Sutton Hoo Oseberg

Sutton Hoo
&
Oseberg
Mark Bayaua
Jesica Hicks
In Young Kim
Jonathan Tran
Lama Ziq
Historical Context
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Sutton Hoo is a cemetery and site of a 7th century ship
burial. Discovered in 1939, this magnificent
archaeological find is one of the most important finds in
England. Sutton Hoo is on a high bluff flanking the
Deben River.
Due to the common occurrence of grave robbing that
plagues these "roman mounds" it is quite lucky that they
left such a magnificent burial intact. Spanning twenty
barrows Basil Brown began excavations at the site, the
greatest find is the ship burial located at Mound 1.
Generally attributed to King Raedwald of East Anglia,
the ship is 27 feet long and 4.2 meters at the widest part
of the ship. A burial chamber is located in the middle of
the ship, archeologists usually concur that the ship itself
was only built for burial purposes due to the lack of a
working keel. Amongst the mounds and the burial ship is
a wealth of treasure: cloisonné made of gold and garnet,
gold buckles, purse lids, and a veritable armory.
The discovery of Sutton Hoo provides a glimpse into
England's past and further clarification of its national
identity. The artifacts come from the 7th century, a time
that establishes a firm link between England and the
Vikings.
Archaeologists connect the burial with the fact that
Christianity was beginning to exert it's presence upon
the pagan Vikings and the higher ranking pagans
responded by having more elaborate pagan rituals.
Cremation was adopted; in defiance of Christian
practice, leading up to the royal ship burial. Although he
was accompanied by objects of Christian significance,
his burial may have been attended by human sacrifice.
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By Jonathan Tran
Cultural Influences
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There were many different
cultural influences on early
Medieval burial ships, many
originating with the Migration
tribes that settled in northern
Europe and Scandinavia.
The Medieval church also
held some developing
influence and effected the
type and style of burial.
Ship design was influential,
exhibiting styles that reach as
far back as ancient Egypt.
The early medieval burial ship
design was similar to that
used for military and
commercial transportation.
By Lama Ziq
Osb erg Ship
Subject and Style
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Objects, art and artifacts found at the burial ship of Sutton Hoo and Oseberg were from the Migration
period during medieval times. Since this was a period of migration and movement most objects were
small and portable such as weapons, jewelry, domestic items and other small personal items. Many of
these items include a method known as the cloisonné technique. This technique is a process which
attached small soldered metal strips to a metal foundation and then filled the created compartments
with crushed semiprecious stones or glass.
Art from this time is very distinguishable
and easily identifiable. While Germanic art
and items found from Sutton Hoo are
produced mainly from metallurgy (metals),
Viking and Oseberg items were mainly
produced from wood. Their style was very
abstract, geometrical and symmetrical.
Both of these groups produced art that
had very delicate interlacing patterns.
Many items included very crowded
designs known as Horror Vacui,
Vacui, which
means the fear of empty spaces. Another
main characteristic found in their arts is
dedication to an animal style or commonly
known as zoomorphic art. This art
depicted animals that were real or
imagined. These animals played a very
dominant role within their arts and were
very symbolic within their religion.
By
Jesica Hicks
Materials and Processes
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Though most renown for their barbaric nature and thirst for
war, Medieval Vikings garnished everything from their ships
to their household items with fabulous design. Craftsmen
demonstrated the height of their talent through small metal
items, armor, weaponry and even the decoration of their
ships. Benefiting from the spoils of war, artisans worked
extensively in gold and silver. Their geographic location, the
northern regions of Europe, provided a plethora of timber to
work with in wood ship building and sculpture. Precious
jewels collected from war were integrated into their artwork
as well, favoring the technique cloisonné.
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The Vikings ships were an integral part of their lives. So
important to the point that ships were buried ritually with
assumed leaders or royalty. Under mounds of stone and
turf, the wooden ships eroded easily though their
impressions make it possible to reconstruct the amazing
wood carving and sculpture done by Viking artists.
Elaborate carving is found throughout Viking woodcraft, an
aptitude with patterns made subtractive carving, or taking
away from a singular piece of wood, prominent at bows of
ships. Particularly seen in the Animal-Head Post found at
Oseberg, artists achieved great contrasts of depth through
wood carving. Sharp edged tools were used to twiddle the
details, and due to the desire to fill up all negative space, not
much sanding was necessary save for a few smooth spots
found in rare areas on the sculptures. Wood as a plentiful
resource would be used often, though its rigid quality can be
unforgiving to its carver.
By Mark Bayaua
Materials and Processes
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Cloisonné, derives from a French term ‘cloison’ or
partition. It is a process of arranging metal strips onto a
metal backing. The partitions must make gaps to create
compartments that are later filled with stone or glass.
The craftsman would had to have been careful to fill the
gaps with the correct amount of precious stone during
the firing process, filling it too much could cause an
overflow across the partitions. The Vikings used
cloisonné exclusively on a small scale, a tedious
technique that requires meticulous planning already, it is
an amazement to wonder the skill of the craftsmen that
would have had to fill the intricate designs favored by
Medieval Vikings . It’s end result is a stunning jewelrylike appearance, though it’s construction and reflective
quality are similar to stained glass windows. Rather than
taking each fragment and juxtaposing them through
adhesives, the metal strip framing must be soldered to
the backing before melting the stones in the partition in a
primitive kiln. Tools necessary for this technique include
a hammer and other simple metal crafts tools such as a
crucible to remove the hot metals from the fire safely.
Metallurgy was also favored amongst Viking craftsmen.
