Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I am really looking forward to learning with you today all about the Anglo-Saxons.

And we're going to explore the question, how do we know about life in Anglo-Saxon, England? So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how archeologists have used grave goods to make inferences about Anglo-Saxon Britain.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are grave goods, artisan, garnet, Byzantium.

I'm going to say those again and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Grave goods, artisan, garnet, Byzantium.

By good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are definitions for each of our keywords.

Grave goods are objects buried in people's graves, providing insights into their culture and daily life.

An artisan is a skilled crafts person who creates objects by hand, often using traditional techniques and tools.

Garnet is a precious gemstone that comes in various colors, often used in jewelry and decorative items. Byzantium is the name of an ancient Greek city now known as Istanbul, which was an important center of trade and culture.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we will be working through together in today's lesson.

Exploring grave goods, discovering Sutton Hoo, Anglo-Saxon artisans and traders.

In the first learning cycle, we will explore grave goods.

Archeologists often use different sources to learn about the past.

One of the main sources of evidence archeologists use to investigate the Anglo-Saxons are their grave goods.

These are items buried alongside individuals in ancient graves, which help archeologists and historians understand the lives, beliefs, and cultures of the people who live during that time.

By looking at these, archeologists can infer important information about who the people were, what life was like for them, and who they may have lived and traded with.

So you can see in that recreation of an Anglo-Saxon burial in that image there, you can see the different items that have been buried with that person.

Objects such as well-made jewelry, weapons, and everyday items found in graves suggest that very skilled artisans lived in Anglo-Saxon society.

So have a look there.

This is one of the items found in Anglo-Saxon Graves.

Through the study of grave goods, historians can get a good idea of Anglo-Saxon life and society.

Here's a photo of another item found in an Anglo-Saxon grave.

It's a gold brooch.

I wonder who would've worn that type of brooch.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Why do archeologists study grave goods? To see if they can sell them to make money, to learn about people's lives in the past, to use them as items in films about the past.

What do you think? Have a quick discussion with your partner.

Pause the video here.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

If you said to learn about people's lives in the past, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

Think about the items that mean a lot to you and what you would want to represent you.

Choose one item.

Write one sentence to explain what you think an archeologist could learn about your life from this item.

You can use the starter sentence to help you.

If archeologists found my, they could learn that.

So fill in those two gaps there to write one sentence about an item that an archeologist, if they found it, what they would learn about your life from it.

Pause the video here.

Give yourself enough time.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Let's have a look at an example, shall we? So an example could be, if archeologists found my bike, they could learn that I was someone who liked to travel or exercise.

Well done for completing that learning task.

We're now going to move on to the second part of this lesson.

We're going to explore discovering Sutton Hoo.

In 1938, archeologists made an astonishing discovery in East Anglia in England, an Anglo-Saxon burial site known as Sutton Hoo.

And here's a photo of the actual burial mound at Sutton Hoo.

this site was very exciting for archeologists as the remains of a 27-meter long boat were found.

Boat burials are very rare discoveries as only the most important Anglo-Saxons would've been buried alongside a boat.

Other remarkable grave goods were also found, including very detailed gold jewelry, silver plates, bowls, and a magnificent iron and bronze helmet.

These findings suggested that the burial site belonged to an Anglo-Saxon king.

Sadly, the king's name still remains a mystery to archeologists.

You can see in that photo there, those are the actual archeologists exploring the boat at Sutton Hoo.

How fantastic it would be to find such a huge boat buried underground.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What was Sutton Hoo? A burial site that contained the grave goods of an Anglo-Saxon king, the name of an Anglo-Saxon king who buried his grave goods with him, a type of Anglo-Saxon jewelry that was commonly found in burial sites.

Pause the video here, have a quick discussion with your partner, and restart the video when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said a burial site that contained the grave goods of an Anglo-Saxon king, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

Some of the most important finds at Sutton Hoo were parts of an iron and bronze Anglo-Saxon helmet, which has become known as the Sutton Hoo helmet.

At first, archeologists discovered small pieces and carefully collected them, and then later put them back together, like building a giant puzzle.

The archeologists worked out that the parts were made for a helmet because of their shape, size, and material.

Once pieced together, archeologists could make out images of fighting and dancing warriors as decoration on the helmet.

Archeologists also realized that the front of the mask was designed like a dragon.

The dragon's wings make the eyebrows on the helmet, and the dragon's tail the mustache on the helmet.

Can you imagine how difficult it was to put this historical jigsaw together, all of those pieces to create the Sutton Hoo helmet? You can see in the photo there how fantastic it is.

This amazing discovery has been reconstructed to show people what the original may have looked like when it belonged to the Anglo-Saxon king.

A sword and parts that could be attached to the handle were also found at Sutton Hoo.

The sword was made of bronze and many of the attachments were decorated in gold and garnets.

The precious materials used show that swords were a symbol of status and pride for Anglo-Saxons, especially for Anglo-Saxon kings like the one buried at Sutton Hoo.

