In the battle with the dragon Beowulf is mortally wounded. The men cremate him and the bury him under a huge mound of dirt and treasure. It is said that the mound is so large that the sailors use it as a land mark. .
Sutton Hoo is a burial ground just east of Woodbridge England. At this sight, there are a number of burial mounds, but only one was still intact. When excavated there was an outline of a large boat and in the middle the area where the bondy would have been. At this burial mound there were large deposits of gifts. There were 263 objects at this burial mound. Objects consisted of silver bowls, spoons with Christian symbols on them, weapons, coins and a large wardrobe of clothes. They later discovered that the body had been cremated. This process took place some area away from the burial mound. The site was one of the richest sites ever found. Some archeologists think it might be the burial ground of Raedwald, the king of East Anglia, but that is up to debate. Archeologists aren't even sure when the burial ground was made. Scientists have done carbon dating tests that dated back too 475AD- 523AD. But the coins according to historians have a date of 625 AD. But there are a large number of foreign goods at the sight, which suggests either they were traded or they were taken in a time of war.
Beowulf was written between 700-1000AD in England. The story takes place in Scandinavia. This distorts the historical truth of the poem, because Christianity didn't start in Scandinavia till 800-1000AD. In England it started much earlier around 600AD with the beginning of St. Augustine's mission and is embedded into English society by the 700s. The story takes place in Scandinavia. So when the poem was written, Scandinavia was in the biginning of the change to Christianity. The Scandinavian change over too Christianity took place from 800AD- 1000AD. Although the year is never said in the poem it is probably takes place between 700-900AD so that it fits between the English and Scandinavian switch to Christianity.