Norwegian researchers puzzle over an unusual Viking grave. They discovered the boat burial of a man from the eighth and a ninth-century woman in Vinjeøra some 500 kilometers northwest of Oslo.
Apparently, the boat grave was used twice at intervals of about a hundred years, reports the archaeologist Raymond Sauvage of the Technical-Scientific University of Norway (NTNU). The curious thing: The boat with the woman was in the slightly larger boat grave of the previously buried man admitted.
Boat graves from the Viking Age have been found more frequently in the far north. This, however, is special, said Sauvage. "It's special because for the first time we can really see clearly that they have reused an old grave."
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Generations after the death of the man, his grave had been dug again to bury the woman in her best clothes and adorned with jewelry in the new boat. Among other things, the man was buried next to his shield and sword. In the case of the woman, the researchers found next to other objects the head of a cow.
The scientists now want to find out why the Vikings went this way. "This is a very difficult question that can have multiple answers," said Sauvage. Maybe the two were related. That it is about father and daughter act, because of the time difference is not possible.
Shipments from the time of the Vikings are known, but rare. One year ago, archaeologists near Georgetown in southern Norway found such a burial using geo-radar. In the technique, sonar signals are sent into the ground and reflected structures are registered.
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Just recently, experts on the island of Edøya west of Trondheim had also found by geo-radar, the remains of another ship, which probably also comes from the Viking Age. A message from the Møre and Romsdal district said on Friday that it was too early to date the ship, but it was certainly more than a thousand years old. "This is a discovery of national and international importance," said Ola Elvestuen, Minister for Climate and Environment.
Edøya is located on the shipping lane to Trondheim, where the first Norwegian king Harald Hårfagre fought two naval battles near the island of Solskjel in order to gain royal power in Norway at the end of the 8th century.
"The remains of the Edøya ship were discovered in a field that was once a burial mound," said Knut Paasche of the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (NIKU). In the middle of the hill you can clearly see a 13 meter long keel. Overall, the ship can be 16 to 17 feet long. "The ship is important for our shared history," said Environment Minister Elvestuen. "Now we have to figure out how to handle it properly."