A Viking Ship Burial Lately Detected by Radar in October 2018

In the beginning of October 2018, Norway has witnessed an archaeological discovery of a Viking ship. The discovery is detected by a ground-penetrating radar. 

The archaeologists have found the ship in the border of Oslo the capital of Noway. With the picture of the burial that the archaeologists have now, they claim that the subject below is the Viking ship probably belonging to a king or a queen. The outlines of the Viking ship indicates that it is a 65-foot-long ship that has been buried for more than 1,000 years. 

The image from the georadar showing traces of a ship 50cm beneath the surface (Cre: NIKU/AFP/Getty Images)

Knut Paasche, an archaeologist at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) answered an interview about this finding that in the middle of the mound, they discovered something quite different from the rest and from the shapes they got, they believed it was a Viking ship. 

The site where this newly-discovered ship is found is quite famous a Viking archaeological site. But the archaeologists believed that what once were the visible burial mounds of the Vikings were destroyed by the farmers to make it plots of land for cultivation. 

Then in the spring, a small survey was carried out over the land with a georadar that could scan the soil underneath. What comes as an exciting surprise to the archaeologists is the finding of the ship's hull buried just 50cm (~20inches) beneath the surface of the land. Paasche said that the ship might be in a well-preserved condition because the lines of the ship keel were still clear and visible from the radar photo. The ship might have been dragged onshore and served as a coffin for someone from the noble and wealthy family. This is a common way of burial in the Viking age because there have been some Viking ships excavated functioning as a coffin for the noble and wealthy, for example, the Oseberg burial. 

This ship burial is not alone. Because there are traces of eight more burials accompanying this ship in the field. Along with these are five more longhouses of the Vikings. That is to say this ship burial doesn't exist alone, rather it is inside kind of a cemetery which is sure to display the influence and the power of the dead buried. 

The site that might include a cemetery: eight burial ships and five longhouses. (Cre: Lars Gustavsen/NIKU)

There have been no immediate plans for excavation by far. But it is sure that the archaeologists will apply the non-invasive research to map clearly the remains inside the cemetery. The chances to find out the treasures and something valuable inside the burial are slim. Because the position of the burials are so prominent that it might have captured the attention of the robbers. But regardless of the treasure inside, the future discovery and excavation excite the archaeologists a lot.