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When it comes to archaeology, Hollywood has always felt the need to inject plenty of excitement into what is, in real life, a long, laborious job. That’s why in
Mummy, we don’t just see Rick and his pals scratching about in the soil in the hopes of coming across a papyrus scroll or two, but rather we’re treated to pestilence, plagues and the rising up of an undead army hellbent on revenge.
But while Netflix’s
The Dig doesn’t disturb anything untoward beneath the English countryside, the slow burn of the priceless sixth-century treasures to be found while the threat of World War II looms across the Channel, makes for a fascinating insight into how the famous Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon artefacts came to be discovered.
For those of you who like movies of this ilk, usually British, period pieces usually set in the first half of the 20th century (or before), that deal with history (think archaeology), then âThe Digâ is for you. Throw in some cracker jack actors like Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James, stream it on Netflix and wait for the buzz.
In 1939, Mrs. Edith Pretty (Mulligan) decided to hire an archaeologist to investigate, that is, dig into what looked to be burial mounds located on her Suffolk estate. She hired a man who came highly recommended, a self-taught archaeologist/excavator named Basil Brown (Fiennes). He demanded a higher salary than the one he had been paid by the local Ipswich Museum, and she was persuaded to pay it. He did, after all, come highly recommended.
El Tutankamón británico que sobrevivió a los tanques de la Segunda Guerra Mundial larazon.es - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from larazon.es Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
How Netflix s The Dig explores the subtlety of archeological study, of probing memory and the past The Dig reminds us that the role of archaeology is not in treasure-seeking, but in reflecting on our complex relationship to the past, and how and why we value it. The Conversation February 06, 2021 13:25:13 IST Netflix s The Dig recounts the tale of the excavation of a ship burial of an Anglo-Saxon king.
By Roberta Gilchrist
Edith Pretty was convinced that the mounds on her land in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, held important archaeological secrets. In 1939, on the eve of the second world war, she was proven right as the sumptuous ship burial of an Anglo-Saxon king was uncovered. For a nation on the brink of war and facing its own dark age, the Sutton Hoo ship burial was a source of pride and inspiration, equivalent to the tomb of Tutankhamun.
| UPDATED: 21:21, Sat, Feb 6, 2021
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Netflix drama film The Dig about the Sutton Hoo excavation has proven to be quite the lockdown hit. Carey Mulligan stars as the widowed Edith Pretty opposite Ralph Fiennes’ self-taught archaeologist, who she hires for a dig on her land in 1939. One of the fellow archaeologists who joins the team is Lily James’ Peggy Piggott, portrayed as something of a bumbling and inexperienced sidekick who accidentally puts her foot through the top of an Anglo-Saxon burial chamber.