Gjellestad Ship Burial

Gjellestadskipet

Norway · Østfold, Halden

NecropolisExcavation completed
Approximate period800 CE — 850 CEViking Age; proposed approximate date range for the ship burial See on the map ↓

In brief

The ship burial, discovered using ground-penetrating radar in 2018, underwent preliminary investigation in 2019 and extensive excavation in 2020–2021. Together with the surrounding graves and large buildings, the ship forms part of an elite center.

What was found?

  • 1Preserved trace of the ship

    The preserved portion is slightly over 19 meters long; this is not a wooden ship that has survived fully intact. The traces show that a large ship was used in the burial.

  • 2Oak keel timber

    This is surviving wood from the ship's keel. According to researchers, analyses suggest that the ship may have been built in western or southwestern Norway.

  • 3Iron ship rivets

    These rivets joined the wooden components together. Recording their locations allows the shape and construction technique of the largely decayed ship to be investigated anew.

  • 4Large amber bead

    This is an unusually large bead found in the ship burial. According to the museum's assessment, it is unlikely to have been part of an ordinary necklace.

What does it point to?

According to researchers, the ship burial may have been created between 800 and 850; the exact date and the identity and number of the people buried are unknown. Burial in a ship is associated with the highest social stratum; traces of large buildings and graves nearby also support the interpretation of Gjellestad as a center of power.

What did it teach us?

  1. It showed that ship construction can be investigated through rivet positions even when most of the wood has disappeared.
  2. It revealed that the ship burial was placed in a landscape containing older monuments.
  3. Ground-penetrating radar surveys also revealed traces of buildings and mounds around the ship burial.

Latest news / selected archive

2021: A ground-penetrating radar survey north of the ship burial revealed a longhouse approximately 60 meters long and 15 meters wide.

Record

Culture
Viking
First modern dig
2019
Team / historical
Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
Coordinates
59.1486°, 11.2503°

Sources

  1. vikingtidsmuseet.no
  2. riksantikvaren.no
  3. niku.no
  4. de.wikipedia.org

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