Archaeologists leave message in Viking ship burial – The

Present-day archaeologists have discovered notes from another past archaeologist buried in a Viking ship burial. In 1874, Anders Lorange of the Bergen Museum excavated the largest Viking ship grave ever discovered at the Myklebust farm in Nordfjordeid, western Norway, leaving Message in a bottle.

Myklebust was the estate of Audbjörn Frøybjørnsson, the 9th century Viking king of Firda. Frojbjornsson was killed in battle against Harald Heifer, who succeeded in uniting the small kingdoms of Norway into a single royal family under his rule. After Frojbjornsson’s death in 870, his body was brought back to Miklebst and buried on a ship. The burned ship was covered by a large mound called Rundehogjen. The mound is 100 feet in diameter and 13 feet high. The ship was burned during the funeral, but the remains – more than 7,000 rivets, a large ash pile, 44 shield bosses – allowed archaeologists to deduce its size. At least 100 feet long (much longer than the now more famous ships Oseberg and Gokstad, as they were not burned and remained intact), it is the largest ship ever found in a Viking tomb. It is also the only known Viking ship cremation burial found in Scandinavia.

The mound was first excavated in 1874 when the Bergen Museum sent its first professional conservator and archaeologist, Anders Lorange. The skeletal remains of an adult male, approximately 25-35 years old, were found in Lorange. His shoulder was injured by a sharp instrument. Sword or battle axe. He also discovered the burnt remains of ships, weapons and other grave goods, including a bronze vessel that had been snatched from a church or monastery in Ireland in the eighth century and repurposed as an urn in the cemetery.

Before refilling the mound, Lorange wrote a note, rolled it up and placed it in a green glass bottle along with his business card and five coins. The text of the comment translates to:

“This mound was unearthed in 1874. Anders Lorange, Antiqvarius Norvegiæ. The mound was built over fallen humans. They were burned on board the ship along with their weapons and decorations. In Shield Boss There were 26 – 2 swords – an ax and many arrows – plus many other old saws. The find was handed over to the Bergens Museum.”

Note: There are actually 44 shield bosses in the tomb, so he left out some, and didn’t mention the bronze urn. Project leader and archaeologist Morten Ramstad believes that Lorange omitted these important items from his list because he was not the one buried in the dirt. Farm workers did the actual digging, so although Lorange was the lead archaeologist, he didn’t have all the information when it came time to refill the tomb.

He’s also not very familiar with another topic in his area of ​​expertise, but that doesn’t stop him from shouting out his sweetie.

At the bottom of the letter, Lorange wrote a message in runes. But when Ramstad sought out rune-writing experts, they had trouble deciphering what was written.

“Eventually we realized Lorange didn’t understand runes and just translated the sentence directly in the younger runic letters. We then translated it as ‘Emma Gad my girlfriend.'” Ramstad De said he wrote the same thing on his business card, which was also in the bottle.

Emma Gade from Bergen later became Lorange’s wife. But this isn’t the first time Lorraine has left a letter with a declaration of love in a bottle.

“A similar bottle was discovered during excavations at Raknehaugen in 1939. Lorange was there [who was the first to excavate the mound in 1869-70,] A declaration of love was written to Ingeborg Hefty, but we know that she eventually married someone else. Ramstad said Lorange was undoubtedly a passionate young man.

The National Archives of Norway assigned archaeologists from the University of Bergen to re-excavate and map the Myklebust shipyard as part of a project to document the shipyard for possible inclusion on the Norwegian World Heritage List. Excavations using modern methods and techniques have shown that the mound is much more preserved than previously known and that there are traces of early Viking Age settlements beneath the mound.

“The investigation of Micklebschaugen will undoubtedly give us a better understanding of the powerful and important cultural milieu of the Viking Age, with contacts well beyond Norway. They also confirm that the ship discovered by Lorange It’s quite large. What’s especially important is that this mound contains several burials,” Ramstad explained.

The bottles, banknotes, cards and coins will become part of the University Museum’s collection and will be on display at next year’s bicentennial exhibition.