Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Full Excavation Of Irish Viking Village?
Discovery News ^ | 10-19-2004 | Rossella Lorenzi

Posted on 10/20/2004 2:02:41 PM PDT by blam

Full Excavation for Irish Viking Village?

By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

Oct. 19, 2004 — Preliminary work to build a bypass road in an Irish village has yielded what could be the most significant piece of Viking history in Europe: a virtually intact town that some have already called Ireland's equivalent of Pompeii.

Evidence for the ancient settlement was discovered last year by archaeologists testing areas ahead of road builders.

Located near the banks of the river Suir at Woodstown, five miles from the city of Waterford, the potential Viking town lies below pasture fields commonly used for horse grazing.

But it might end up forgotten below a bypass, according to a local action group who is calling for a full excavation.

"Fears are increasing that the minister for the environment will only order a 'rescue' excavation, a partial digging which will fail to unearth the full wonders of Woodstown," the Save Viking Waterford Action Group said in a statement.

According to a 2003 report by Ireland's National Roads Authority (NRA), the site "appears to represent a defended, riverside settlement, with outlying area of associated industrial activity."

"The historical references, the artifacts, and the radiocarbon dates confirm the site most likely dates within the Hiberno Norse — Early Medieval period, 800-1100 A.D.," archaeologist Ian Russell wrote in the report.

An abundance of artifacts were uncovered during the test excavation. Findings included a broken sword, one spearhead, a battle axe, objects of iron, copper alloy, lead, gold, silver, stone, wood, lignite, glass and amber.

"Metal production and trade had a particular importance in the Viking settlement," Russell said.

Indeed, the archaeologist unearthed 170 lead weights, which represent the largest rural assemblage of such objects in Ireland.

Aerial pictures suggest that the settlement might be far bigger than previously thought: the entire Viking Woodstown, complete with streets and houses, could lie under the soil surface.

It is believed that up to 4,000 people lived there, while a fleet of 120 Viking ships might have occupied the Woodstown site in about 812.

"As Irish taxpayers we have been paying since April 2003 to investigate this site and as Irish citizens, we are eager to find out what knowledge has been gained," Catherine Swift, of the National University of Ireland and chair of the Waterford action group, said.

"After all this is part of all our pasts and it belongs to the local people, not to the government and certainly not to the private company which will eventually build the road," she said

Swift added that the National Museum, the Heritage Council, the NRA and academics and scholars from across Ireland and Europe have called for the full excavation.

"The discoveries at Woodstown are of major importance for the earliest Viking History in Ireland and the British Isles. A virtually undisturbed large Viking settlement of the mid and late 9th century has never been excavated in these parts of the world," Oslo University Viking expert Dagfinn Skre told Discovery News.

"The finds from the preliminary investigations have shown that a full excavation will contribute considerably to our knowledge of the early history of the Vikings," Skre said.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: archaeology; excavation; full; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; history; irush; unearthed; viking; village
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last
To: PeterFinn
My family hails from California, and people mistake us for Irish. :)


21 posted on 10/20/2004 11:47:52 PM PDT by ValerieUSA (kookier than the average kook)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: blam

The Danes have some nice long boats in their museum.


22 posted on 10/21/2004 1:14:39 AM PDT by marsh2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: festus
Yes but did they unearth viking kitties ?

Brave Beocat!
Hearthpet of Hradmin Moderator in whose high halls;
He slayed ten thousand DemonRats;
Whose lies and rants fell from besotted lips.

Lapkit of the Valkyrie, Shield Maidens of Valhalla;
Battlecat of a thousand tales of glorious victory;
Wielder of Thor’s Hammer;
He hurls bolts of Zot as mortal man doth cast spear and battleaxe.

Fiercest of a fearsome brood,
Broodmate of the heroes of sagas and runes yet unwrit;
But boasted of in halls of fame and glory,
And hissed in caves of fear and darkness.

Grandsire of all the Kits of Viking lore,
Whose sharp ears stand like spear tips;
Upraised, erect, listening for evil-sounds,
The lies that fall from lips of trolls not good.

Fangs of iron; claws of steel;
Maw dripping with blackened blood;
Smiter of Trolls, ruiner of Rats, destroyer of Dims;
His muzzle darkened with evil gore.

Now he purrs;
Brave Beocat!

23 posted on 10/21/2004 6:15:32 AM PDT by night reader
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: festus

"We need pics of the ancient historic viking kitties, perhaps the viking kittie mummies....."


