In a village in central Denmark, archeologists made a landmark discovery that would maintain vital clues to the Viking period: a burial floor, containing some 50 “exceptionally well-preserved” skeletons.
“That is such an thrilling discover as a result of we discovered these skeletons which might be so very, very properly preserved,” mentioned archeologist Michael Borre Lundø, who led the six-month dig. “Usually, we’d be fortunate to seek out a couple of tooth within the graves, however right here we now have whole skeletons.”
The skeletons have been preserved due to favorable soil chemistry, significantly chalk and excessive water ranges, specialists from Museum Odense mentioned. The positioning was found final 12 months throughout a routine survey, forward of energy line renovation work on the outskirts of the village of Aasum, 5 kilometers (3 miles), northeast of Odense, Denmark’s third-largest metropolis.
Consultants hope to conduct DNA analyses and probably reconstruct detailed life histories, in addition to trying into social patterns in Viking Age, corresponding to kinship, migration patterns and extra.
“This opens an entire new toolbox for scientific discovery,” mentioned Borre Lundø as he stood on the muddy, wind-swept excavation web site. “Hopefully we are able to make a DNA evaluation on all of the skeletons and see if they’re associated to one another and even the place they arrive from.”
In the course of the Viking Age, thought of to run from 793 to 1066 A.D., Norsemen often called Vikings undertook large-scale raids, colonizing, conquering and buying and selling all through Europe, even reaching North America.
The Vikings unearthed at Aasum probably weren’t warriors. Borre Lundø believes the positioning was in all probability a “customary settlement,” maybe a farming group, positioned 5 kilometers from a hoop fortress in what’s now central Odense.
The two,000-square meter (21,500-square foot) burial floor holds the stays of males, girls and kids. Moreover the skeletons, there are a couple of cremated our bodies.
In a single grave, a girl is buried in a wagon — the upper a part of a Viking cart was used as a coffin — suggesting she was from the “higher a part of society,” Borre Lundø advised The Related Press.
Archeologists additionally unearthed brooches, necklace beads, knives, and even a small shard of glass that will have served as an amulet.
Borre Lundø mentioned the brooch designs counsel the useless have been buried between 850 and 900 A.D.
“There’s totally different ranges of burials,” he defined. “Some don’t have anything with them, others have brooches and pearl necklaces.”
Archeologists say most of the artefacts got here from far past Denmark’s borders, shedding mild on in depth Viking commerce routes throughout the tenth century.
“There’s plenty of commerce and commerce happening,” mentioned Borre Lundø. “We additionally discovered a brooch that comes from the island of Gotland, on the japanese facet of Sweden, but in addition whetstones for honing your knife … all kinds of issues level to Norway and Sweden.”
The burial web site was found final 12 months, and the dig, which began in April, ended Friday. Packing containers of artefacts have shipped to Museum Odense’s preservation labs for cleansing and evaluation.
Conservator Jannie Amsgaard Ebsen hopes the soil might also maintain different preserved natural materials on the backs of brooches or knife handles.
“We’re actually hoping to achieve the bigger image. Who have been the folks that have been residing on the market? Who did they work together with?” she mentioned. “It’s a bit of bit like a jigsaw puzzle: all the varied puzzle elements shall be positioned collectively.”
