The Viking ship Museum of Oslo
Gokstadskipet
140 years ago a large huge burial mound known as Kongshaugen ( the kings mound) was excavated in the south eastern part of Norway.
What the archeologists found was an immaculately preserved viking Ship, measuring 24 meters( 79 foot) long and 170cm (5 food 8inches) deep and 5,2 meters ( 17 feet) wide.
Later scientists found out it was built in 890 A.D. but buried down 15 year later
The Gokstad ship was well equipped. mast, anchor, rudder, gangway were all intact. Viking shields had been hung along the railing,32 on each side of the ship.
The ship was so well built that in 1893 a crew of twelve sailed from Norway to Chicago in the United States in a copy of the ship. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean was hardly a problem with this ship.
In the stern ( the rare part of the ship) the the archeologists found a burial chamber for a viking chieftain. Scattered around him was his treasures and various equipment the dead mad needed in the life to come, five single beds, wooden buckets and counters, a water barrel a large bronze cauldron with a runic inscription, a board game and the skeleton of the peacock
outside the ship the archeologists found three smaller boats, the skeletons of 12 horses and six dogs and a sleigh. Scholar believe the horses and the sleigh was meant to pull the chieftain to his last destination Valhalla, the wonderful place where the great viking warriors spent their afterlife fighting and drinking beer from sunrise to sunset
The man himself was clad in cloths of wool, silk sewn with gold threads
The muscular man stood 185 cm (6 foot 1inch) tall, a giant giant in medieval times. His skeleton proves he had suffered severe stab wounds and was by any means a battle hardened Viking. No wonder that such a man would arrive in Valhalla in style.
Oseberg skipet
23 years after the excavation of the Gokstad ship an even older ship was found in the burial mound called the Fox Mound. One year later in 1904 the most beautiful viking ship we know of was uncovered. ornate woodcarvings depicting warriors and serpents decorated the Bow the keel and the stern. The swanky ship was 21,5 meters long( 71 foot) . It was built as early as 820 A.D. ( 1200 years ago) The material used was oak.
Compared to the Gokstad ship which was built 70 years later, this vessel was more nimble, hardly an oceangoing ship. It may have been used to sail along the coast or just to row. Another suggestion is that it was built as a burial ship and not supposed to sail at all. However, it took another 14 years before it was laid in the burial mound. And when that happened, the ship was in a very different area of Norway. It is hard to see how the ship could have reached the burial mound without getting there on water.
In addition to the ship the archeologists found carts, sledges and animal head poles with magnificent wood carvings, Chests, beds, ship equipment, work tools and household utensils and tapestries
Bones from several animals were also found, including horses whom the the may have believed to pull the chariots through the realm of the dead.
In the burial chamber the remains of two women were found.
The youngest of the two is dated to be 50 Years old at the time of death, the eldest 80 years old, an exceptionally high age at the time. We do not know who they were. Neither do we know wether the mound belonged to both of them or was to just one. Perhaps, one of them was a slave killed to serve the other one in the afterlife.
Anyhow, the burial mound proves that viking women could hold high status. Only people of wealth and high status could been buried in such a manner
If you are a fan of anything Viking the Viking Museum in Oslo, Norway should rate highly on you bucking list.
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