Earliest Known Ship Burial Found in Norway May Have Been a Pre-Viking Mound, New Analysis Finds

A new analysis has discovered that a massive and grassy hill across Norway, called the Herlaugshagen burial mound, may have been a pre-Viking ship burial site.

Massive Mound in Norway

For a long time, archaeologists have been wondering if the massive mound situated in Lenka, which is a central Norway municipality, could have housed a ship in the past.

Over the summer, researchers surveyed the coastal area and found several massive rivets that could have altogether carried the vessel. They also discovered wooden remains that are likely to be from a ship.

Archaeologist Geir Grønnesby from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), who headed the surveys, explains that the ship rivet sizes and the wood preserved surrounding the rivets reveal good preservation conditions. Grønnesby adds that it is the largest burial mound in Central Norway and one of the biggest across the entire country.

Pre-Viking Age Ship Burial Mound

The mound has a diameter of 60 meters and a height of 7 meters. The researchers concluded that it could have easily held a ship.

After the archaeologists performed radiocarbon dating on the wood remains, they were able to determine that the construction of the ship was roughly 700 A.D. This means that the ship was built prior to the Viking Age that spanned from 793 to 1066.

Grønnesby explains that the particularly unique thing about the burial mound is the ship burial dating, which is remarkably early. The oldest ship burials were found to date towards the end of the 800s. With this, the finding helps bridge the gap between the early traditions of the Sacndinavians to bury individuals inside ships and the prominent Sutton Hoo discovery in England.

Local records reveal that the site underwent multiple excavations during the 1800s. Written accounts also reveal that several artifacts have been discovered in the area. These include iron nails, wall parts, animal bones, a bronze kettle, a charcoal layer, and a seated skeleton with a sword. However, all the items unfortunately got lost during the 1920s.

Nevertheless, despite the lost findings, the new analysis offers fresh insights regarding ship burial history in this particular area. This also reveals that maritime contact and expertise in massive areas were already the standard even before the Viking Age took place.

However, to know more about the appearance and purpose of the vessel, further study is necessary. Grønnesby explains that since they were not able to excavate the full ship, it is hard to know what purpose the ship served. Grønnesby adds that the ships they are familiar with were used for warfare and plundering. However, they also know that trade could have been prevalent during this period, adding that it is logical to think that the ship transported some goods along the coasts.

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