We still had energy but not the time to do so. Instead, I took him to Sutton Hoo by car. Although it was a warm day, Basil wore his jacket, tie, waistcoat and cap as usual. Not smelly at all. He remembered that in the first season, the summer of 1938, he explored three quite small mounds, finding that all had been robbed. He found little other than pottery, minor forerunners of what he brought to light in 1939.
In the main mound it became clear to him that the grave had been undisturbed (if only by a few inches) and that he was tackling almost single-handedly a find of national even international importance.