Newly Unearthed Warrior's Grave Poised to Redraw Map of Anglo-Saxon England

[Judi Lynn]

Nicknamed the “Marlow Warlord,” the six-foot-tall man was buried on a hill overlooking the Thames sometime in the sixth century A.D.

By Nora McGreevy
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
OCTOBER 6, 2020

In 2018, amateur metal detectorist Sue Washington was scanning a hilltop overlooking the River Thames when she received a strong signal on her device. Unsure if the signal indicated anything important, she later recalled that “uncertainty preyed on my mind.” Washington and her partner, Mick, returned to the site twice. On their third visit, they happened across a telltale sign of an exciting find: namely, two ancient bronze vessels.

As it turns out, the Washingtons had stumbled onto a 1,400-year-old burial. Realizing the site’s significance, the couple turned the investigation over to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) for Buckinghamshire, which in turn contacted the University of Reading’s archaeology department.

Archaeologists began digging at the site in earnest this August. Now, the team has revealed what excavations unearthed: a rare Anglo-Saxon grave, complete with a man’s skeleton and an assortment of valuable weapons. Dubbed the “Marlow Warlord” in honor of a nearby town, the “commanding,” six-foot-tall man was buried in a hillside grave sometime in the sixth century A.D.

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He adds, “This the first burial of its kind found in the mid-Thames basin, which is often overlooked in favor of the Upper Thames and London. It suggests that the people living in this region may have been more important than historians previously suspected.”

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/anglo-saxon-warrior-unearthed-britain-180975981/