3 Awesome Viking Artifacts Found Inside Oseberg Burial
Oseberg burial is among the most remarkable Viking burial mounds ever found on the Planet Earth. Many reasons contributing to this title of the Oseberg burial mound, for example, the size, the ship, the human remains inside, etc. Among these reasons are the artifacts that the archaeologists unearthed from the burial.
This blog post is to give you some brief information about three Viking artifacts: Buddha Bucket, Oseberg cart, and Drugs.
Oseberg Buddha Bucket
A brass and cloisonné enamel ornament of bucket featured a man sitting flat with his legs crossed. Cloisonné was an ancient metal-working technique.
The bucket was made from yew wood, held together with brass strips. The handle was attached to two figures compared to depictions of the Buddha meditating in the lotus position. However, these two figures have always been a debate for the scholars whether they were from Buddhism.
Viking Buddha Bucket found inside the Oseberg burial mound
In Helgo, the archaeologists once found out a statue of Buddha sitting flat. This made the archaeologists link the Oseberg Buddha bucket with the Viking exposure to Buddhism.
Oseberg Cart
When excavating the site in 1903, the archaeologists came across a Viking cart. After studying the material of the cart, the archaeologists concluded that the cart was built before 800 AD, more than 30 years before the Oseberg burial.
In some surviving Viking tapestries, the similar carts appeared, commonly in the important religious events where people dressed formally and travelling with horses and weapons.
Viking Oseberg cart
What made the archaeologists cared about the cart that much was because of the complicated carving on the cart. This obviously illustrated how luxurious the cart and noble the owner of the cart once was.
Cannabis inside Oseberg burial mound
Inside the burial mound, the archaeologists found out remains of two Viking women. One was around the 70s and 80s while the other was younger, around her 30s. The archaeologists, after multiple research, concluded that the old woman suffered a lot of pain in her last days. Because her remains revealed that she coped with a serious illness like cancer and the pain possibly endured until her last breath.
Remains of the woman inside Oseberg burial mound
A leather pouch was found near her and inside the pouch was cannabis. The archaeologists assumed that the old woman might have used cannabis to relieve her pain. That's why the living buried the old woman with the pouch, hoping she could still continue to use this pain-killer.
