Excavations around the Gjellestad ship in south-eastern Norway continue unabated and it is hoped they will be completed this month. GRE radar has shown it to be 19 metres long and five metres wide, and even though much of it has rotted away, it is hoped that a replica may eventually be built.

This is the first major excavation of its kind in Norway for over a century and this boat is of roughly the same size as the famous Oseberg and Gokstad ships, on display at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Those ships were found at the westside of the Oslo fjord, but this on the eastern side.

While this does not mean that it was intended for journeys east, the find is nevertheless of interest to scholars of the Eastern Vikings. In the 9th Century the Vikings started using sails which enabled them to cross the open seas to the west. Many ships combined rowing and sailing, depending on the weather, but the Gjellestad ship has a different keel than previous findings, which has gotten archaeologists excited.

The shallow draught enabled the ships to travel across the waves, but also over inland waters as found in eastern Europe. The king buried with the ship may have travelled far and wide, even to Byzantium. The ship was light enough to be carried from one river to the next, as was crucial to navigate the rivers in present day Russia and Ukraine. The ship has been dated to roughly the century between 750 and 850 CE.

For the BBC article, see here:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55145985

For more specific questions, you can contact chief archaeologist dr. Knut Paasche directly here:  knut.paasche@niku.no