‘Very rare' Viking grave uncovered in Denmark by accident
Archaeologists have found over 30 graves from the Viking era near Aarhus, Denmark, including a 'very rare' coffin of an 'important woman' who lived in the 10th century.
Researchers were alerted to the burial site near the town of Lisbjerg, north of Aarhus, after construction work led to the discovery of a trove of artefacts, including pearls, coins, and ceramics. Further excavations revealed that these were gifts deposited in the Viking graves discovered at the site.
The graves, considered to be pagan, contained teeth and bones of the dead as well as spectacular objects, like a box with pearls, indicating a connection to the Danish monarchy.
'The burial site is most likely associated with the nobleman's farm in Lisbjerg from the Viking Age, which is located less than a kilometer from the burial site,' archaeologist Mads Ravn from Denmark 's Moesgaard Museum said. 'The objects we have found in the graves tell us that the buried are people of high status. It could be the extended family from the farm itself that is buried here.'
The findings point to the Danish town being a seat of power in the 900s during the reign of the famous Viking king Harald Bluetooth, who reigned during this time.
'The finds in Lisbjerg are part of a series of previous fine finds in the Aarhus area," Kasper Andersen, Viking historian from the Moesgaard Museum, said.
'Together, they paint the picture of an aristocratic environment that was linked to royal power, and which was part of the Vikings' vast and dynamic world.'
One of the artefacts found at the site is a 'magnificent' wooden coffin, likely made of oak and belonging to an 'important woman' buried with ornaments and personal belongings.
The coffin was made with fine rivets on its corners, sides and top as well as a fine locking mechanism, and at least some of these fittings were silver-plated.
Inside, archaeologists found a pair of long scissors, a silver bead, a needle, a ribbon with gold thread, and what seemed to be a brooch.
'This could have been one of Harald Bluetooth's earls or stewards," Dr Ravn, a specialist in the Viking Age, told AFP news agency.
The museum said in a statement that the coffin was 'one of very few of this type that we know of'.
Researchers were hoping to complete the excavation this week and begin a thorough analysis of the recovered artefacts and human remains.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
12 hours ago
- The Independent
What a 5,000-year-old whale tooth tells us about ancient craftspeople
A rare sperm whale tooth, discovered at the Copper Age Valencina archaeological site in southwest Spain, offers new insights into ancient Iberian artistry. This fossil, dated to between 5,300 and 4,150 years ago, is the first marine mammal tooth of its kind found from this period in Iberia. Copper Age craftspeople likely collected the tooth from an ancient shoreline and fashioned it into personal ornaments or symbolic artifacts before its deliberate burial. Analysis revealed the tooth belonged to an adult sperm whale, showing signs of natural marine erosion and distinct human modifications like drilled holes and cut marks. The discovery significantly enhances understanding of ivory use in prehistoric times.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Huge ancient Roman wall paintings pieced together
Archaeologists have put together thousands of pieces of wall plaster to reveal paintings that once decorated a luxurious Roman villa in include illustrations of flowers, birds, fruit and musical believe that the paintings date back to the first or second fragments were first discovered four years ago, but it's taken researchers until now to sort through all the pieces. What did experts find? The painted pieces of plaster - also known as frescoes - were found in Southwark in central London, situated on banks of the River Thames in 2021. Experts from the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) say the frescoes are from at least 20 walls of a large also think that the grand building may have been home to a wealthy family or a hotel for rich travellers passing through Li, from Mola, spent many months with the pieces of plaster, carefully examining each piece to put together what he describes as "the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle"."It's one of the biggest - if not the biggest - assemblages of Roman wall plaster and paintings we've ever found in Roman London," he explained. Mr Li added that the fragile nature of the ancient fragments made this even more of a challenge."You have to be very careful because you can only assemble the pieces a small number of times before the plaster starts to be damaged and it flakes off."So you have to be quite sure before you join the pieces that this is the piece that may fit," he Romans founded London in 43AD, and archaeologists believe that the villa was built soon after, when the new city was growing rapidly.
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Utility workers uncover 1,000-year-old pre-Inca mummy in Peru's capital
Utility workers excavating trenches to expand the network of natural gas pipelines in Peru's capital have uncovered a pre-Inca mummy approximately 1,000 years old, barely half a meter (20 inches) from the surface. The mummy had gone unnoticed despite urban development in a district of Lima where former agricultural fields have been converted into working-class neighborhoods in recent decades. Jose Aliaga, an archaeologist with utility Cálidda, on Wednesday said the unearthed mummy, found in a seated position and covered by a bundle, still has dark brown hair. 'We found remains and evidence that there could be a pre-Hispanic burial,' Aliaga said. He said workers made the discovery last week. Lima, located in a valley irrigated by three rivers fed from the Andes, housed human civilizations thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in 1535. Now home to 10 million people, the city has more than 400 archaeological sites, most of which are intertwined with the current urban fabric. 'It is very common to find archaeological remains on the Peruvian coast, including Lima, mainly funerary elements: tombs, burials, and, among these, mummified individuals,' said Pieter Van Dalen, dean of the College of Archaeologists of Peru. Van Dalen, who is not involved in the discovery, said mummies on the Peruvian coast are usually found mummified naturally, generally in desert areas, with the skin dehydrated by the summer heat. He explained that other unearthed remains have been found to have undergone mummification procedures for cultural reasons and are usually discovered in a seated position with their hands covering their faces. Jesús Bahamonde, director of the archaeological monitoring plan of metropolitan Lima at Cálidda, said the mummy found last week would have belonged to a society of fishermen of the Chancay culture, which flourished between 1,000 and 1,470 AD.
