Whetstone from the ship burial at Sutton Hoo

The person buried at Sutton Hoo was the owner of this elaborate four-sided whetstone (for sharpening blades). Each end of the whetstone is carved with four sombre faces. These may be portraits of ancestors, perhaps symbolising and empowering the dynasty to which the dead man belonged. Although the whetstone appears never to have been used, it was probably capable of keeping sword-blades sharp.