Tag: archaeology

New studies are upending our ideas about Viking shields

The shields from the Gokstad Viking ship were not only made for burial rituals and as decorations. Evidence indicates that they were used in battle, according to a Danish archaeologist.

Archaeologists had to destroy nearly all of the medieval ‘King’s Wharf’ soon after they excavated it.

Remains of a massive foundation for a wharf were recently uncovered during excavations in Bjørvika, east of Oslo’s centre. It might have been the King's Wharf during medieval times. But no sooner had the wharf been found than it was gone again.

Here's what archaeologists found under the floor of the 12th century Stavanger Cathedral

Crawling around here in pitch darkness in 1967, an architect bumped into bones and skeletons.

New video footage shows what could be the oldest known shipwreck at the bottom of Norway's largest lake

The researchers managed to catch a glimpse of the wreck before the underwater robot ran out of power.

This brooch became high fashion during the late Viking and Middle Age

The number of Urnes style brooches found in Norway have more than doubled in the past decade, most likely due to an increase of metal detectorists.

New discovery of a Viking ship in Norway

A 20-metre-long Viking ship has been discovered using georadar on a mound previously believed to be empty. “This is a spectacular find which sheds light on the earliest Viking kings”, says archaeologist Håkon Reiersen.

This is what a Norwegian boy looked like 8,000 years ago

The Stone Age boy has now been reconstructed using DNA analysis and modern forensic techniques.

A gold coin that changes history: Oldest known reference to the Norse god Odin found in Denmark

Norwegian and Danish researchers have found the god Odin's name on a gold coin from the beginning of the 5th century. Norse mythology must therefore be dated 150 years earlier than before.

Vikings tagged the great lion in Venice with runes

Hundreds or thousands of Norwegian and Swedish Vikings went to the Mediterranean for ‘summer jobs’ as mercenaries. They left behind graffiti.

Archaeologists surprised when 3,500 year old arrowheads made of shells melted out of the ice in the Norwegian mountains

Unique arrowheads made of freshwater pearl mussel have melted out of the ice in the mountains in Jotunheimen in Norway. Arrowheads like this have not been found anywhere else in the world, according to archaeologist.

The building of a new Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo has officially begun

Ola Borten Moe, Minister of Research and Higher Education in Norway, did the honours of putting the first shovel – or rather excavator – in the ground.

The Vikings likely brought horses and dogs with them on their voyages to England

“Very nice to get some archaeological flesh on that bone,” says Professor Jan Bill.

The world's oldest rune stone was found sticking out of the ground. Here’s how researchers figured out how old it is

The stone could be up to 2,000 years old — and we know that because of a cremation.

World’s oldest rune stone found in Norway, archaeologists believe

The find was kept secret by researchers for more than a year.

The inner parts of the Oslofjord contains some of the most exciting traces of Stone Age people in Europe

Archaeologists are now seeing how a landscape of fjords, straits and islands attracted people in the Stone Age. Few other places in Europe lend themselves as well to studying the lives and disappearances of the Stone Age people.

Now we know who the Vikings had children with

DNA evidence from Norway points above all to Britain and Ireland rather than people from the north-east. But a lot of this hereditary material has mysteriously almost disappeared after the Viking Age.

40-tonne steel rigs will protect the Viking ships during the building of a new Viking Age museum in Oslo

The Viking ships have remained in the same place since they were first put on display. Now they are being moved, with comprehensive security measures in place to ensure they are not damaged.

Here’s what Norwegian archaeologists discovered in 2022

5,000-year-old rock art. The remains of a 1,600-year-old house. A shipwreck at the bottom of a lake. A Viking grave, a Viking sword and a Viking silver treasure. These are among the top finds from Norway in the year gone by.

Viking grave discovered in the middle of Norway's capital Oslo

A grave with the remains of a shield and a cape buckle were uncovered during the construction of a new house this autumn. It is the first Viking grave rich in artefacts that archaeologists have excavated in Oslo.

The plan was to renovate a laundry room. But then bones from a 12 000 year old polar bear showed up

This is the story of how the best-preserved Ice Age polar bear in the world ended up at the Museum of Archaeology in Stavanger in the 1980s. Norway's first Stone Age people may have lived alongside this polar bear.

Shipwreck discovered at the bottom of Norway’s largest lake – possibly 700 years old

Marine archaeologists believe the ship dates to sometime between 1300 – 1850. It was found at the bottom of the lake Mjøsa, at 410 metres.

Meet Tora, 65 years old. She lived during the Middle Ages

Researchers have created a model of a medieval woman from Trondheim in Norway, based on analysis of her bones.

