Gateway to ancient Viking civilization

 

Vallentuna, Sweden (CNN) — Drive north of the Swedish capital for about half an hour and you'll reach the lakeside district of Vallentuna, a pleasant community with cobblestone churches, picnic areas and playgrounds.

It's also a journey deep into Sweden's ancient Viking past.

Scattered among Vallentuna's greenery are dozens of mystical runestones that form the gateway to a 1,000-year-old Viking civilization now believed to be one of Scandinavia's most significant historic sites.

Known as Runriket, or Rune Kingdom, this collection of more than 100 Viking age runestones -- ancient lichen-crusted slabs of Old Norse inscriptions -- are beautiful relics that shine a light on modern Sweden's past, revealing surprising truths about its ancestors.

Vikings are often depicted as brutish Odin-worshippers who pillaged, drank and made blood sacrifices. While there's truth to the stereotype, the relics of Rune Kingdom actually paint a picture of devote Christian settlers on the cusp of embracing medieval lifestyles.

Gateway to Viking civilization

Massgraven med vikingar i Estland

 

Ett spektakulärt fynd gjordes på hösten 2008 när man grävde för att dra nya elkablar i staden Salme på Ösel.

Man fann lik. Det var inte ovanligt att hitta ansamlingar av döda människor i större eller mindre massgravar – striderna var hårda i trakten mellan Röda armén och tyskarna under slutet av andra världskriget. Men under de sju fallna fann man spår av ett träfartyg. Nu ringde varningsklockorna.

Tillskyndade estländska arkeologer konstaterade att det rörde sig om stupade krigare från svunna tider. Ju mer man frilade ju fler kvarlevor hittade man, tillsammans med vapen och ett fartyg som uppenbarligen var konstruerat efter Skandinavisk modell, ett så kallat ”vikingaskepp”. Samma sak med de andra fynden, 75 spelpjäser som uppenbarligen var av nordiskt ursprung. Fartyget drevs med åror och hade plats för 12–15 man och vad som torde vara besättningen låg inuti!

Det har kallats ett sensationellt vikingafynd.

Skeppet var nordiskt, utrustningen var nordisk, och DNA-undersökningarna pekade mot en uppväxt kring Mälardalen och Östergötland. Men tiden var märklig, före ”vikingatiden”. Fartyget byggdes någon gång från 650-700.

Det gör det inte mindre spännande. ”Vikingatiden” är bara en etikett (som vetenskapligt kallas yngre järnåldern) som i sig är helt betydelselös. Historien följer inga mallar, den bara fortgår och fortgår. Däremot torde de stupade mycket väl kunnat falla in i vår uppfattning om just ”vikingar”. Krigare, plundrare, handelsmän som for vida omkring. Även om det här gänget fick sin slutdestination på Estland.

Ett och ett halvt år senare drog arkeologerna från Tallinn ännu en gigantisk vinstlott. Man hittade ett andra fartyg, större än det första, och det här verkar ha drivits med segel. Med plats för 30-40 man. Även här gjordes samma besynnerliga fynd – båten innehöll kvarlevorna av 34 män.

De begravna hade gått ett våldsamt slut till mötes. Massor av svärds- och yxhugg mot händer, ansikte, kropp, klyvna kranier, avhuggna armar, det var spår av en strid – och striden bör ha stått omkring år 750!

Bland krigarna hittades dessutom tre stycken hundar som avrättats, en hade huggits i två delar, en annan hade placerats under armen på en av krigarna.

Det här är hur märkligt som helst. Det är, om materialet är rätt tolkat, första beviset på skandinaviska segelfartyg – det som gjorde vikingaräderna möjliga. Det andra tidigaste beviset är från 820!

För det andra. Vad hade hänt?

Det vet vi inte. 41 män dukade under i en strid och begraves i vad man kan förmoda vara sina egna skepp. Men led de nederlag? Den omsorgsfulla begravningen, vapen och spelpjäser, att deras hundar har följt med sina hussar på den sista färden… det tyder inte på att fienden har behållit slagfältet. Och om så varit fallet så visade de väldigt stor respekt för de besegrade, kanske om det varit någon form av inbördes strider mellan rivaliserande gäng där segrarna hade så pass nära relation med förlorarna att man visar den här respekten. Eller ingicks det kanske ett stillestånd där båda sidor tilläts ta tillvara sina stupade? Eller var det här ett fåtal stupade i en stor armé som var på härnadståg?

