The film The Dig is trending on Netflix right now. The movie tells the story of the excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk during the last few days of peace in 1939. While it focusses on the discovery of the ship, in which an Anglo-Saxon warrior was once buried, it is their helmet that has gone on to become the symbol of this once-in-a-generation archaeological find.

The film draws very clear parallels between the status of some mighty warrior – whose exploits in battle we now little of – and the experience of conflict that the characters are about to go through in the Second World War. It’s a reminder to us that the past, be it recent or distant, can always provide us with a lens on which to reflect today.

There’s loads of content about the helmet, and other objects, on the British Museum website.