Beschreibung:

ANGLO-SAXON GREAT RYBURGH OAK COFFIN 8th century AD A wooden coffin base formed from a split oak-tree trunk with hollowed-out cavity to accept the human remains. 80+kg, 2.21x0.53m (87 x 21"). Condition Fine condition. Condition report [Click to show] This information is available to our registered clients. Please Log In to view. Provenance Found Great Ryburgh Monastic burial site in 2016. Only one similar item is known to exist in public or private collections anywhere in the world - the example in Norwich Castle Museum, Norfolk, England. Published See: Great Ryburgh: A remarkable Anglo-Saxon cemetery revealed, Current Archaeology: https://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/features/great-ryburgh-%EF%BB%BF%EF%BB%BFa-remarkable-anglo-saxon-cemetery-revealed.htm; also see: Great Ryburgh dig finds 81 'rare' Anglo-Saxon coffins, BBC news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-37940012; and see Exceptional Survival of Rare Anglo-Saxon Coffins, Historic England: https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/survival-of-rare-anglo-saxon-coffins. Literature Supplied with a copy of the Historic England press release and site plan. Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England said: "These rare and exceptional well-preserved graves are a significant discovery which will advance our understanding of Middle-Saxon religious beliefs and rural communities". Footnotes In November 2016, while preparing for construction of a conservation and fishing site at Great Rybergh in Norfolk as part of the flood defence system for the area, workmen discovered a quantity of waterlogged wooden remains. Archaeologists from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) were called in to perform controlled excavation and assessment of the items, which proved to be part of a 7th-9th century cemetery, the existence of which was previously unknown. The wooden remains included a number of oak coffins, each a tree trunk split to provide the lid and base, hollowed out to accept the body. Such coffins have never before been found in England in an Anglo-Saxon content, although their use has long been theorised and some antiquarian digs of the 19th century mention similar objects. The find proves that the tradition of dug-out coffins, which