Burial of a Viking ship discovered in a Norwegian farm field | Smart News

To the south-east of Oslo, Norway, a 30-foot Viking dating Junction mound, found along Highway Rv41 118, serves as a local landmark for years. centuries. But archaeologists have never taken the time to look at the area, assuming that a century of plowing and farming had erased all traces of history. In the spring, however, county officials have asked the Norwegian Institute of Culture Research to take a look, just in case, and archaeologists have found gold. (Maybe also tangible gold?) As Andrew Curry at National Geographic reports, the ground-penetrating radar shows the remains of a rare Viking ship grave, funerary mounds and long houses near the hill.

The 20 meter boat burial offers a glimpse of the funerary tradition reserved for kings, queens and other high status Vikings. "I think we could talk about a century-old discovery," Jan Bill, curator of the Viking ships at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, tells Curry to put the discovery into perspective. "It's quite spectacular from the point of view of archeology."

According to a press release, the vessel is only 20 inches below the surface of the farm field and radar images show that its lower half, including keel and floor, appears to be intact. The radar, however, can not reveal whether there are any bones or funerary objects in the burial mound.

"We are certain that there is a ship there, but it is difficult to say how many pieces are kept before continuing the investigation," states in the statement Morten Hanisch, county conservator at Østfold .

Only three well preserved Viking ships were found in Norway, all of which were found recently. If this ship is in good condition, it will give archaeologists a first opportunity to investigate the burial of a boat using contemporary techniques. Although the site has not been dated yet, the ship was probably buried around 800 AD, along with other Norwegian mounds. It is believed that the vessel was probably towed to the site from the nearby Oslo Fjord.

The researchers say that the burial of the ship is not an isolated discovery; it exists rather in the context of a larger cemetery of the Viking era, which was created "to show power and influence". The remains of at least eight other monumental tumuli, about 90 feet in diameter, have already been identified on the site. like the outlines of five long houses, though it's hard to tell if the houses were linked to the cemetery or if they came from another period of occupation.

A research proposal is underway to use non-invasive techniques to continue studying the site and possibly even dig up the ship. Curry to National Geographic warns that if the ship is an archaeological gold mine, it is probably not a real gold mine. It is likely that the once well-known burial mound was looted centuries before farmers finally overturned the hills in the 19th century.

Although ship burials are rare, they occur throughout Europe and have been discovered in present-day Sweden, Denmark, England, Russia, Estonia and Ukraine. Last year, for example, Icelandic researchers discovered two burials of ships, one of which contains the burial of a chief, as well as his sword and his dog.

Like this article?
S & # 39; REGISTER for our newsletter