Doug I believe this will be in your neck of the woods soon, yes?
LONDON (AP) - A hoard of glass and copper jugs, ceremonial crosses and other Saxon artifacts has gone on display, giving the public a first look at a rare find of a royal tomb from the seventh century.
``To find an intact chamber grave and a moment genuinely frozen in time is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery,'' Ian Blair, the senior archaeologist on the dig, said Thursday at the Museum of London.
``The fact that copper-alloy bowls were still hanging from hooks in the walls of the chamber, where they had been placed nearly 1,400 years ago, is a memory that I'm sure will remain with all of us forever.''
Nothing is left of the king who was buried in the wood-walled grave. He was discovered beneath the streets of Prittlewell, in the English Channel port of Southend, 35 miles east of London.
The treasures buried with the ``Prince of Prittlewell,'' as the archaeologists call him, were in remarkably good condition. They included a ceremonial sword and glass jugs.
The grave was discovered completely intact after excavation began last October. The site was uncovered during an archaeological investigation by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council in cooperation with a road improvement plan. The Southend area was known to be of archaeological interest before the dig.
``We had no idea we would find anything like this. We didn't expect anything so unique,'' said Lyn Blackmore, a finds specialist for the Museum of London.
It is the most significant Saxon discovery since 1939 when a burial chamber was recovered in an 84-foot-long ship at the Sutton Hoo site in eastern England. Experts estimate that the Southend burial was contemporary with the Sutton Hoo burial and the two kings may have known each other.
Sections of the burial site have been removed in boxes to be analyzed in a more stable laboratory environment. About 60 artifacts have been uncovered and cataloged so far.
Experts estimate it will take years to analyze their precious findings. Preliminary examination has indicated that many of the artifacts traveled from the eastern Mediterranean, northern Italy and Hungary.
The display at the Museum of London continues through Feb. 17, when it moves to the Southend Central Museum in Southend-on-Sea, from Feb. 21 until March 22.