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"The historical references, the artifacts, and the radiocarbon dates confirm the site most likely dates within the Hiberno Norse — Early Medieval period, 800-1100 A.D.," archaeologist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.
The Danes have some nice long boats in their museum.
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!
"We need pics of the ancient historic viking kitties, perhaps the viking kittie mummies....."
Find a fairy ring and start digging!
Nice to see someone putting an English Lit degree to good use.
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. :)
*L* I love that!
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
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
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
Fascinatig. I hope the Irish government decides to preserve this find.
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
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