A curator and Netflix film adviser will be bringing her knowledge of an excavation that inspired a Netflix film will be coming to Dorset Museum.

Dr Sue Brunning, curator of Early Medieval collections at the British Museum, will be speaking on Thursday, March 24 about the role of female archaeologist Peggy Piggot in the 1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo burial ship in Suffolk.

Piggot (1912-1994), later known as Margaret Guido, was played by Lily James in the 2021 Netflix film The Dig. The film brought the extraordinary Sutton Hoo ship burial to a wider audience and Dr Brunning assisted the filmmakers in the recreation of the excavation.

The excavation revealed an early medieval burial of unparalleled magnificence and became one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. The Dig includes a dramatic scene in which a young Peggy Piggott uncovers the first of many gold artefacts from the burial. While this moment mirrors reality, there is more to say about Peggy's role at Sutton Hoo.

In the lecture, DR Brunning will follow her throughout that momentous discovery in 1939, via the British Museum's extensive archival materials.

Shortly before her time on the Sutton Hoo excavation, Piggot spent time in Dorset, excavating an Early Iron Age site in Worth Matravers and later published on sites in Crichel and Launceston Down. She also worked on sites in Wiltshire and Hampshire.

Dr Sue Branning will be at Dorset Museum on Thursday, March 24 from 7pm.

Find more information and tickets at dorsetmuseum.org. Tickets are also available in person from Dorset Museum.

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