Archaeologists in Norway have actually made use of ground-penetrating radar technology to find an incredibly rare Viking longship in what experts are referring to as a “sensational” find.
A group from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) used high-resolution georadar to situate the ship in Østfold County, southeastern Norway. The 66-foot vessel, which lies in a burial mound, is simply underneath the topsoil at a depth of 1.6 feet.
” The data suggest that the lower part of the ship is still preserved,” said NIKU, in a report, noting that the ship’s keel and also floor woods seem noticeable.
Dr. Knut Paasche, head of the department of digital archaeology at NIKU, explained the find as “incredibly exciting” in the statement, adding that just three unspoiled Viking ships have actually been located in Norway.
The ship burial (circled) forms part of a larger mound cemetery and settlement site. (Illustration: Lars Gustavsen, NIKU)
” We are particular that there is a ship there, yet how much is preserved is hard to say before further investigation,” claimed Morten Hanisch, county conservator in Østfold, in the statement.
Archaeologists have actually likewise identified eight previously-unknown burial mounds, which have actually been destroyed by plowing, at the site. In addition, georadar data exposed five longhouses, several of which are “remarkably huge.”
Viking families lived in windowless longhouses, which likewise acted as a shelter for their cattle.
The Viking ship was found by georadar at Viksletta right next to the monumental Jelle Mound in Østfold. (Photo: Lars Gustavsen, NIKU)
The site is the beside a monumental Viking burial mound. The longship therefore forms part of a cemetery that is precisely made to feature power and also influence, according to NIKU project leader Lars Gustavsen. “The ship-burial does not exist in isolation,” he mentioned in a statement.
Archaeologists are currently preparing to digitally map the site, discovering more information concerning the ship without unearthing it and also exposing it to the elements. However, specialists are not ruling out the possibility of an excavation at some time in the future.
The georadar used in the research project was created by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro). The Institute’s technology was additionally utilized to find a Roman gladiator school in Austria as well as provide evidence of extra structures at Stonehenge.
Georadar revealed the outline of the Viking ship. (NIKU)
The longship is simply the latest interesting historical find from of the age of Vikings. An 8-year-old girl recently found a 1,500-year-old Viking sword in a Swedish lake.
In 2018 this , an amazing chest of silver treasure linked to the period of a famous Viking king was uncovered on an island in the Baltic Sea. Hundreds of 1,000-year-old silver coins, rings, pearls, and also viking bracelets were discovered on the German island of Ruegen.
In 2017, an extremely unspoiled Viking sword was discovered by a reindeer seeker on a remote mountain in Southern Norway. In 2016, archaeologists in Trondheim, Norway, uncovered the church where Viking King Olaf Haraldsson was first enshrined as a saint.
Also, in 2016, a little Viking crucifix was found in Denmark.
