Archaeologists announced on Tuesday the remains of a Viking chief buried in a boat along with his sword, axe, and spear were discovered in Scotland, the first of its kind to be spotted intact on the British mainland.
The Viking burial site, believed to be around 1,000 years old, was found in the Scottish Highlands on Ardnamurchan peninsula.
“We had been investigating the area since 2006, and most of our work had been concentrated on a different area,” said archaeologist Helena Gray. “We had noticed a small, very low mound in the ground and decided to investigate. We didn’t have any idea that it was going to be such an important find.”
Hannah Cobb, the dig project’s co-director, explains how the Viking funeral, apparently for an important figure, would have went down.
“The Vikings would have dug a boat shaped hole and then they would have dragged the boat up from the sea and put the boat into the hole and laid all his possessions around him,” she said.
“His shield would have been laid on his chest and his sword was at his side and then they filled up the boat with stones and that’s exactly what we found when we came to excavate it.”
via Associated Press
