English: The Sandman Sutton Hoo had been a site for royal burials in the pre-Christian and early-Christian era. By the Middle Ages its status had fallen and it was used for executions of criminals. Recent excavations revealed this figure that had been tumbled unceremoniously into a shallow grave. The legs are to the left, the head is top-right. The timber remains across the body are thought to have been parts of the gallows, thrown on to the body. The corpse has decayed leaving stained sand that archaeologists have treated with a fibreglass type material to preserve them.