New Viking ship under excavation in Norway!

Photo. The Gokstad Ship. The Viking ship at Bygdøy in Oslo (Norway ) - Viking ship museum culture architecture, photo number 122000-99#236, photographer Johan Berge/NTR (www.invanor.no).

The Gokstad Ship, is one of three ships displayed in Oslo's Viking Ships Museum, was also found in Vestfold County.

According to the Norwegian national Newspaper Aftenposten, 21 October 2003 (www.Aftenposten.no), researchers from the University of Oslo used radar to examine the Viking burial site.

Photos have revealed an oval shape lying about a meter under the pile of stones atop the mound, called a gravroeysa in Norwegian (Rom vestre i Slagen) This is also confirmed by the major of Vestfold County, Egil Holm (source: Vestfold Fylkeskommune, 15.10.03, website: www.vfk.no).

Researchers also think the ship may be intact. Clay in the area preserved the Gokstad ship for more than a thousand years, so it's believed that conditions have allowed the preservation of another ship as well. But according to the Egil Holm there are signs on the 15 - 20 metres ship that it might be plundered.  

The Vestfold County and Toensberg are really a historical area. It can be mentioned that the Toensberg (Tønsberg) and Nøtterøy Library was founded in 1909. It is run as a mutual library for the boroughs of Tønsberg and Nøtterøy. In 1992 the library moved to a modern building in Tønsberg city centre, at 16, Storgata. It was built on the site of St Olav's Monastery. The monastery ruins and the remains of two Viking ship graves provide an exiting contrast to the modern technology and architecture of the building.

The Gokstad Ship, now one of the "crown jewels" in Oslo's Viking Ships Museum on the Bygdoey peninsula, was found just a kilometer-and-a-half away from the current found. It's believed to have been built around 890 and likely belonged to a king or chieftain. The found is under excavation by the archaeologist Trude Aga Brun of Vestfold County and her colleagues.

Many Viking ship graves have been found in Norway over the years, but most of the vessels had rotted away and graves also had been plundered in earlier centuries. But we have to hope the best, and we look forward to see the "intact" result!

Stein Morten Lund, 5 November 2003

Additional information

Report in Norwegian about the discovery - Vestfold Fylkeskommune`s website: www.vfk.no.

Some Viking ship Museums:

The Viking Ship Museum (Oslo, Norway):

One of the most famous Viking ships, the Gokstad ship, was found in a large burial mound at the Gokstad farm in Sandar, Vestfold in 1880 (Norway ). The ship had been built around 890 A.D. and later used in the ship burial of an important chieftain who died in or around 900 A.D.

The dead man, a powerfully built man in his 60`s, lay in his bed in a timber burial chamber (displayed in the Tune wing of the Museum). He was buried with his grave furnishings which consisted of three small boats, a tent, a sledge and riding equipment.

The preservation conditions in the Gokstad mound were as favourable as at Oseberg. The mound had been plundered in ancient times, however, and any valuables of silver and gold which may have been deposited as burial goods, were removed.

For more information click on the link: www.norway.com.

Address:

Huk Aveny 35, N-0287 Oslo

P.O. Box 6762 St. Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo

Phone: +47 2213 5280

Fax: +47 2244 5581

E-mail: info@ukm.uio.no

Website: www.ukm.uio.no

Lofotr - the Viking Museum at Borg:

www.lofotr.no

Prestegårdsveien 59

8360 Bøstad

Norway

Tel.: + 47 76 08 49 00

Fax: + 47 76 08 49 10

The Viking Ship Museum in Denmark:

Vindeboer 12, DK-4000 Roskilde,

Denmark

Phone: +45 4630 0200

This museum houses five authentic Viking ships, all about 1,000 years old that were excavated from the Roskilde Fjord in 1962. There is also a film that tells how the ships were brought up from the bottom of the Fjord. Historians believe that the ships were purposely sunk to create a barrier from rival raiding Vikings.

The Viking Museum in England:

Read more about the discovery and displaying on the Yorkshire Museum & Gardens:www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.

The Yorkshire Museum is built on the ancient site of Earlsburgh, believed to have been a base for Viking earls outside the city walls of Jorvik. Earl Siward, one of the rulers of Anglo-Scandinavian York, is buried in the nearby St Olave's Church (founded by Siward in memory of the Norweigan King, Saint Olaf) and it is likely his home was on the Museum Gardens site.

Address:

Yorkshire Museum & Gardens, York, England.

It`s located next to Lendal Bridge, the main crossing between the York Station and York Minster. The entrances are on Museum Street and Marygate.