Posted on 11/27/2019 12:27:31 PM PST by robowombat
Ancient Viking ship discovered buried next to church using breakthrough georadar technology
A Viking ship believed to be over 1,000 years old has been discovered buried next to a church in Norway.
Archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) announced they had found the ship, believed to have been used in a traditional ship burial, using “breakthrough” large-scale high-resolution georadar technology.
The remains of the 17m vessel are buried just below the top-soil, at Edøy church on Edøya island in western Norway.
Archaeologists have suggested parts of the structure may have been damaged by ploughing.
The team said at this stage it is too early to date the ship, but they are confident it is from the Merovingian or Viking period, meaning the vessel is more than 1,000 years old.
The remains of a small settlement have also been found.
The find comes a year after a similar discovery of a burial ship at Gjellestad in southeastern Norway.
Dr Knut Paasche, the head of the department of digital archaeology at NIKU, and an expert on Viking ships, said: “This is incredibly exciting. And again, it’s the technology that helps us find yet another ship. As the technology is making leaps forward, we are learning more and more about our past.”
“We only know of three well-preserved Viking ship burials in Norway, and these were excavated a long time ago. This new ship will certainly be of great historical significance and it will add to our knowledge as it can be investigated with modern means of archaeology,” Dr Paasche said.
Archaeologists Dr Manuel Gabler and Dag-Øyvind Engtrø Solem at NIKU conducted the original surveys at Edøy in September which led to them making the the discovery.
Following a recommendation from local authorities they surveyed a smaller area around Edøy church in September 2018 and reported “promising results”. The area of investigation was then expanded, and they went back in September this year.
“We had actually finished the agreed-upon area, but we had time to spare and decided to do a quick survey over another field. It turned out to be a good decision,” said Dr Gabler.
The team at NIKU now wants to explore larger parts of Edøy and the surrounding areas.
“We hope to engage in a research project together with local authorities where we can conduct a larger investigation out here with several non-invasive methods of investigation,” said Mr Engtrø Solem.
Written by: Harry Cockburn
I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with wonderful smells of good things to eat!
My most successful bout of dieting was begun just before T-giving 2012, er, maybe 2013. Anyway, it worked great. I often remember how great it worked when looking forward to a T-giving feast. :^) Or, when I'm trying to fit into my clothes.
I hope your Thanksgiving is great, and for that matter, your whole winter. In fact, *our* whole winter, because I kinda hate winter now that I'm in my own personal winter. :^)
It does indeed mean burial in a complete ship, together with your weapons, other prize possessions and supplies for your journey to the underworld. It was the privilege of kings and other rich men in the Germanic countries, but particularly by Viking Age Norsemen. Viking equivalent of the Pyramids of the Pharaoh.
One of the most spectacular was an Anglo-Saxon burial in Eastern England, discovered in the 1940s. which contained one of the most important hordes of artefacts ever found from that period.
There were even ship burials for queens and other women of rank. One found in Norway contained the enigmatic inscription 'Man knows nothing'. (Which can be read in several different ways in Old Norse as well as modern English!)
The article also shows the One Ring from the Lord of the Rings : )
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