Archaeologists sound the alarm: Urgent action needed to preserve the Gjellestad Ship remains
Under layers of sand and soil, a Viking ship is rotting away.
The remains of the Gjellestad Viking ship, which were covered after the excavation in 2021, are now so degraded they resemble the consistency of butter.
“It can’t be removed and preserved, but it retains a recognisable ship shape in the ground,” says Sigrid Mannsåker Gundersen.
Gundersen, an archaeologist, initially encountered the drainage issue at Gjellestad farm nearly seven years ago. She and her colleagues thought it would be wise to use ground-penetrating radar on the field first.
This decision led to the groundbreaking discovery of the Gjellestad Ship in 2018, which became a global sensation.
When archaeologists warned of a fungal attack on what was left of a ship, emergency funds was hastily allocated for an excavation.
The excavation was planned with the intention of preserving what remained for display in a visitor centre.
The over 1,300 ship rivets that were retrieved were removed in such a way that they can be put back in place in the ship’s imprint.
Dramatic to just let it lie
The clock is ticking for the remains of the Gjellestad Ship.
“I estimated that we might have a maximum of ten years after the excavation to preserve some of it,” says Christian Løchsen Rødsrud.
He is the archaeologist that led the excavation of the ship.
“But ten years is just a guess. What we know for certain is that it gets worse with each passing year,” he says.
According to Rødsrud, immediate action is needed if there is to be anything left to display.
“We invested significant additional funds to excavate it in the way we did, believing it could hold shared value for society if displayed later. It's quite dramatic to just let it lie there and deteriorate,” he says.
A national responsibility
To start, a protective structure needs to be built around the ship's imprint, explains Gundersen. This is similar to what the Danes have done with the Ladby Ship, which is displayed in the burial mound where it was discovered..
“Our first priority is to secure the traces on-site, ensuring we have something to display in the future. We hold this responsibility on behalf of the nation,” she says.
The ground beneath the ship's imprint needs to be excavated to create a basement, allowing the climate and temperature around the imprint to be controlled.
Investigations have revealed the presence of quick clay in the field where the ship's imprint lies, Gundersen explains. Thus, construction will need to comply with strict standards for building in unstable soil.
The cost of the protective structure alone is significant, and accommodating a visitor centre will be even more expensive.
“This will cost more than we can manage locally and regionally. We also believe it’s also a national responsibility,” says Gundersen.
Important for World Heritage status
Last Wednesday, archaeologist Christian Løchsen Rødsrud visited the Norwegian Parliament with two local politicians to inform them about the urgent need to preserve the remains of the Gjellestad Ship.
To achieve World Heritage status, something must remain at the original site. Only the Gjellestad Ship fulfills this criterion – the Oseberg Ship and the Gokstad Ship have been excavated and are now displayed in museums.
‘Without Gjellestad, there is no UNESCO status,’ Østfold county municipality writes in a press release (link in Norwegian).
Monitoring resumes in August
The UNESCO working group of the Directorate for Cultural Heritage recognises the critical importance of preserving the Gjellestad Ship's remains.
While archaeologists and local authorities work to secure funds for extensive preservation efforts, the UNESCO group has decided to fund the reinstallation of monitoring at the Gjellestad site.
“We monitored the site during the excavation, but the equipment wasn’t left in place due to a lack of resources,” says Rødsrud.
Starting in August, it will once again be possible to monitor the environmental conditions around the ship's imprint.
However, achieving World Heritage status is not the primary objective.
“The most important thing is to preserve this site,” says Rødsrud.
Welcome to Viking Land
Beyond a climate-controlled building, Rødsrud has a clear vision for a visitor centre:
"Imagine being greeted by a Viking ship as soon as you enter Norway from the Swedish border!"
“This would also create great synergy with the new museum being built in Oslo. Both sites could complement each other. Gjellestad would focus on on-site preservation, while the complete and preserved Viking ships would be displayed in Oslo,” he says.
Preserving our cultural heritage
The recent meeting at Parliament has already yielded results. The Gjellestad group has been promised a meeting with the Minister of Culture soon to discuss the situation.
"I understand that our economic situation makes it difficult to ask for funding, but this isn't just about money. This is about preserving our cultural heritage," says Rødsrud.
"We don't control the purse strings; we can only report the situation and express our concerns."
The effort to secure funds for a Viking ship museum in Oslo took over 20 years.
The estimate is that the Gjellestad Ship will deteriorate into soil in about ten years. The countdown began in October 2021 when the remains were covered with plastic, fibre cloth, and sand.
"The decision to excavate the Gjellestad ship was made in an instant, so you never know," says archaeologist Gundersen.
“We must at least ensure that politicians make an informed choice. If Norway chooses not to prioritise this, they should fully understand what they are opting to disregard.”
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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