Archeologists have even discovered from the position of the sword in the grave that the owner was likely left-handed.

The discovery of the helmets and sword showed archeologists that warfare was an important part of Anglo-Saxon life.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Is this statement true or false? There is evidence that warfare was important to the Anglo-Saxons.

Is that true or false? If you said true, that's absolutely right.

Well done.

How do we justify our answer? Let's look at these two statements.

The Anglo-Saxon king buried at Sutton Hoo held his sword in his left hand.

An impressive helmet and a sword with gold and Garnet attachments was found at Sutton Hoo.

Which of these two statements helps to justify your answer? Have a discussion with your partner.

Pause the video here.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

What did you think? If you said that an impressive helmet and a bronze sword with gold and garnet attachments was found at Sutton Hoo, you're absolute right.

Well done.

This brings us to our second learning task.

I'd like you to complete the label for the Sutton Hoo helmet reconstruction for a museum display.

So, your label might include, this is an, it is made from, it was recreated by, it tells us that.

So use each of those sentence starters to create this label for the Sutton Hoo helmet reconstruction for that museum display.

Pause the video here.

Give yourself enough time.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at what you could have written? This is an Anglo-Saxon helmet.

It is made from iron and bronze.

It was recreated by archeologists.

It tells us that warfare was an important part of Anglo-Saxon life.

Well done for completing that learning task.

We're now ready to move on to the third part of this lesson.

We're gonna explore Anglo-Saxon artisans and traders.

A lot of the grave goods found at Sutton Hoo show that the Anglo-Saxons were skilled artisans.

For example, the detailed gold and bronze jewelry and copper bowl found were handcrafted items with beautiful designs.

Similarly, archeologists even discovered the remains of luxurious textiles and leather shoes, which would've taken a lot of skill and time to make.

There's also lots of evidence to show that, at the time of the Anglo-Saxons, things were transported to Britain from far away places.

Some objects found at Sutton Hoo were covered with garnets that may have come from India.

Have a look there, that photo of a piece of gold Anglo-Saxon jewelry with garnets.

It may have come all the way from India.

And there are also silver plates and bowls from Byzantine.

Items from Anglo-Saxon Britain were also found elsewhere in the world.

In Rome, a special coin was found with Arabic writing and an Anglo-Saxon king's face on it.

Together, these artifacts show that the Anglo-Saxons may have had trade networks with other countries across the globe, and they traded with people from these far away places.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Is this statement true or false? There is evidence that the Anglo-Saxons were skilled artisans.

Is that true or false? What do you think? If you said that's true, you are absolutely right.

So how do we justify our answer? Let's take a look at these two statements.

Detailed handcrafted items with beautiful designs were found at Sutton Hoo.

Detailed items with beautiful designs that came from Byzantine were found at Sutton Hoo.

So which of these two statements helps to justify your answer? Have a discussion with your partner.

Pause the video here.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

What did you think? If you said that detailed handcrafted items with beautiful designs were found at Sutton Hoo, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

And let's do another check.

How do historians know that the Anglo-Saxons traded with other parts of the world? Artifacts that were made by the Anglo-Saxons have been found in different parts of the world.

Artifacts found at Sutton Hoo came from Byzantine, and some items were decorated with garnets from India.

And a boat was found at Sutton Hoo with notes saying where they had been.

Have a discussion with your partner.

Out of these statements, how do historians know that the Anglo-Saxons traded with other parts of the world? Which ones would you select? Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said the artifacts that were made by the Anglo-Saxons have been found in different parts of the world, and artifacts found at Sutton Hoo came from Byzantium, and some items were decorated with garnets from India, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our final learning task.

Can you complete the following sentences using evidence from this lesson? Archeologists know that the Anglo-Saxons were skilled artisans because archeologists know that Anglo-Saxons traded with other countries because.

So pause the video here, make sure you've got yourself a pen and some paper to complete these sentences.

Give yourself enough time and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at some answers? So your answers could have included archeologists know that the Anglo-Saxons were skilled artisans because they found lots of beautifully crafted jewelry in Anglo-Saxon graves, like at the Sutton Hoo burial site.

Archeologists know that Anglo-Saxons traded with other countries because they have found silver bowls from Byzantine and garnet gemstones may be from India at the Sutton Hoo burial site.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarize what we've learned about Anglo-Saxon grave goods.

One of the main sources of evidence archeologists use to investigate the Anglo-Saxons are their grave goods.

The Sutton who burial site was discovered in East Anglia in 1938.

A boat found at the site suggests it belonged to an Anglo-Saxon king, and iron and bronze helmet and weapons found show how important warfare was to the Anglo-Saxons.

Detailed gold and bronze jewelry suggest that the Anglo-Saxons were skilled artisans.

Some pieces at Sutton Hoo contained garnets that probably came from India, and silver plates and bowls from Byzantine.

This suggests that the Anglo-Saxons were traders across the globe.

Thank you for joining me in today's lesson, and I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.