The Sutton Hoo Dig 2024 - Parts 1-3 Available to WATCH NOW!

Join us to watch part's 1-3 of our historic dig at Sutton Hoo, now available to watch for free on YouTube. For extended behind-the-scenes coverage, interviews and memberhsip benefits head to our page on Patreon, plus follow the 2025 dig coming soon...

Hosted by Tony Robinson, Time Team’s historic dig in an Anglo Saxon cemetery at Sutton Hoo gets underway. It’s one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, famous for the Great Anglo Saxon Ship Burial. The team undertake a month-long dig in Garden Field to try to find the origins of this incredible site. If they can understand what’s happening in this field, they might be able to understand the entire site including the Royal Burial Ground. They join forces with Prof. Martin Carver and a team of archaeologists who dug the Royal Burial Ground in the 1980s.

PART 1

In Part 1 of 3 parts following the first season at Sutton Hoo, Tony and the team get stuck into the first week of excavations, and delve into the history of the site. Tony reveals how the discovery of the great ship burial changed our understanding of Anglo Saxon society.. The Team begin to suspect that a cemetery under the Visitor’s Centre extends into Garden Field. And a strong metal detecting signal suggests to the team that they might have found the missing parts of a rare and beautiful Byzantine bucket partly ploughed up 30 years ago. Dr Helen Geake reveals her very personal connection with the site, which goes back to her student days, when she and other members of the team discovered some extraordinary burials under the other mounds in the Royal Burial ground. Dr. John Gater reveals the Geofizz that he and Jimmy Adcock did in 2021 and Stewart takes a wander through the landscape.

PART 2

In Part 2, the Geofizz team hunt for an anglo saxon settlement and a Hall. And they discover an extraordinary anomaly which could shed light on Sutton Hoo’s Anglo Saxon shipping history. Carenza and Dani recruit about 40 volunteers to investigate the area in a series of test pits, and Derek and Lawrence take to the water.. In Garden Field, the dig continues with more graves being identified and pieces of intriguing grave goods. The big metal detecting signal gets bigger. Derek and Helen make an exciting discovery about the fabric of the Byzantine Bucket.

PART 3

In Part 3, The Dig Jackie McKinlay rejoins the team as the Dig reaches an exciting climax in the middle of a heatwave as they discover the source of the big metal detecting signal. Tony explores some of the more extraordinary medieval execution burials found in the Royal Burial ground. The program focusses on some of the developments in Anglo Saxon craftsmanship. Hilde meets the Sutton Hoo Textiles group who are using experimental archaeology to recreate some sumptuous Anglo Saxon textiles. And the man who recreated the Bromeswell Bucket explains how it nearly hospitalised him.

Discover more about Time Team's partnership with Sutton Hoo here.