Latest news with #10thCentury
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The Independent
18-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Surprise grave find reveals secrets of Viking king
Archaeologists in Denmark have discovered over 30 Viking -era graves near Aarhus, including the coffin of an important 10th-century woman. The burial site was found after construction work uncovered artefacts like pearls, coins, and ceramics, indicating gifts in Viking graves. Grave findings, including a box with pearls, suggest a connection to the Danish monarchy and high-status individuals, possibly related to a nearby nobleman's farm. The discoveries indicate that the Danish town was a seat of power in the 900s during the reign of Viking king Harald Bluetooth. A magnificent wooden coffin, likely belonging to an important woman, contained items like scissors, a silver bead, and gold thread, suggesting she may have been one of Harald Bluetooth's earls or stewards.
Gizmodo
15-06-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Metal Detectorist Discovers Rare Boat Grave Containing Viking Woman and Her Dog
The saying goes that a dog is a man's best friend, but an archaeological excavation in Norway proves that women care about their four-legged companions just as much as men do, even 1,100 years ago. Archaeologists from the Arctic University Museum of Norway have revealed a 10th-century Viking boat grave on the Norwegian island of Senja. The buried individual is likely a woman who belonged to an elite class, as Science Norway first reported. Most notably, the team found a dog carefully buried at her feet. 'It appears to have been placed with real care,' Anja Roth Niemi, a museum archaeologist who presumably took part in the excavation, told Science Norway. 'There are stories of prominent people doing everything in their power when their dog became ill. So even back then, people had deep bonds with their animals.' A metal detectorist first discovered brooches and bone remains at the site just 7.9 inches (20 centimeters) beneath the ground two years ago. Suspecting the presence of a Viking woman's burial, the Arctic University Museum of Norway applied for permission to investigate and were finally able to conduct a proper excavation when the landowner decided to expand a garage on the property. 'After the upper layer of soil was removed, it became clear that this was a boat grave,' the museum wrote in a social media post. 'The decayed wood from the boat was visible as a thin dark strip in the subsoil, with the site where the bowl brooches were found approximately in the middle.' The work revealed a 17.7-foot-long (5.4-meter) boat in which a Viking woman and a dog were buried alongside objects associated with elite burials, including bone or amber beads, a pendant, and ornate brooches, according to Science Norway. This is not the first time archaeologists have found dog remains alongside Viking ones, but it provides further proof that dogs were prized companions even 1,100 years ago. The brooches' design—oval with silver thread—helped the team date the grave to approximately 900 to 950 CE, as reported by Science Norway. They also indicate that the buried individual was a woman, given that oval brooches were usually Viking women's jewelry, though only bone analysis can confirm this beyond a doubt. Furthermore, the boat grave and grave goods altogether suggest that the woman was a high-class individual. 'Only the elite would receive a burial like this,' Niemi told Science Norway. Niemi and her colleagues also uncovered agricultural tools and textile instruments, the latter of which further associate the burial with Viking womanhood. Further analyses will confirm the individual's sex and shed light on her age, height, diet, and health, while also offering more insight into Viking burial traditions. Moreover, after discovering another brooch not too far from the burial, the archaeologists hope to continue investigating the area in the hopes of finding another grave. According to the museum's post, the last days of the excavation were spent 'recording all the contents of the grave and securing them for transport and storage until they can be examined in detail under controlled conditions at the laboratory in Tromsø.' It is my hope that they keep the woman and her pet together in Tromsø, so that the dog can continue guarding its owner in the afterlife as it likely did when they were both alive.
Fox News
17-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
Strange Viking grave with 'Christian overtones' discovered by perplexed archaeologists: 'Very unusual'
Swedish archaeologists recently found an "unusual" Viking-era coffin dating back over 1,100 years. The discovery was announced by Arkeologerna, an archaeological organization affiliated with the Swedish government, in April. The grave was found on the outskirts of Linköping, a city in southern Sweden, in fall 2022, though the find was unknown until last month. In a Facebook post, Arkeologerna said its archaeologists were investigating a stone quarry in the area when they came across the "unusual coffin grave." "The stone arrangement stood alone in majesty on the crest of a hill," the organization said in a statement translated from Swedish to English. "The view from there was expansive over the flat plains surrounding Linköping." Arkeologerna added that the stone arrangement "had a very strong edge chain, mostly consisting of edge-set blocks." "In the middle was a coffin grave from the 10th century," the translated statement added. "The coffin had been placed in a grave shaft with stone-lined sides." Archaeologists soon found that the person in the grave had been buried with an axe and a dagger, and that there were "remnants of textile, likely from a garment." Pictures show archaeologists working at the site of the carefully arranged stone circle, along with a preserved nail and a wooden sheath that held a knife. The buried person, most likely a man, came from the "upper echelons of society," according to the archaeological organization. The grave also dates back to a pivotal point in Swedish history when inhabitants gradually transitioned from pagan customs to Christian ones. The burial was "done with Christian overtones, but the stone setting was erected on a burial site from the older Iron Age." Arkeologerna project manager Alf Eriksson said that he "really did not expect a coffin grave from the Viking era." "Previously, we have investigated stone settings in the area, and they have been from the older Iron Age, so we thought this one would be, too," the expert said. "The strong edge chain of raised/edge-set stone blocks is very unusual." The discovery is one of many fascinating Viking-related finds in recent months. In January, a University Museum of Bergen archaeologist spoke to Fox News Digital about recently discovered Viking graves that were filled with coins, jewelry and other treasure. Last year, metal detectorists on the Isle of Man stumbled across a 1,000-year-old Viking "wallet," filled with 36 silver coins that were minted between 1000 and 1065.
