26. Sutton Hoo Purse Lid

Rus, Viking or Norse people are known to have been fur and slave  traders  with Constantinople in  the 9^th C, but this  exquisite gold purse lid, which would have originally been mounted on ivory or bone and connected to a leather purse,  is early 7^th C and Anglo Saxon in style.   It also hints at  trade, tribute, or theft with  Byzantium.

Techniques used on this lid, gold granulation, inlaid garnet,  milleflori glass mosaic and cloisonné  are  techniques that  were  common in the Eastern Mediterranean countries and the confronted animal motif was also prevalent in this area. The garnets came from Sri Lanka. Also in the same find a 6^th C silver platter is clearly Byzantium  and some bitumen has been analysed  and shown to come from Syria. This lid is part of the very extensive Sutton Hoo treasures discovered in 1939 when the land owner had archaeologists investigate several of the 18 very visible burial mounds on her property in Suffolk. The grounds are now owned by the National Trust. This lid is about 20cm long.