Vi vet ingenting om det där.

Den estländske arkeologen Jüri Peets som leder undersökningarna har noterat att pilspetsar slagit in i fartygen, vilket gör att han lutar mot att det, åtminstone till en början, bör röra sig om ett sjöslag. Han tror det rör sig om två ”vikingaflottor” som drabbat samman.

FÖRELÄSNING

Ragnar Saage, Tartu universitāte, Vēstures un arheoloģijas institūts ”Finds from Salme burial shipts” (engelskt tal, halvtimme) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4N9V24L59o&t=651s

Sören Sindbäck talar om skeppssättningar: ”boat burials and ship graves” (engelskt tal, 12:30 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ862Ev_ifs

Innehåller också det senaste fynden…

Pennan & Svärdet om vikingar: https://artiklar.pennanochsvardet.se/a26rnook-valkommen-till-pennan-svardet

Vikings: Live from the British Museum

The Vikings are coming... again! In 2014 we followed on from the success of Pompeii Live with another live broadcast- this time from the exhibition Vikings: life and legend. Here is that broadcast, presented by Bettany Hughes and Michael Wood, featuring the largest Viking warship ever found, Roskilde 6 along with interviews with Viking scholars from across the world. Michael and Bettany explore the viking world from the homelands to its farthest reaches, Viking ship craft, trading, warfare and religion are brought to life through the spectacular objects that were brought together for this blockbuster exhibition.

This video has a BBFC rating of 12A and contains descriptions of graphic violence that some viewers may find distressing, viewer discretion is advised. During this challenging time, we’re bringing inspiring stories of humanity’s shared histories and cultural achievements to millions of people online. Your support ensures that we can continue to make the collection and programmes like this one available to as many people as possible. If you can, please donate today: http://ow.ly/1e1Y30qHebG The BP exhibition Vikings: life and legend was supported by BP. The exhibition was organised with the National Museum of Denmark and the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

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Scientists reconstruct face 1000 year old Viking warrior woman

The Viking warrior WOMEN: Scientists reconstruct the face of 1,000-year-old female with a 'battle wound' on her skull who was buried with a hoard of weapons in Norway

• The woman is based on skeleton found in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway
• She was buried surrounded by a hoard of deadly weaponry in the grave
• British scientists brought her to life using facial recognition technology 
• The female warrior has now been preserved in Oslo's Museum of Cultural History

Scientists have re-created the face of a female Viking warrior who lived more than 1,000 years ago. 

The woman is based on a skeleton found in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway, and is now preserved in Oslo's Museum of Cultural History.

While the remains had already been identified as female, the burial site had not been considered that of a warrior 'simply because the occupant was a woman', archaelogist Ella Al-Shamahi told The Guardian. 

But now British scientists have brought the female warrior to life using cutting-edge facial recognition technology. 

Scientists reconstructed the face of the female warrior who lived more than 1,000 years ago by anatomically working from the muscles and layering of the skin

And scientists found the woman was buried with a hoard of deadly weaponry including arrows, a sword, a spear and an axe. 

Researchers also discovered a dent in her head, which rested on a shield in her grave, that was consistent with a sword wound.  

It is unclear whether the brutal injury was the cause of her death however it is believed to be 'the first evidence ever found of a Viking woman with a battle injury', according to Ms Al-Shamahi. 

She added: I'm so excited because this is a face that hasn't been seen in 1,000 years… She's suddenly become really real.

Archaeologist Ella Al-Shamahi comes face to face with the skull of the Viking woman who was found buried among a hoard of deadly weaponry in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway

The expert who is a specialist in ancient human remains is set to present a National Geographic documentary featuring the reconstruction. 

The face was built up anatomically working from the muscles and layering of the skin. 

Dr Caroline Erolin, a senior lecturer at the University of Dundee in the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification which worked on the reconstruction said: 'The resulting reconstruction is never 100 per cent accurate, but is enough to generate recognition from someone who knew them well in real life.' 

The technology also recreated the woman's grave showing the placement of the weapons. 

