It was a haul of treasure hailed upon its discovery as Britain’s ‘Tutankhamun’.
The 86ft Anglo-Saxon burial ship at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, was unearthed in 1939.
More than 260 items were discovered, including weapons, armour, coins, jewellery, gold buckles, patterned plaques and silver cutlery.
New Netflix film The Dig, starring Lily James, Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, dramatises the find and delves into the lives of those involved in the excavation.
Archaeologists Basil Brown, Peggy and Stuart Piggott and Charles Philips, as well as landowner Edith Pretty and her 12-year-old son Robert are all portrayed in the film.
The new release has received positive reviews from most critics and is popular with viewers, but just how does it match up to reality?
Below, MailOnline delves into key scenes and story twists and compares them with what really happened.
In 1939 the imprint of an 86ft Anglo-Saxon ship was found in Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk. More than 260 items of treasure were also recovered in the haul, including this helmet, leading the important historical discovery to be hailed as Britain’s ‘Tutankhamun’
The WWII plane that dramatically crashed near the burial site
The events in The Dig took place just before the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.
Mid-way through the film – after the remains of the ship and its treasures have been uncovered at the burial mound – a spluttering Spitfire glides over the excavators before crashing in the nearby river.
Ralph Fiennes’s Basil Brown and others then rush from the burial mound to the river before photographer Rory Lomax, played by Johnny Flynn, is seen diving in to the water to pull the pilot’s body from the plane’s wreckage.
Mid-way through the film – after the remains of the ship and its treasures have been uncovered at the burial mound – a spluttering Spitfire glides over the excavators before crashing in the nearby river
Ralph Fiennes’s Basil Brown and others then rush from the burial mound to the river before photographer Rory Lomax, played by Johnny Flynn, is seen diving in to the water to pull the pilot’s body from the plane’s wreckage
Peggy Piggott, played by Lily James, is then seen telling a distressed Lomax that the pilot’s name was David Atkinson, and that it was his second solo flight.
However, this element of the film’s storyline is largely invented.
A plane did crash into the River Debden, near the Sutton Hoo site, but it was an American B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, rather than what appeared to be a Spitfire in the film, and it did not happen until late in the Second World War.
And whereas there were two survivors in real life – and no one from the excavation dived in to the water – the film depicts the pilot’s death.
Peggy Piggot’s lover Rory Lomax
The plane crash provides the way in to the first signs of romantic interest between Lilly James’s Peggy and photographer Rory.
Rory – who is portrayed as Edith Pretty’s cousin – is seen inviting Peggy back to his tent for coffee before they engage in a romantic clinch later in the film.
However, these scenes are entirely fictional and the character of Rory is invented.
What’s more, The Dig hints that Peggy’s husband, fellow archaeologist Stuart Piggott, is more interested in fellow male excavator John Brailsford (Eamon Farren) than he is in his wife.
The plane crash provides the way in to the first signs of romantic interest between Lilly James’s Peggy and photographer Rory, played by Johnny Flynn. Rory – who is Edith Pretty’s cousin – is seen inviting Peggy back to his tent for coffee before they engage in a romantic clinch later in the film
The Dig hints that Peggy’s husband, fellow archaeologist Stuart Piggott – played by Ben Chaplin (pictured) is more interested in fellow male excavator John Brailsford (Eamon Farren) than he is in his wife
Towards the end of the film, he is seen telling his wife that he could ‘learn to be’ happy with her.
But she tenderly tells him that ‘I think that would be an awful shame’ before urging him to join his friends – who include Brailsford – at the pub.
There are then romantic scenes between Peggy and Rory, after he learns that he has been called up to fight in the war.
In reality, although Peggy and Stuart did divorce in 1954, his sexuality has never been documented and there is no record of any romantic relationship between him and another excavator besides his wife.
Peggy Piggott portrayed as a bumbling sidekick to her husband
Peggy and Stuart are portrayed in the film as being newly-weds, whereas they had married three years earlier, in 1936.
The female archaeologist is portrayed in the film as a ‘sidekick’ to her older, more experienced, husband.
But in reality, she was experienced in her own right.
Peggy Piggott (shown left) is portrayed in the film as a ‘sidekick’ to her older, more experienced, husband (right, Stuart Piggott). In reality, she was highly experienced herself
Top archaeologist Rebecca Wragg complained about the portrayal, telling The Times: ‘On the whole she is presented as deferential, even bumbling, putting her foot through a hollow feature.’
Before arriving to help with the dig, Peggy had obtained both a diploma from Cambridge and a postgraduate diploma from the Institute of Archaeology, in 1936.
Basil Brown nearly dying when a burial mound collapses on him
Near the beginning of the film, before the treasures are discovered, archaeologist Basil Brown nearly dies when part of a mound collapses on him.
Landowner Edith Pretty and other excavators then rush to dig him out of the soil.
He is then seen covered in dirt as he is pulled from the mound of earth before being revived.
However, there is no record of any such misfortune befalling Brown or any other of the excavators.
Near the beginning of the film, before the treasures are discovered, archaeologist Basil Brown nearly dies when part of a mound collapses on him
Landowner Edith Pretty and other excavators then rush to dig him out of the soil
The ‘amateur’ Basil Brown and his difficult relationship with professional archaeologists
Basil Brown – who was not formally qualified but is immensely experienced – is seen in the film being sidelined by the other professional archaeologists who arrive later.
He is also seen to have a difficult relationship with Cambridge University academic Charles Phillips, who has been sent by the British museum.
However, while there was some tension between the pair initially, they did work well together and formed a relationship described by National Trust experts as one of ‘collaboration and mutual respect’.
Mrs Pretty hired self-taught archologist Basil Brown (left), played by Ralph Fiennes in the upcoming film (right), for £1.50 per day to investigate unusual mounds of earth on her property
He is also seen to have a difficult relationship with Cambridge University academic Charles Phillips, who has been sent by the British museum. Pictured: Carey Mulligan as Edith Pretty, alongside Lily James and Ken Stott, who plays Charles Phillips
In the first major account of events of the Sutton Hoo dig – published in 1940 -Philips praised Brown as having ‘commendable care and skill’ in excavating the ship.
In the film, Brown is seen storming off the dig after being told by Philips that he must not set foot in the ship without his permission.
However, there is no record of any such falling out.
Hint of romance between Edith Pretty and Basil Brown
Basil Brown and Edith have a good relationship in the film and come close to becoming romantically involved.
At one point they are set to go out to dinner together before Brown cancels because his wife Dorothy unexpectedly arrives.
It is made to appear that she is slightly disappointed and had been hoping of some sort of romantic moment with the excavator.
However, there is no record of there being any romantic feelings between Brown and Pretty, though they did work well together.
Dorothy Brown even wrote a letter to Pretty to thank her for giving her husband the opportunity to work on the dig.