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Archaeologists using a radar discovered a 20-meter-long Viking ship buried underground in Østfold County, Norway.
Credit: NIKU
Archaeologists using radar scans detected a Viking ship buried under a cemetery in Norway.
The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) has stated that archaeologists have discovered the anomaly by radar scanning an area of Ostfold County. The ship appears to be about 20 meters long and to be buried about 50 centimeters below the ground, they said in a statement.
The keel and wood of its floor are intact, although the exact quantity of the ship is preserved and, if so, unknown, said the archaeologists. [In Photos: Viking Settlement Discovered at L’Anse aux Meadows]
The boat is part of a cemetery that contains the remains of at least seven burial mounds, which are dome-shaped hills of land and stones piled at the top of a grave, as the 39, indicate the scans. The remains of five longhouses, where the Vikings lived, were also found near the cemetery.
The recently discovered cemetery and longhouses are located near a previously discovered funeral mound, called Jell Mound, dating back about 1,500 years and which, according to a local history, was built for a king named Jell.
An overview of the Norwegian site shows where scientists have found a Viking cemetery with at least eight burial mounds (in red), one of which contains the remains of the Viking ship. Five long houses (orange) were also found near the cemetery.
Credit: NIKU
"The burial of the ship does not exist in isolation, but is part of a cemetery, which is clearly designed to display power and influence," said Lars Gustavsen, an archaeologist from NIKU who did a job radar on the site with his colleague Erich Nau.
"This discovery is incredibly exciting as we only know it [of] Discovery of a well preserved Viking ship in Norway [that were] search [a] long ago. This new vessel will certainly have great historical significance as it can be studied with all modern means of archeology, "said Knut Paasche, head of the NIKU Department of Digital Archeology and expert on Viking ships.
The radar scanner was mounted on a vehicle and was used to find the contours of a buried Viking ship near a 1,500-year-old burial mound excavated previously, visible in the background of this photo.
Credit: Lars Gustavsen / NIKU
Archaeologists plan to use other forms of geophysical analysis to learn more about the ship and its cemetery. Eventually, they might need to search it, although archaeologists hope to avoid it if possible, as the ship could be damaged if it was exposed to the open air.
The radar technology used by the NIKU team was developed by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Exploration and Virtual Archeology and is mounted on a vehicle. The work was done in cooperation with the Østfold County Council.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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