The documentary shows Ms Al-Shamahi travelling across Scandinavia examining Viking burial sites and using visualisation techniques to reconstruct the contents.      

Ms Al-Shamahi said while women risked being overpowered in hand-to-hand combat, they could have fired deadly arrows from horseback over longer distances making them 'an equal match for men'.

Viking expert and archaeological consultant on the project Professor Neil Price added: 'There are so many other burials in the Viking world… It wouldn't surprise me at all if we find more (female warriors).

By EMILY WEBBER 

Archaeologists uncovered two rare Viking burial boats

Archaeologists have uncovered two rare Viking boat graves in the Swedish village of Gamla Uppsala.

One of the boats is intact, still holding the remains of a man, a horse and a dog.

Experts from Arkeologerna, archeologists with Sweden's National Historical Museums agency, believed that it would be a routine dig, so they were were shocked to find the two ships, the group's Ninna Bengtsson said.

There are only about 10 other known boat burial sites like this in Sweden,Arkeologerna said. Ship graves of this kind were generally used in the Vendel Period, from about A.D. 550 to 800, and the Viking Age, from about A.D. 800 to 1050.

Most people at the time were cremated, with these sorts of boat burials reserved for society's elite.

"It is a small group of people who were buried in this way. You can suspect that they were distinguished people in the society of the time since burial ships in general are very rare," archeologist Anton Seiler said in a news release.

In this sort of burial, the person was placed along with his or her riches in a boat that was then put into the ground.

The archaeologists also found a sword, an ornate comb, a spear and part of a shield in the intact boat. The identity of the man remains unknown.

The other of the two boats did not hold up as well. It was probably damaged during work on the land in the 16th century.

The group began excavation on this site last fall but was forced to take a break in the winter due to cold weather. They restarted the process in June and are working to move the artifacts to a facility for further investigation.

It's been 50 years since the last burial ship was found in Gamla Uppsala, according to Seiler.

"It is extremely exciting for us since boat burials are so rarely excavated," he said. "We can now use modern science and methods that will generate new results, hypotheses and answers."

Skeppsgrav från vikingatiden

Arkeologernas nya fynd

Enligt Vestfolds kommun handlar det av allt att döma om ett skepp från vikingatiden.

Skeppet som ligger relativt nära markytan har hittats med hjälp av georadar, vars bilder visar en tydlig båtform under marken.

– Bilderna visar en båtform och vi kan se svaga spår av en cirkulär fördjupning runt båten. Kanske är det ett tecken på att en gravhög tagits bort från platsen, säger Terje Gansum, som är sektionschef för kulturarv i Vestfolds kommun.

Historisk dag

Det är fortfarande oklart hur mycket av farkosten som finns kvar, men vikten av fyndet går inte att underskatta, enligt norske klimat- och miljöministern Ola Elvestuen.

– Det här är en historisk dag, en stor begivenhet. Det är unikt i norsk historia och internationellt, det går inte att överdriva betydelsen av det här, säger han.

Unikt fynd

Sedan tidigare har bara sju skeppsgravar från vikingatiden (år 800 till 1050) bekräftats i Europa. Tre av dessa finns i just Vestfold.

I fjol hittades dock en förmodad skeppsgrav på ett gravfält i Haldens kommun i sydöstra Norge och nu har alltså troligen ytterligare ett vikingaskepp hittats i Borreparken.

Archeologists find Viking sword

Archeologists find Viking sword in southern Turkey

Searching through the ancient city of Patara in Turkey's Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, Turkish archeologists uncovered a sword dating back to over a millennium.

Lead excavator Professor Havva Iskan Işık of Akdeniz University told Anadolu Agency that they identified a Viking sword from the ninth or 10th century.

Işık said they have been carrying out excavation works for 30 years and have discovered important archaeological evidence so far.

"Finding a Viking sword in a harbor city in the Mediterranean area is of great importance," she said.

She said the sword offers a clue to how the Vikings served the Eastern Roman Empire, adding that the preserved total length of the sword is 43.2 centimeters (around 17 inches).

The sword was inside a wooden sheath, Isik said, and could have been left in the grave of a Viking soldier.

According to research, Viking swords in wooden sheaths were left in tombs as a "gift to dead", she said.