Ötzi-museum does not believe there are so many more ice mummies out there

What happens to artifacts in ice patches in the Norwegian mountains is not necessarily transferable to the Alps and the Ötzi-find-site, according to Andreas Putzer from the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.

A ski from the Viking Age melted out of the ice in 2014. A few years later the second ski in the pair appeared

The skis are the best-preserved pair from prehistoric times in the world. But who was trying to cross a mountain pass during winter in the 8th century, and why did they lose their skis? More clues may yet melt out of the ice to tell the story.

New research on 5300-year-old Ötzi suggests there could be more ice mummies out there

The 31-year-old find of the ice man from the Alps, has been studied again. While Ötzi is unique, the conditions that preserved his body are not, say the researchers.

One Viking’s lost silver treasure discovered by metal detector enthusiast

46 pieces of silver from the Viking age were recently discovered in a field in mid-Norway. “It’s an exceptional find,” says archaeologist.

How do you build a Viking ship? These woodworkers are joined by researchers on their third Viking ship project

The prow of a Viking ship rises over Vikingodden in Tønsberg, Norway. The ‘Gokstad ship’ is being rebuilt.

7,000 year old fish traps discovered in the Norwegian mountains

Stone Age folks in the Norwegian mountains didn’t just hunt reindeer. A unique find from this summer reveals that they had also developed extensive fish traps in the lakes.

Every Viking owned a stone like this - and they traded massive quantities of them too

Whetstones are one of the most common finds from the Viking Age. What looks like a simple stone however, tells the tale of extensive trading systems - and perhaps even the reason for why the Vikings started raiding overseas.

Developing a robotic georadar to make archaeological surveys easier

Surveys using ground-penetrating radar have helped archaeologists in Norway discover among other things a Viking ship and a Viking longhouse. An automated version now promises to make these surveys even more efficient.

Found a Viking sword in the backyard

It wasn't a couple of pieces of an old rusty plow. It was a Viking sword.

The last person who touched this three-bladed arrowhead was a Viking

“We have never found an arrowhead like this before”, the glacial archaeologists from Secrets of the Ice in Norway recently reported on their Facebook-page.

New Viking Age jewellery find delivered to archaeological museum on a platter

The typical Viking Age women’s jewellery had been collecting dust in somebody’s living room for decades. Until last week, when it was all of a sudden delivered by an anonymous source at the Museum of Archaeology in Stavanger.

This gold ring once belonged to a powerful Viking Chief. It was found in a pile of cheap jewellery auctioned off online

The heavy, shiny gold ring stood out. And no wonder. It once belonged to a powerful Viking chief.

One of the most famous acts of sabotage during WWII happened in the basement of this building. Now it's open to the public

On a mission to prevent Hitler from developing a nuclear bomb, a group of brave soldiers made their way into the basement where heavy water was being produced. That very basement was rediscovered a few years ago.

Monks had to remain silent whilst they ate, so they invented a sign language

The Cistercian monks lived by strict rules.

Why did somebody build a ceramics factory on this remote island 2000 years ago?

It's far off the Norwegian coast, and there isn't clay available to make ceramics. Still, somebody made a lot of pottery at Kirkhelleren in Træna, thousands of years ago.

University rector says Viking ships may collapse in 5 or 50 years if new museum is delayed

The future is still uncertain for Norway’s Viking ships after budget agreement.

Who painted pictures like this on rock walls in Norway 5000-8000 years ago?

Researchers are uncovering the mysteries of rock paintings millennia after they were created. More and more paintings are being discovered.

Researchers have started a petition to save the Norwegian Viking ships

“This is a desperate cry to the government,” says one of the archaeologists behind the petition.

New report: Budget cuts put 1200 year old Viking ships at risk of being destroyed

Cutting costs means risking Norway’s greatest cultural heritage and largest tourist attraction. “We cannot allow this,” says Svein Stølen, rector at the University of Oslo.

Medieval excavation greatest hits: 800 years ago a fashion queen strolled the streets of Oslo in this elegant shoe

An exquisitely carved king holding a falcon, an elaborately decorated shoe and a rune stick are among the finds the archaeologists have picked for their top 11 list of finds from the recently ended excavation in the Medieval Park in Oslo.

Unique sword from the Viking Age found in Stavanger

Metal detector enthusiasts in Norway have found a unique type of Viking Age sword with spectacular ornamentation.

Here’s why Rattus norvegicus has taken over Europe

The black rat spread across Europe in two waves, first in Roman times and then in the Middle Ages. But today it has had to cede Europe to the ‘Norwegian’ brown rat.

