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Archeologists believe Norway find is rare Viking ship burial
OSLO, March 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Archeologists believe they have found a
rare Viking ship burial site in a region of Norway known for its Viking-era
treasures, Norwegian officials said Monday.
Using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), experts found a ship-shaped anomaly
near other Viking burial mounds in the Borre Park in Vestfold county,
southeast of Oslo.
“The GPR data clearly show the shape of a ship, and we can see weak traces
of a circular depression around the vessel. This could point to the existence
of a mound that was later removed,” Terje Gansum, leader of the department
for cultural heritage management in Vestfold county, said in a statement.
He said researchers would carry out further investigations to try and
assess the size of the preserved find.
There are only seven ship burials dating from the Viking Age (800-1050) in
Europe, including three located in Vestfold county.
Another Viking ship burial was believed to have been found in Jellestad in
southeastern Norway last year.
During the Viking era, when Norse seafarers raided and traded from their
Northern European homelands across wide areas of Europe, high-ranking
officials were sometimes buried in a ship on land, along with decorative
goods and even oxen or horse remains, then covered with a mound of dirt.
“The discovery of a new Viking ship in Vestfold is a historic event that
will attract international attention,” Norwegian Climate and Environment
Minister Ola Elvestuen said.
BSS/AFP/RY/20:15 hrs