Sonja Marzinzik

Curator, Insular Early Medieval Collections
The Anglo-Saxon, Medieval Celtic and Viking Collections of the British Isles Department:
Prehistory and Europe

 

Sonja Marzinzik is responsible for the early medieval collections of the British Isles. These comprise Anglo-Saxon, Medieval Celtic and Viking material of the fourth to eleventh centuries.

Her special expertise lies in the early Anglo-Saxon period and she has particular responsibility for the finds from Sutton Hoo and the collaboration with the National Trust Visitor Centre at the site www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits-w-findaplace/w-suttonhoo.htm

Her research interests cover Late Antiquity and the early medieval period. Her particular specialism is Anglo-Saxon and Continental metalwork, but she has worked on many aspects of life and death, archaeology, history and art.

After studying at the universities of Munich, London and Oxford, she joined the Victoria and Albert Museum. Among other things, she was involved in the creation of a new gallery of European Silver from 1400-1800 and in the redisplay of the Medieval & Renaissance collections, while at the same time working as an archaeological freelancer.

Contact

smarzinzik@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7323 8333

Current projects

  • Lead curator for the redisplay of Room 41, the gallery for Sutton Hoo and the Mediterranean from AD300 to 1100.

  • The Staffordshire Hoard: Find out more information on the recent discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon objects www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk

  • Ringlemere early Anglo-Saxon cemetery

  • British Museum acquisitions monitor 2006-2008

External fellowships

Recent publications

S. Marzinzik, 'Anglo-Saxon archaeology and the public' in: H. Hamerow, S. Crawford, D. Hinton (eds.), A Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology (Oxford 2011), 1025-42.

S. Marzinzik, 'The earliest Anglo-Saxons? The burial site at Ringlemere Farm, East Kent, and early cross-Channel migration' in: S. Brookes, S. Harrington, A. Reynolds (eds.), Studies in Early Anglo-Saxon Art and Archaeology: Papers in Honour of Martin G. Welch. BAR British Series 527 (Oxford 2011), 55-61.

S. Marzinzik,  'From 'Miteinander' to 'Nebeneinander?' Thoughts on Anglo-Saxon and Continental belt fashions' in: B. Ludowici, H. Pöppelmann (eds.), Das Miteinander, Nebeneinander und Gegeneinander von Kulturen: Zur Archäologie un Geschichte wechselseitiger Beziehungen im 1. Jahrtausend n. Chr. Acts of the 56th Sachsensmposion Magdeburg 2005, Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung 2 (Hannover 2011), pp. 141-45.

S. Marzinzik, 'Germanic jewellery of the early Middle Ages: status, beauty, artistry', in: G. Davies, K. Kennedy (eds), Medieval and Renaissance Art: People and Possessions (London 2009), pp. 74-5.

S. Marzinzik, ‘But Where Did It All Come from? Production and Raw Materials in an Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Ringlemere, East Kent’ Vitark 7 (2009) pp. 90–99.

S. Marzinzik, Luxury textiles from early medieval northern Europe. In: Svenson Perlman A. (ed.), Textiles as Cultural Expressions. Proceedings of the 11th Biennial Symposion of the Textile Society of America, Honolulu, 2008 (Electronic publication, s.l. 2009) no. 20, pp. 1-9.

V.I. Evison, Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Glass in the British Museum. Ed. S. Marzinzik, British Museum Research Publication 167 (London 2008)

S. Marzinzik, The Sutton Hoo Helmet: Object in Focus (London 2007)

S. Marzinzik, 'The wire-inlaid buckle and belt fitting' in S. Teague, Manor Farm, Monk Sherborne, Hampshire: Archaeological investigations in 1996, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society, 60 (2005) pp. 121-4.

S. Marzinzik, Early Anglo-Saxon Belt Buckles (late 5th to early 8th centuries A.D.): Their classification and context. BAR British Series 357 (Oxford, 2003)

S. Marzinzik, 'Grave goods in conversion period and later burials - A case of early medieval religious double standards?' in K. Pollmann (ed.), Double Standards in the Ancient and Mediaeval World. Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaften, Beihefte 1 (Göttingen 2000) pp. 149-166.