Unusual Viking Grave Includes Nested Boats Buried 100 Years Apart

Artist's illustration of the 8th-century Viking man's burial (Arkikon)

Archaeologists don’t know why the two vessels were buried on top of one another, but the practice may be linked with property rights

Last month, archaeologists excavating the Skeiet Viking farm in Vinjeøra, Norway, unearthed an unexpected burial: namely, a boat containing the remains of a woman nested inside of a second boat occupied by the body of a man laid to rest some 100 years earlier.

As researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) reported in a recent announcement detailing the find, the Viking woman died during the latter half of the 9th century A.D. Her remains were buried in a 23- to 26-foot-long boat filled with grave goods including the head of a cow, two pairs of scissors, weaving tools and a pearl necklace. Two large shell-shaped brooches and a crucifix-shaped brooch made from a decorative Irish harness fitting were pinned on the woman’s dress.

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