Norway Confirmed Viking Ship Excavation
The Norwegian government has confirmed that they are going to excavate the Gjellestad Viking ship. So if this excavation is successful, this will be the Viking ship to be excavated after more than 100 years.
The government has estimated the expected bill of 15.6 million Norwegian kroner (~$1.5 million). Despite the hard time of the virus pandemic, the government also promises the budget for the excavation.
Viking Gjellestad Ship discovered by georadar image
The burial site consists of the Viking ship and some Viking buildings
Hard time for everyone
The ship was estimated to have been under the land for more than 1000 years. Norway's Minister of Climate and Environment, Sveinung Rotevatn, stated that getting the ship out of the ground is necessary and urgent. Some people also believe that the Gokstad ship is sinking despite great preservation, how can an unexcavated ship under the land survive?
Viking Gokstad ship when newly excavated
In January, archaeologists found out that the wood became the victim of fungal attack. They have been realizing that the ship is in a very bad condition. Therefore, they are allocating the money so that when they carry out the excavation, they could save as much of the ship as possible.
The team of archaeologists expects to start the project at the time of June 2020. But they have to wait until the parliament formally approves the budget. Rotevatn wants to start the excavation as soon as possible.
Awesome discovery
The discovery of this burial site in 2018 becomes one of the most awesome Viking discovery by far. The ship and the surrounding area are discovered by the researchers and archaeologists. This project discovered the burial mounds and the remains of the Viking buildings.
The georadar image showed that what is below the ground was a ship. But at that time, they cannot make out which age the ship belonged to. It was not until 2019 that thanks to dendrochronology - the study of the data from tree ring growth - the archaeologists finally confirmed that the ship came from the Viking Age.
The patterns in the ship's timber correspond to the time from 600 to 720. Although it is hard to confirm the date of the ship, according to the project team leader, it does date back to the early years of the Viking Age.
