News – Burial site of a Viking ship identified in Norway

JARLSBERG, NORWAY—According to a Science Norway Initial excavations at a site in southeastern Norway where rivets were discovered in 2018 uncovered a total of 70 ship-sized rivets, according to a report. “This discovery adds a new landmark to the map, which was once an important site during the Viking era,” said archaeologist Christian Løchsen Rødsrud from the University of Oslo. He explained that the ship and its mound had been broken into pieces a long time ago. Upon closer examination, two of the rivets were found to be crampons that would have been worn by horses in icy conditions. “The discovery of horse studs in the material suggests that the rest of the grave goods are also found on the ground,” Rødsrud said. Larger and smaller boat graves have been identified on the hills around the site, which Rødsrud suggests may have been the focal point of the Viking Age landscape. “This landscape, with its many ship burial sites, remains somewhat unknown and could benefit from further exploration and research,” he concluded. To learn more about Viking ship burials, see “Sailing the Viking Seas.”