Pretty immediately realised what lay beneath was a find of massive historical significance. After several days of digging, the team made a remarkable discovery – a ship's rivet. After some initial exciting finds, in May 1939 Pretty suggested they next focus their efforts on the largest mound, to be hereafter known as Mound 1. Pretty arranged the excavations herself for two seasons, with Brown and a ragtag crew made up of her gardener, gamekeeper, and estate worker first honing their skills on an excavation of three smaller mounds. No significant finds had been made, however, until Edith became motivated to obtain the services of the nearby Ipswich Corporation Museum and their local archeologist, Basil Brown ( Ralph Fiennes), a self-taught digger with a suitably awesome name. With her archeological background, Pretty had a hunch that something important lay beneath.Įvidence suggests the mounds had been disturbed before, with documented attempts at excavations in both the 16th and 19th centuries, and it is likely that looters had pillaged some antiquities over the years. After her husband passed, leaving herself and young son Robert (played by Archie Barnes) alone on the sprawling property, she began to take deeper notice of the curious-looking mounds, some 18 in number and laying a mere 500 metres from her house.
Coming from an affluent and well-traveled family, Pretty had visited tombs and pyramids in her youth, igniting a lifelong love of ancient ruins.
In the late 1930s, on a scenic plot of land just a few miles from the North Sea coast near Ipswich, Edith Pretty (played by Carey Mulligan) decided to organise an excavation of the mounds on which her property stood.
Get inspired for your viewing by learning a bit more about this turning point in our understanding of Medieval Europe. Sure enough, Netflix is set to release a new film on 29 Jan., The Dig, based on the true story, starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James. The people involved, from the wealthy widowed landowner whose estate the mounds were discovered on, to the self-taught archeologist who first broke ground, to the British Museum officials who wrested control of the dig away from the local scientists - all set against the backdrop of England on the eve of WWII - seem perfectly suited for cinema. Mere months before England entered the second World War, the story captivated British consciousness, as well as the attentions of budding archeologists the world over, and not only for the spectacular treasures discovered within the graves. The excavations at Sutton Hoo, the site of Dark Age-era Anglo-Saxon burial mounds located in Suffolk, East Anglia, are considered England's greatest archeological find of the 20th century.
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