BASIL BROWN, played in
The Dig by Ralph Fiennes, was the principal archaeologist behind the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England. It is now considered one of the most important finds in Britain, the majesty of its 27-metre burial ship and 7th-century Anglo-Saxon treasures reframing historians’ view of the so-called Dark Ages.
However, it was very nearly missed – and Brown wasn’t always acknowledged for his efforts. He was a self-educated archaeologist and astronomer, who spent much of his income as a tenant farmer and insurance agent on that education. Being an independent scholar without an academic post was an irregularity that led to the omission of his name at the British Museum’s display of the Sutton Hoo treasures for decades.
In 1938, excavator Basil Brown broke ground at the Sutton Hoo estate in Suffolk, England, investigating a series of mounds on the property of landowner Edith Pretty. There, he makes an overwhelming discovery: the mounds mark the burial site of an Anglo-Saxon king.Â
Director Simon Stone brings the narrative to life in âThe Dig,â a recent Netflix film based on both the historical incident and John Prestonâs novel of the same name. For a production about a significant discovery, it handles themes of exploration and the importance of history lightly, leaving everything at face value when thereâs clearly more to say.Â
Netflix s The Dig has been slammed as sexist for reducing an experienced archaeologist to a bumbling, deferential, sidekick to her husband .
The film depicts the unearthing of the famous Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk and stars Ralph Fiennes as self-taught local archaeologist Basil Brown and Lily James as 27-year-old excavator Peggy Piggott.
Mrs Piggott was the wife of archaeologist Stuart Piggott - played by Ben Chaplin - who arrived at the Suffolk site with imperious academic Charles Phillips (Ken Stott).
During the dig at the burial mounds, Mrs Piggott - who was two years younger than her husband - unearthed with her trowel a small gold and garnet pyramid, the first exciting glimpse of bejewelled treasure.