A drakkar exhumed in the open field

Restitution in synthetic image of the boat in its environment • INSTITITE FOR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY AND NORDIC MEDIA LAB

A Viking ship in the open Norwegian countryside:this is the spectacle that delighted the inhabitants of the town of Gjellestad, near Halden, in the south-east of the country. Norway had not exhumed a boat since 1904. This one was spotted in 2018, in a tumulus located 50 cm underground, thanks to a survey by ground-penetrating radar. It is a tomb boat, a very rare vestige. At the time when the Vikings traveled the seas to trade or to wage war, between the VIII ^e and the XI ^th century, it was customary for kings, queens and local chiefs to be buried aboard a boat hauled ashore and then buried. The remains of the Gjellestad boat are in poor condition. So the authorities have decided to bring them to light quickly to save what is left of the wood, before microscopic fungi degrade it even more.

Buried around 800

The archaeologists have set up a tent to protect the wreckage, where they are a dozen to scrape the peat to reveal the remains. At the end of the 19 ^th century, during agricultural work, the tumulus had been razed, demolishing the upper part of the ship. The latter measures about twenty meters, but only part of the keel was recovered in good condition and made it possible to date around 800 the moment when the boat was brought up on land and buried. The bones of a large animal, presumably a bovine, were spotted, showing that the person was wealthy enough to sacrifice an animal in his grave. Unfortunately, it seems that the precious objects that accompanied the deceased were stolen during looting.

Only three Viking ships in good condition have been discovered in Norway:in 1868, in 1880 and in 1904 for the last, that of Oseberg. These three longships, exhibited at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, had not benefited from modern techniques of excavation and analysis. With the one in Gjellestad, archaeologists hope to gather more information to understand these intriguing tombships. The Norwegian government has released 1.4 million euros for this purpose.