Rare Viking Ship Burial At Gamla Uppsala Reveals Its Secrets – What’s Inside?

Ellen Lloyd – MessageToEagle.com – There are not many Viking ship burials in Sweden, or anywhere else for that matter.

Viking ship burials are rare finds and whenever archaeologists discover one, they are always excited. Last year, two full-sized Viking burial ships have been discovered in the Swedish municipality of Uppsala. Today, Uppsala is an ordinary city in Sweden but during the Viking Age, this was a very different place.

Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala) is one of the most important, sacred ancient Viking and Pagan sites in Sweden. Here we find the sacred the Royal Mound (Kungshögarna) that are of great historical and mythological importance.

Royal Mounds at Gamla Uppsala. Image credit: Disir productions AB

According to Norse mythology and folklore, the three mighty Norse gods Thor, Odin, and Frey are buried inside the mounds. Others think the Royal Mounds were the final resting place for the legendary Ynglings, the descendants of the Norse gods, and the oldest Scandinavian king dynasty.

Gamla Uppsala virtual look – Image credit: Disir productions AB

Gamla Uppsala offers a unique chance to find out what life was like during the Viking Age, and if you are interested in learning more about this site you can experience this lost era through a virtual window.

Archaeologists have unearthed precious ancient artifacts from the Viking era, traces of the worship of Pagan gods and many valuable ancient objects from the Iron Age, and the Viking ship burials.

The two Viking ship burials discovered in 2019 are most likely dated to the Vendel Period (around 550-800 AD) or the Viking Age (800-1050 AD) when it otherwise was common to cremate the dead but the people in these boats are not cremated.

A rare Viking ship burial at Gamla Uppsala. Credit: Arkeologerna

Excavating a Viking ship burial is time demanding and delicate work. However, Swedish archaeologists have now investigated one of the ship burials, the other was damaged.

Researchers expected it to be the final resting place of someone of higher social standing in society.

In Sweden, only around ten boat burial sites of this kind is known previously, mainly in the provinces of Uppland and Västmanland in mid-Sweden.

“It is a small group of people who were buried in this way. You can suspect that they were distinguished people in the society of the time since burial ships, in general, are very rare,” says Anton Seiler, who works at The Archaeologists, part of the National Historical Museums in Sweden.

Who Was Buried Inside The Viking Ship Burial At Gamla Uppsala?

According to archaeologists, the deceased man was about 25-year-old, perhaps a little older. He had a normal body, but rather long arms. His cranium was well-preserved but there was a visible crack.

“When I turned investigated his cranium I could see he had a major head injury,“ osteologist Caroline Arcini explained.

Osteologist Caroline Arcini examines the skull. Credit. Arkeologerna

Arcini added it’s needed to examine the skull in detail to determine what had happened to the man, but it’s possible to live with an inquiry like this one. However, at this point, we shouldn’t dismiss the possibility the head inquiry was the cause of his death.

Several of the man’s teeth were missing, and how he lost the is unknown. It’s possible some of them have fallen out after he was placed in the burial. Yet, Arcinin also points there were signs of tooth decay that must have caused him plenty of pain.

The skull was in good condition but the Viking had a major head inquiry. Its cause must yet be determined. Credit: Arkaeologerna

Like most ancient civilizations the Vikings believed in the afterlife and several items believed to be necessary to continue the journey to the other side were buried along with the body.

Inside the Viking ship burial at Gamla Uppsala scientists unearthed grave gifts such as a horse, dog, comb, sword, and a shield.  Basically everything a warrior needed on his way to Valhalla.

“The magnificent shield was most likely made of wood. It has been destroyed now, but the part in the middle that was made of iron is still there and it has to be preserved so we can find out what it originally looked like when it was placed inside the burial,” archaeologists Anton Seiler explained.

An ornamented comb made of horn was one of the burial gifts. Credit: Arkeologerna

Seiler also said the ornamented comb was made of horn and it will be possible to determine the age of the artifact. This information will provide us with more valuable information about the time when the Viking died.

Learn more about the Vikings

Swedish researchers will continue to explore this extraordinary Viking ship burial and as Seiler said, it does take time, but researchers are making progress each day.

Written by  Ellen Lloyd – MessageToEagle.com – AncientPages.com

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