pumpkinstrokemarrow

Bit of public archeology yesterday, courtesy of the National Trust. Where they manage to put on a good show despite the burial mounds themselves not being that impressive. I imagine they would have been more so when raw and new, perhaps at a time when the landscape was less obscured by trees and bushes.

Shiny new exhibition and cafeteria halls. Exhibition hall has lots of educational panels, a sprinking of artefacts and some interesting reconstructions. I was very impressed by the sword, the construction of which was very complicated. A core and two edges. The core made in a long process of folding alternate layers of mild and hard steel, twisting the resultant bars into ropes and lastly welding two such ropes together to make the core. How on earth did such a process evolve? How much status did the smiths have? More or less priestly? What relation did this process bear to the Damascus proces of damascening sword baldes, also very strong and up for slicing through the rather thin armour available in those days. There was also very elaborate decorative metal work on a small scale - clasps and buckles and such like. Impressed also by the material poverty of the big cheeses of that time. They might have had some very fancy toys but that was about it. After that onto wives, slaves and other livestock.

Site rounded out by a couple of excellent circular walks, mainly through woodland. Some large trees, mainly sweet chestnut, and the largest ash tree I have seen since our visit to Cadbury castle. Views of the Deben, from where the funeral ships had been dragged.

Plus a nice bit of chain saw art of Spot the magic dragon. Whoever did it played to the tree as he found it, rather than playing with his chain saw. Far better than the stuff you get in Surrey.