Created by forming and carefully shaping the metal
through heating and bending, much of the crafts created
were in-laid with jewels. Reliefs were created by
pounding sheets of metal from the back as to make the
front protrude into the artists chosen subject. Found
especially in the entangled details of smaller items,
artisans needed similar tools found to those used in
cloisonné.
By Mark Bayaua
Head Gear: Analysis of the Helmet
Found at Sutton Hoo
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Among the many items found in the burial mounds of
Sutton Hoo were pieces of a helmet - a necessity to
the warrior Vikings of the Medieval Ages.
Though only fragments of the helmet survived the tests
of time, careful reconstruction reveals that the helmet
was made of silver panels and gold reinforcements
that detail the nose, eyebrows, and a crest that runs
from the forehead to the back of the skull.
Observed closely, these gold elements take on
zoomorphic forms; the eyebrows finish as heads of
boars, a serpent-like creature the crest. Rich from the
spoils of war, jewels take place of the eyes of these
creatures.
The panels are decorated with intricate, decorative
weaving patterns in relief, typical of other metallurgy
items found from the same era.
One can only assume that these panels held
significance pertaining to the Vikings traditions and
beliefs, maybe in commemoration of past battles or
objectives
Also found on the helmet are two distinguishable
details of warriors. In one detail two warriors holding
spears are symmetrically placed, holding spears and
swords, their arms crossing at the center above two
similarly crossing spears.
The other detail is equestrian, showing a horsemounted with two warriors sharing one spear trampling
a man desperately clinging to the reigns and stabbing
at the creature.
By Mark Bayaua
Analysis: Purse Lid from Sutton Hoo
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Originally this purse was produced out of leather but throughout the years it has decomposed and
disappeared. Although the original leather is gone, the magnificent lid and several gold coins that it
contained are still in existence. The ornamentation and details of the purse lid are very intricate and
detailed. It is made of gold and glass and is highly decorated with garnets and emeralds through the
process of cloisonné.
In addition, zoomorphic, or the interpretation of animals, are very dominantly represented in this piece.
During this time, animals were very symbolic and many times used as significant icons. For example, on
the lower left and right hand side (which are identical) a man is placed in the center of two wolves. These
images are believed to have had royal significance, but it is difficult to interpret them today. It is thought
that the wolves are significant as a reference to the family name of those buried, the “Wuffingas”,
translated as Wolf’s People.
One cannot dismiss the obvious symmetrical layout, which is presented in great detail. Each side is a
mirror image of the other and it is highly decorated with geometric and abstracted forms. Another
important aesthetic element is the delicate interlacing patterns that connect and unite the figures. This
piece is a wonderful example and representation of Germanic art during the Migration Period
By Jesica Hicks
Sutton Hoo Burial Ship
Built around the year 817 the Oseberg ship is one of the many Viking
ships. The Oseberg ship was found in 1904 in Oseberg Vestfold County
Norway by a framer. It is one of the two most complete Viking ships
unearthed in Norway , it is 19 feet and 2 inches long.
 It included bodies of two women, it is believed that one of the women
may have been the famous Queen Asa from name Oseberg derives:
Asa’
Asa’s mountain or mound.
mound.
 Items buried in the ship where an ornate cart, beds, sledges, wooden
chests, riding equipment, and twelve horses. The ship was built in oak
and contains 12 board planks and 15oar on each side, indicating a
crew of 35-40. The stem and stern were decorated with ornate wood
carvings, with the ship likely used for voyages in fjords along the
coasts of Norway by people of high rank. This Viking ship with a
beautifully carved keel has brought back the Viking days .
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By Lama Ziq
Animal Head of Osberg Burial Ship
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This is a 5”
5” high prow post animal head from the Viking
ship burial of the 9th century, ca 825 made of wood. The
animal head post is a part of the 70 ft ship long covered be
a mound like the earlier Sutton Hoo. This is from Oseberg,
Norway.
In the old days, people usually buried the deceased in the
ground or sent them away on a boat. By the way, there
also is a ship burial site found in Europe that contained the
dead treasures. The Viking ship which contains this animal
head is ornamented at the end of the ship.
The animal head is a wood carved ornament heavily
influenced by the early Christian art of the 11th century
Norway. It is carved very deeply on the side and toward
the back of the head, and has a pattern that seems like
mixed and tangled together. In reality, this animal’
animal’s head
has brindled pattern, but in this prow, the artist depicted the
pattern of the head using carved wooden lines instead of
the brindle.
The eyes are carved very deeply and roundly to express
the glaring intensity of the eyeball. The top of the face and
both side of cheeks are dug like square shapes, which look
like tiled floor. This part of the real animal’
animal’s face pattern is
colored gray or white, but the artist employed the pattern of
the square shape instead. The ears are very small, not
standing out that much so they are very hard to see at the
back side of the head and eyes.
This animal could be either a cheetah or panther and looks
very fierce. They are the fastest animals in the prairie and
jungle, respectively, so the Vikings and their
contemporaries frequently used them as symbols of
fierceness and strength.
By In Young Kim & Jonathan Tran
Sources
Graham-Campbell, James. The Viking World.
Published by Ticknor & Fields, 1980
Cagner, Ewert. The Viking. Published by Cagner & Co., 1966
Nicolaysen, N.. The Viking-Ship from Gokstad.
Republished by Gregg International Publishers Limited.
http://www.abc.se/~pa/uwa/wreck-no.htm
http://www.khm.uio.no/english/viking_ship_museum/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseberg_ship
http://www.bergen-guide.com/348.htm