Vegetational development and land use in Vendel and Sutton Hoo

The aim of the project is to ascertain whether, in connection with the exploitation of natural resources, any special ties existed between the boat grave people of Vendel in northern Uppland, Sweden, and the Anglo‐Saxons in Sutton Hoo in East Anglia, England, during the pre‐Viking period. The existence of cultural ties between these areas has been assumed in earlier research. The scientific methods used in palaeoenvironmental mapping of the study areas include detailed stratigraphical examination of both biogenic and minerogenic sediments in the basin of Lake Vendelsjön and in the valley of the river Deben. Different types of scientific analyses are applied in order to reconstruct the geological background and the environmental, vegetational and settlement histories of the two areas.