Archaeologists have found the remnants of a Viking ship thought to date back to the Iron Age in Norway. One of only three other such finds, it may throw light onto how the Norsemen ruled the waves a thousand years ago.
Image: niku.no
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The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) said in statement that the discovery of a 20-meter-long ship in Ostfold County in southern Norway had been made using a high-resolution ground-penetrating radar.
"This find is incredibly exciting as we only know three well-preserved Viking ship finds in Norway ... This new ship will certainly be of great historical significance as it can be investigated with all modern means of archaeology," Knut Paasche, Head of the Department of Digital Archaeology at NIKU, said.
The georadar data also revealed 5 longhouses, which along with the ship are thought to be part of a larger mound cemetery and settlement site from the Iron Age, which lasted from around 500 to 1000 AD. The Vikings were infamous marauders, dominating the seas of northern Europe between the 8th and 11th centuries. They buried their kings and chiefs aboard boats buried under mounds of earth.
"The ship burial does not exist in isolation, but forms part of a cemetery which is clearly designed to display power and influence," archaeologist Lars Gustavsen, project leader from NIKU, said.
People dressed as Vikings boat during the annual Viking festival of Catoira in north-western SpainImage: Reuters/M. Vidal
Paasche said the ship was found buried at about 50 centimeters below the surface in a burial mound. Digital data indicate that the lower part of the ship is well-preserved and a team of archaeologists plan to investigate the surrounding site before excavating the ship, he added.
"We are certain that there is a ship there, but how much is preserved is hard to say before further investigation," Morten Hanisch, a county conservator in Ostfold, said, adding that there were only three well-preserved Viking ship finds in Norway, all excavated many years ago.
The most famous of them is the Oseberg ship discovered in 1903, which is exhibited with the other two in a museum near Oslo. The Oseberg ship is 21 meters in length, while the other two, Gokstad and Tune, measure 23 and 19 meters, respectively.
jbh/msh (dpa, AFP)
Vikings on the Shetland Islands: Up Helly Aa!
Up Helly Aa! - that's Scandinavian imagery, myths, sagas and a huge bonfire.
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The Vikings are back in Scotland
"Up Helly Aa", which literally means "Up Holy [Day] All" is a dramatic Viking fire festival. The tradition is only around a century old, but its roots stretch back much further. In Viking times, when the Jarl, the chief Viking died, a boat was set on fire and the Jarl went off to Valhalla.
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Viking brawl in the North Sea
The parade takes place in Lerwick on the Shetland Islands, which lie in the middle of the North Sea around 640 kilometers (400 miles) from Edinburgh. The Shetlands are closer to Norway than mainland Scotland and their residents are proud of their Norse heritage.
Norse Saga
In the late 19th century, Shetland authorities formalized the event, taking inspiration from the Scandinavian mythology and sagas which were popular throughout northern Europe at the time.
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The Guizer Jarl and his squad
An experienced Viking is appointed to lead the parade and becomes known as "Guizer Jarl," from the old norse word for "chief". A person must be on a special committee for 15 years before they can be a Jarl. This year, it's Lyall Gair from the nearby town of Quarff.
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After sunset the procession starts...
… and the galley is dragged through the streets. Once the galley has burned and the flames die down, guizers sing the traditional song "The Norseman's Home" before a night of partying begins.
Image: Getty Images/J.J. Mitchell
Parade attracts Vikings from all over the world
Some 60 Vikings parade through Shetland's biggest settlement, trailed by around 1,000 torchbearers. Daniel Kim, who traveled 7,200 kilometers (4,500 miles) from Houston, Texas is wearing a fake Viking beard and woolly horned helmet. He is totally thrilled: "It's very unique, it's very remote - it's something that you don't see on TV a lot. It's just completely different and outside our norm."
Image: Getty Images/J.J. Mitchell
Galley set ablaze, off to the party
The procession ends with Vikings throwing their torches into the replica longship. Gary Shewan, a member of this year's Jarl's Squad, says: "It's just a huge, huge deal to be involved with this." Afterwards, there are lots of parties around town. The following day is a public holiday in Lerwick to allow for recovery. They sure need it.