Find a fairy ring and start digging!


24 posted on 10/21/2004 6:39:13 AM PDT by Domestic Church (AMDG...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: night reader
Very Good!

Nice to see someone putting an English Lit degree to good use.

25 posted on 10/21/2004 7:08:26 AM PDT by reformed_democrat ("If it's not close, they can't cheat." -- Some very smart FReeper.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: ValerieUSA

OI! I must confess, lass, you do look Irish (or scots- they're the same people anyway). Regardless - wow! You'd give a man courage to do great deeds if he were coming home to the likes of you. ;)

- oh yeah - County Mayo heritage here. :)


26 posted on 10/21/2004 10:16:52 AM PDT by FormerRep
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: night reader

*L* I love that!


27 posted on 10/21/2004 10:29:49 AM PDT by ValerieUSA (kookier than the average kook)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: ValerieUSA

Wow! I'd mistake you for Nicole Kidman! (-:

I love your red hair! My own used to much redder when I was a kid but it's gotten darker over the years - more of an auburn now.

My family in Ireland dates back to the 1200's when they settled in Sligo. They actually were Nordic invaders (I say 'Nordic' as 'viking' is actually a verb, not a noun.) and, like most invaders of Ireland, they became Irish.

In the 1850-1900 period most of the family emigrated to the Boston area and my folks moved to California in the 1950's. I've lived in Sacramento since 1978.

Do you know much of your family history?

- Peter


28 posted on 10/21/2004 11:08:20 AM PDT by PeterFinn ("Tolerance" means WE have to tolerate THEM, they can hate us all they want.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Constantine XIII

I am a retired U.S.N. rescue swimmer and medical diver. I was diving off the coast of Gitmo Bay, Cuba in approx. 70 ft. of water when on the bottom I found a small object which appears to be made out of lead. It was encrusted with sediment and approx. 3 inches long shaped like a bottle. After removing the debris there was a indented circle with what appears to be a protruding face maybe of a king?. Above the indentation of the face are some letters or numbers. I told my parents of what I found because of it being interesting, at that time they were subscribing to National Geographic and said they had seen an object of similar description in an issue. According to the issue the object (in the issue) was 1700 yrs. old and a perfume vile. It went along to say vikings on ships would use these viles for obvious reasons and one was so they would not have to smell the men who were rowing the ship. I have tried and tried to find this issue or some one who could help me identify this lead vile. Can you help?
thank you,
David P. Miller


29 posted on 01/02/2005 11:00:53 AM PST by crazyav8r (D. P. Miller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Constantine XIII

I am a retired U.S.N. rescue swimmer and medical diver. I was diving off the coast of Gitmo Bay, Cuba in approx. 70 ft. of water when on the bottom I found a small object which appears to be made out of lead. It was encrusted with sediment and approx. 3 inches long shaped like a bottle. After removing the debris there was a indented circle with what appears to be a protruding face maybe of a king?. Above the indentation of the face are some letters or numbers. I told my parents of what I found because of it being interesting, at that time they were subscribing to National Geographic and said they had seen an object of similar description in an issue. According to the issue the object (in the issue) was 1700 yrs. old and a perfume vile. It went along to say vikings on ships would use these viles for obvious reasons and one was so they would not have to smell the men who were rowing the ship. I have tried and tried to find this issue or some one who could help me identify this lead vile. Can you help?
thank you,
David P. Miller


30 posted on 01/02/2005 11:03:26 AM PST by crazyav8r (D. P. Miller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: blam

Fascinatig. I hope the Irish government decides to preserve this find.


31 posted on 01/02/2005 11:04:27 AM PST by Palladin (Proud to be a FReeper!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crazyav8r

I don't know that I can help you much. :) I'd say the best thing to do would be to contact someone "in the know" at a local public university.

The only thing I could say for sure is that the vikings probably didn't get that far south. They tended to stay relatively near land and hugged the coastline where possible. Their records say that they never got much farther south than New England, via Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland.

About the smell, well, I guess they'd just stop noticing after a while. :D


32 posted on 01/02/2005 12:03:56 PM PST by Constantine XIII
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

Just updating the GGG information, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

33 posted on 09/10/2006 8:35:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Saturday, September 2, 2006. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

bump for later unearthing.


34 posted on 09/10/2006 8:43:59 PM PDT by MissouriConservative (People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid - Kierkegaard)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson