In Norse tradition, ship burials were used to honor the dead and give them a permanent resting place underwater. A discovery on the Norwegian island of Leka suggests that these rituals date back farther than previously thought.
Archaeologists working for the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage found possible ship fragments while investigating the area around the Herlaugshaugen burial mound, named for the ninth-century Viking king Herlaug who, according to legend, had himself and 11 of his companions buried alive rather than be killed by an opposing leader.
They dug trenches at the site and dug up wood fragments and iron planking rivets that were believed to once have been part of a ship and eventually part of a ship burial.
Using radiocarbon dating of the wood, they determined that the burial took place around 700 C.E., making it the earliest known example of a ship burial in Scandinavia. READ MORE...
