In October 2003 the Museum of London Archaeology Service began an excavation at Prittlewell, south-east Essex. Prittlewell was a village with roots in the prehistoric past. The Anglo-Saxon cemetery there was already known, but it wasn't long before a burial had been found that increased its importance by a considerable degree. Grave goods include a gold belt buckle, a Byzantine silver spoon, an iron sword and a selection of vessels. The size of the grave and the richness of its associated objects make it perhaps the most important Anglo-Saxon burial since the discovery of Sutton Hoo in 1939.