Posted on 02/25/2005 12:31:47 PM PST by franksolich
Viking ship cracking up
Eperts are worried about one of Norway's national treasures. Archaeologists have discovered cracks in the hull of he famed Oseberg Viking ship, which may halt plans to move the vessel to a new museum.
The archaeologists have been carefully going over the nearly 1,200-year-old ship, and are concerned about what they see, reports newspaper Aftenposten.
Removal of the vessel's top deck has revealed some exciting new details, like graffiti from the Viking age and details of the ship's rigging. But it's also exposed cracks that make archaeologists worry the ship won't tolerate any move to new quarters.
There have been plans afoot to build a new museum near the site of Oslo's first buildings east of downtown. The so-called "Middle Ages Park" already features the remains of ancient churches, albeit built after the Vikings ruled the waves.
Experts will spend the next several months trying to measure the ship's strength. Removal of the deck will allow the vessel to be scanned electronically. A 3-D drawing can then be made to help give the archaeologists an accurate basis from which to measure the vessel's structural capacity, Knut Paasche of the Vikings Ships Museum told Aftenposten.
White glove treatment
Working from cranes suspended over the Oseberg ship, conservationists have been using white gloves to carefully remove more than 100 deck parts without setting foot in the ship themselves. Their work is a far cry from that done in the 1950s, when workers went on board the vessel and even used a vacuum cleaner to remove dust.
Paasche described work during the past week as "incredibly difficult and somewhat risky." It's also been thrilling. None of those doing the work had ever seen the underside of the ship's deck.
They've seen signs of tools used on board the vessel when it was made for the burial mound of two women in the year 834. They've also found new decorations, that now will be photographed.
Viking researchers from all over Scandinavia are expected to travel to Oslo while the work is underway, to see the ship in an entirely new light.
You can't fly a jet off of the deck of a viking ship. At least the French have an aircraft carrier. Well, they thought that they did.
If we are talking of the Mary Rose, I seem to remember she sank about an hour after being launched.
Along same line: is this "Norwegan ship" the one I remember as the Vasa?
Can anyone explain this sentence for me?
That's funny.
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Guess I turned into lutefisk, overnight! UFFDA keyword added, LOL.
LOL, you were fully prepared for this Viking thread!!
I saw this ship during a trip to Oslo a number of years ago. It is awe inspiring.
You know, being from a place far removed from oceans and large bodies of water, I never paid much attention to sea-faring vehicles.....other than that the ferry bearing me from Folkestone to Calais, or from Stranraer to Belfast, or the boat to Lerwick, all seemed pretty big to me.
I remember near Portsmouth, England, seeing a whole bunch of beached submarines--obviously decommissioned and having sat there a while, rusting and cannibalized--which on the other hand seemed pretty small to me.
On the other hand, being from where I am, I tend to think in terms of a football field, something 100 yards long, on which I sloppily and casually base perceptions of both length and height (such as in buildings).
One wonders if the largest-known Viking ship would have stretched a third the distance of a football field, or more, or less.
"One wonders if the largest-known Viking ship would have stretched a third the distance of a football field, or more, or less."
From a Cornhusker... I might have known! "Football the measure of all things!"
I couldn't guess the dimensions, but less than 100 feet seems likely. To think of being on the high seas in one of these...unthinkable courage.
I must have a webpage to fit any thread
If you've ever seen them, they are so low to the water that it makes you wonder how they ever made it across the ocean. I saw the Hjemkomst (spelling?) when it traveled over from the US to Norway around 1982 or 3 and it was amazing. It was only about two feet high above the surface of the water.
I visited one of the museums in Oslo and saw the ship. It sure was impressive. It's a great museum. Can't remember the name of it though. Darn.
If you mean the name of the museum, it is the Viking Ship Museum. If you meant the ships, they are the Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune.
And I think you DO!!
There's one that's the Folk Museum, I think. It has a lot of older homes in "Gamle Norge" display there. I took a bunch of pictures. Also went to Vigelund Park. Those statues are something else. Wow.
Thanks. I'm not sure that was the one I visited though. It was a long time ago. We went to something like The Folk Museum. Does that sound familiar?
IIRC, it was also completely covered in mud, and therefore hermetically sealed.
There was a folk museum in the same general area - with a lot of old houses brought in from other parts of the country - but the ships were in their own separate museum. Of course, I haven't been there for quite a few years, too.
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