Spong Hill, Anglo-Saxon cemetery in North Elmham, England.
Spong Hill is an Early Anglo-Saxon burial ground on a hilltop containing cremations and inhumations from the 5th to 7th centuries. The site holds the remains of hundreds of individuals, showing how this location served as a regional burial place over several generations.
The burial ground emerged in the early medieval period and served for roughly 150 years before burial practices shifted. Excavations beginning in the 1970s uncovered extensive material that documents the social conditions of the time.
The burial ground shows how communities honored their dead and valued certain possessions in the afterlife. The objects placed with the remains reveal much about what people considered important to take with them.
The site is now managed by local museums that carefully preserve and display the findings. To view the artifacts and learn about discoveries, visitors should explore the regional museum collections.
A highlight of the excavations was finding a carved human figure on a cremation urn, offering rare insight into early medieval artistic expression. This discovery shows that some burial vessels were made with considerable skill and care.
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