotel pool for 2 weeks! That would be no holiday for me.
BSG
The East coast of England is very damaged by erosion. In fact, houses have fallen into the sea from cliffs and also cars on coastal roads.
Much has been lost to the sea, I am sure.
It looks like you successfully fused education and pleasure! It's always great to have an opportunity for such time travel, isn't it?
Definitely erosion in this case. The whole of the North Sea is a flooded coastal plain, and its shore in the Essex and nearby East Anglian areas is composed of soft clay cliffs, very easily eroded. In several places the authorities have found that the best way to prevent this erosion is to restore coastal salt marsh, which strangely is more effective than hard sea walls are.
Britain has been slowly changing its position since the end of the Ice Age, with the North and West of the island rising and the South and East slowly sinking. For example, the Goodwin sands of Kent, in South East England, were land until the mid eleventh century,then they were inundated. They are now a dangerous stretch of sea with a long reputation for shipwrecks.
Frank is correct in that erosion by the sea does much to destroy archaeological artifacts and their positioning. Heavy objects could simply fall and scatter close to their source, but wave roots of storms and tidal movement of water can really move light objects. An area that floods due to land subsidence or sea level rise is different, but I suspect erosion is the culprit in this case.
In fact, king Vortigern invited in the Jutes to defend against Pictish marauders.