Editing Sutton Hoo (section)

=== Background ===
{{further|Burial in Early Anglo-Saxon England|Kingdom of East Anglia}}
[[File:Williamson p16 3.svg|thumb|The [[Kingdom of East Anglia]] during the early Anglo/Angle-Saxon period, with Sutton Hoo in the south-eastern area near to the coast]]

After the withdrawal of the Romans from southern Britain after 410, Germanic tribes such as the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] and [[Saxons]] began to settle in the southeastern part of the island. East Anglia is regarded by many scholars as a region in which this settlement was particularly early and dense; the area's name derives from that of the Angles. Over time, the remnants of the pre-existing Brittonic population adopted the culture of the newcomers.<ref>Toby F. Martin, ''The Cruciform Brooch and Anglo-Saxon England'' (2015: Boydell and Brewer), pp. 174–175</ref><ref name="Hills2015">Catherine Hills, "The Anglo-Saxon Migration: An Archaeological Case Study of Disruption", in ''Migration and Disruptions: Toward a Unifying Theory of Ancient and Contemporary Migrations'', ed. Brenda J. Baker and Takeyuki Tsuda (2015: University Press of Florida), pp. 47–48</ref><ref>Ken R. Dark, "Large-scale population movements into and from Britain south of Hadrian's Wall in the fourth to sixth centuries AD" (2003)</ref>

During this period, southern Britain became divided up into a number of small independent kingdoms. Several pagan cemeteries from the kingdom of the East Angles have been found, most notably at [[Spong Hill]] and [[Snape Anglo-Saxon Cemetery|Snape]], where a large number of cremations and inhumations were found. Many of the graves were accompanied by [[grave goods]], which included combs, tweezers and [[brooch]]es, as well as weapons. Sacrificed animals had been placed in the graves.{{sfn|Carver|1998|pp=103–104}}

At the time when the Sutton Hoo cemetery was in use, the River Deben would have formed part of a busy trading and transportation network. A number of settlements grew up along the river, most of which would have been small farmsteads, although it seems likely that there was a larger administrative centre as well, where the local aristocracy held court. Archaeologists have speculated that such a centre may have existed at Rendlesham, [[Melton, Suffolk|Melton]], [[Bromeswell]] or at Sutton Hoo. It has been suggested that the burial mounds used by wealthier families were later appropriated as sites for early churches. In such cases, the mounds would have been destroyed before the churches were constructed.{{sfn|Carver|1998|p=107}}

The Sutton Hoo grave field contained about twenty [[Tumulus|barrows]]; it was reserved for people who were buried individually with objects that indicated that they had exceptional wealth or prestige. It was used in this way from around 575 to 625 and contrasts with the Snape cemetery, where the ship-burial and furnished graves were added to a graveyard of buried pots containing cremated ashes.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/-wXhwCPNMxMA8A |title=Sutton Hoo: Anglo-Saxon ship burial – Google Arts & Culture |work=Google Cultural Institute |access-date=12 August 2017 |language=en |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818100339/https://artsandculture.google.com/story/-wXhwCPNMxMA8A |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}