The blade of this knife is from space

Can you imagine how that can be?

The Viking Ships can’t wait

OPINION: Each day that construction is delayed, valuable time in the race to preserve this cultural heritage is wasted. The government should not mess about at this point - it should guarantee steady progress of the project.

The planned new Viking Age Museum in Oslo told to cut a billion NOK

The Norwegian Minister of Research, Ola Borten Moe from the Centre Party, has delivered a clear message: The cost of building a new Viking Age museum in Oslo must be reduced by a billion NOK.

Mysterious medieval moat found in the middle of Oslo: "Could suggest a desperate need for defense"

An untouched area of land in the middle of the city presented a puzzle to the archaeologists. Until they realized what it was: King Haakon Haakonsson’s moat. But why did the King build what was by then an outdated defense system?

Why was this flimsy Roman-looking sandal buried beneath the snow in an ancient, dangerous Norwegian mountain pass?

“It looks almost like a sandal. It’s pretty astonishing, we’re up here at almost 2000 metres, and we find a shoe with fashion elements, similar to those found on the Continent at the time,” says glacial archaeologist Espen Finstad.

A reindeer hunter lost this knife in the Norwegian mountains 1500 years ago

“It’s incredibly well preserved”, says archaeologist Lars Pilø from Secrets of the Ice.

The Norwegian medieval kings were known to give the best gifts: Falcons

Norwegian falcons given as gifts from the Norwegian king during the Middle Ages are said to have been valued more highly than silver and gold by the English royal family.

Gaming-pieces and a gaming board found in the Medieval Park in Oslo

New finds from Oslo's Medieval Park excavation shed light on one of history's most popular pastimes: playing games and gambling.

Ancient remains from reindeer hunting and a forgotten trail in the Norwegian mountains found by glacial archaeologists

Melting ice has laid bare arrowheads, traces from reindeer hunting and a mountain trail in one of the many sites that the Secrets of the Ice-team continuously monitor for finds.

New runic find from medieval Oslo – this time it’s a name tag

Asbjørn put his name on it, 800 years ago.

What is the rose from the famous Norwegian Selbu mitten doing in the remains of a medieval cathedral in Sudan?

What is the rose from the Selbu mitten doing in the remains of a medieval cathedral in Sudan?

And is it even a rose?

Did this Viking helmet belong to a Norwegian warrior who served rulers in the East?

New interpretations of the so-called Gjermundbu find suggest that the Viking buried in one of Norway's richest male warrior graves had ties to great rulers in Eastern Europe.

A bone and a stick inscribed with Norse runic text found in Oslo

A large bone inscribed on both sides is the first such item found in Oslo in more than 30 years, according to the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU).

Knife handle in the shape of a king from the 13th century found in the Medieval Park in Oslo

It may be the oldest of its kind in Scandinavia, researchers believe.

The 12 most exciting finds from the Gjellestad Viking ship dig

A large amber bead, an axe placed under the ship, 25 horse teeth and pieces of wood that will tell us exactly when it sailed are among the results from Norway’s first excavation of a monumental Viking ship burial in a century.

Huge longhouse found near the Gjellestad Viking ship – one of the largest in Scandinavia

The finding confirms what the researchers already believed – that this place was a significant site of power during the Iron and Viking Ages.

This piece of wood will help archaeologists reconstruct the grand Gjellestad Viking ship

It will tell us exactly when the ship sailed the seas, as well as how it sailed.

The amazing discovery of a lost Viking settlement

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: The lost Viking mountain pass that melted out of the Lendbreen ice patch was a fantastic and baffling discovery. The discovery made headlines around the world, but it also raised questions.

Why do we love the Vikings so much?

Violent vikings might be the ones we see in movies and on TV, but Vikings are also popular today because they represent a return to our roots and nature, researchers claim.

Seven rare gold pendants were sacrificed 1500 years ago in Østfold county of Norway

It must have been a considerable ritual act, reserved for only the most privileged in society, according to researchers.

Does the story of Beowolf explain the Oseberg, Gjellestad and Sutton Hoo ships?

The new Netflix film “The Dig” tells the story of the excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship in England. A Norwegian professor believes that a 1500-year-old poem can explain why a number of large ships were buried during the Viking Age.

Viking women played an important role in raids

Kitchen equipment from the British Isles has been found in graves belonging to Viking women from aristocratic families. “We can gain new knowledge about women’s participation in the Viking raids by posing new questions to old findings,” says researcher.