Like in The Dig movie, the true story confirms that Basil Brown was not considered to be a professional archaeologist. In The Dig movie and book, the entire excavation is condensed into one season in 1939, ending at the outbreak of WWII. The British Museum was also informed of the discoveries.īrown came back on to continue the excavation, this time focusing on the largest hill, Mound 1, which concealed what became known as the Sutton Hoo burial ship.
Edith Pretty gave the items to the Ipswich Museum, where they were put on display. Brown stayed until August 9, 1938, completing his first of two seasons of excavating the burial site. The excavation of Mound 2 and the discovery of this smaller boat is not included in the movie or book.
However, the top half was missing, suggesting the site had been looted. In Mound 2, he found a bead, Bronze Age pottery shards, a gilt bronze disc, a piece of blue glass, the tip of a sword blade, iron knives, a ship's rivets, and a smaller boat that appeared to have been cut in half, with one half placed on top of the other as a cover. He found little in the latter, as it appeared to have been robbed. It was enough to convince Pretty to have him excavate two more mounds in hopes of discovering more Sutton Hoo treasure. He made several promising finds, including the remains of a cremated man, fragments of early Saxon pottery, rotten wooden fibers that together resembled a tray, the lid of a Mediterranean jug, a portion of a decorated limestone plaque, and a corroded iron axe head. With the help of two workers on Pretty's estate, Brown first excavated what became known as Mound 3. He arrived on Jand stayed with Pretty's chauffeur. Maynard recommended local archaeologist Basil Brown (played by Ralph Fiennes in The Dig movie) to find out what, if anything, lay beneath the strange mounds on Pretty's land.Įdith Pretty hired Basil Brown, agreeing to pay him 30 shillings a week for two weeks to explore the mounds. In July of that year, a formal meeting was held during which Pretty, Redstone, and the curator of the Ipswich Corporation Museum, Guy Maynard, discussed the possibility of excavation.
Redstone, a member of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, about potentially excavating the mounds on her Sutton Hoo estate. How did Edith Pretty end up hiring archaeologist Basil Brown to explore the mounds on her property?Īt the Woodbridge Flower Fete (festival) in 1937, Edith Pretty talked to Vincent B.
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