Iron Age grave in Western Norway confirmed – among the largest in the Nordic countries
Archaeologists have suspected it for many years, but now an enormous grave from the Iron Age in Western Norway has been confirmed via ground-penetrating radar. However, what it contains remains a mystery.
The large mound, called Karnilshaugen, is a man-made burial mound from the period before the Viking Age, according to a press release from the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage.
The grave is located on a farm in Gloppen municipality in Western Norway. It was likely constructed during the Iron Age, that is, in the centuries before the Viking Age.
However, the grave probably also held great significance during the Viking Age, according to the Directorate for Cultural Heritage.
"This is the largest man-made burial mound in Western Norway and among the largest in the Nordic countries," says senior adviser Christian Løchsen Rødsrud at the Directorate for Cultural Heritage.
But what lies inside the grave is unknown since it has never been opened. And that is how it will remain, according to Rødsrud.
"The mound has never been excavated, and there are no plans to do so now. The prevailing practice in archaeology is to leave it undisturbed. The mound is well-preserved in the soil," he says.
"But of course, we can learn more about the contents of the mound with more modern ground-penetrating radar technology in the future," says Rødsrud.
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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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