Dear Reader,
Francis and I watched a film this week called 'The Dig' about an Anglo Saxon ship burial excavation at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, 1939, which apparently was the most famous archaeological dig in Britain in modern times. The discovery at Sutton Hoo changed our understanding of some of the first chapters of English history and at a time seen as undeveloped, was illuminated as cultured and sophisticated.
When excavation of the burrows began in 1938 archaeologists uncovered the imprint of a 27m-long decayed ship, thought to be the burial site of an Anglo Saxon king. A chamber full of dazzling riches was found at the centre of the boat and these artifacts are considered by many to comprise the greatest treasures ever discovered in the UK.
I wasn't really meaning to tell you the story line of this film but perhaps I needed to introduce my own feeling of disgust. Dismantling of buried bones, and the treasures put there to help the souls of the bodies rest in peace with their own things around them is, in my opinion, a violation of the sacred. On Shakespeare's grave it is written:
"Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, to dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones."
*
A Curse
on those who plunder the earth,
and violate sacred places.....
A curse on those who disturb
and steal gently-bandaged skulls,
legs, arms, and finger-bones,
jewels: perhaps a pearl bracelet,
a coral ring, hair pins, or a mosaic plate,
set out lovingly with food
for the long journey home.
Who have lain there, at peace,
for many thousand years,
the sand, the desert winds, the rains,
nature's bed.
A curse on those whose
laughter and excitement
fills the air, stealing these remains,
transporting them to people
in white coats,
who dissect their dignity,
stick labels on them,
give them to museums
to enlighten an ice-cream-licking public.
*
With best wishes, Patricia
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