Scientists Blown Away After Ground-Penetrating Radar Reveals Outline of a 1200-Yr-Old Viking Ship

Around two years ago, ground penetrating radar made a Viking Age discovery at Norway. The site near the village of Avaldsnes. had previously been excavated by Norwegian archaeologist, Haakon Shetelig, but the depth at which the finding was buried kept it hidden, stated Live Science. The discovery was made in the Salhushaugen mound with the examination being conducted by experts from the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Stavanger.

The ground-penetrating radar indicates that the region holds a Viking ship burial. Ship burials are part of a traditional custom practiced by the Viking community in which a deceased individual was interred in their vessels, state Smithsonian Magazine. Later the ship was covered with a dirt mound. The practice supposedly made the transition to the afterlife safe for the dead. 

After analysis, researchers concluded that the ship was put into place, during the late eighth century A.D., the very start of the Viking Age (A.D. 793 to 1066), stated Live Science. In the previous excavation conducted by Shetelig, researchers only found arrowheads and wooden spades at the mound. The ground-penetrating equipment has received signals which imply that the ship remnants are 65 feet (20 m) long. The size further bolsters the claim, as it is close to the length of previous ships in the area. "We're confident this lens-shaped signal actually comes from a ship," Håkon Reiersen, an archaeologist at the University of Stavanger said. "It shares the dimensions and size of previous ships, and it's situated in the middle of the mound. But we don't know how well preserved it is."

Researchers want to further excavate the area, and if the results support their assertion, they will possibly dig for the ship. Experts claim that the Salhushaugen mound has not been looted, and therefore the team is hopeful, the location may still have some artifacts. In the case, the findings are confirmed then the structure would be the third early Viking ship burial to be discovered on the coast of the island of Karmøy.

Considering that archaeologists have uncovered so many Viking-era objects from the area, researchers claim it could be associated with the origin of that particular culture. "This is a very strategic point, where maritime traffic along the Norwegian coast was controlled," Reiersen added. Researchers are confident about the location being important for the Viking culture, because of the information that Harald Fairhair, a legendary Viking king lived here in a royal manor. "This was an important place for 3,000 years," Reiersen said.

The new possible find aligns with the recognized pattern that ship burials were done in clusters. Several experts believe the purpose of such burials for royalty was to indicate that they were sailing away to be with their ancestors. "I think these ship burials go back to a way of consolidating power among Germanic peoples," Jan Bill, an archaeologist at the University of Oslo and curator of the Viking Ship collection at the university's Museum of Cultural History said. "The idea was that the king was a descendant of a god, such as Odin or Wotan," he added.