Archaeologists' 'Exciting' Pre-Viking Discovery Rewrites History

Archaeologists have made an "exciting" discovery regarding a large burial mound that may help rewrite the history of the Nordic region.

This summer, a team of researchers investigated the so-called "Herlaugshagen" burial mound—located in the municipality of Leka, Trøndelag County, on the coast of central Norway—with the aim of dating it and confirming whether or not a ship was hidden within.

To the joy of the archaeologists, surveys revealed large rivets in the mound, confirming that it was indeed the site of a ship burial. Now, recent dating efforts have indicated that the mound was constructed around A.D. 700—prior to the Viking Age—sparking further excitement among the researchers, according to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). This date makes it the oldest known ship burial in Scandinavia (although there are burials in Vendel and Valsgärde in Sweden involving smaller boats that date to the 7th century).

The Viking Age was a period spanning from the late 8th century A.D. to the mid-11th century A.D. when the Vikings—a Scandinavian seafaring people—raided, colonized and traded widely across areas of Europe. They even made it as far as North Africa, the Middle East and North America.

But the Herlaugshagen burial mound appears to date to a preceding era, known as the Merovingian period (around 550 to 800 A.D.). This indicates that the custom of burying people in large ships started much earlier than previously thought, Geir Grønnesby, an archaeologist at the NTNU University Museum who was project manager for the dig, told Newsweek. It also indicates that ship technology and "maritime competence" in the region were at a higher level earlier than previously believed.

"This dating is really exciting because it pushes the whole tradition of ship burials quite far back in time," Grønnesby said in a press release. "You don't build a ship of this size without having a reason for doing so. It tells us that people from this area were skilled seafarers—they could build big ships—much earlier than we previously thought."

The latest findings could shed new light on the history of the region around the end of the Merovingian period and the start of the Viking Age, according to Grønnesby. The beginning of the Viking Age is mainly associated with the extensive raiding of England that started at the end of the 8th century, based on evidence such as written sources and objects from the British Isles found in Norwegian graves. But when exactly and why the Viking raids started is still the subject of debate.

"The discussion about when and why the Viking raids started has, among other things, been linked to the development of ship technology and especially to the use of sails," Grønnesby said.

The few known ships in the region older than the one buried in the Herlaugshagen mound were rowing vessels and did not have sails. It is not known if the Herlaugshagen ship had sails. But accounts from the 18th century—when the mound was the subject of several excavations—reported a "hole" that has since been interpreted by some as the imprint of a mast that had rotted away.

"Without a full excavation of the mound, we have no possibility of getting this confirmed," Grønnesby said.

The Herlaugshagen burial mound is one of the largest in Norway with a diameter of almost 200 feet.

"The burial mound itself is also a symbol of power and wealth. I think people in this area have been engaged in trading goods, perhaps over great distances," Grønnesby said.

The fact that the burial mound is located along what would have been a shipping route at the time likely plays a key role in explaining why it was constructed where it was, according to archaeologist Lars Forseth from the Trøndelag County Authority, who also participated in the surveys this summer.

"We know that whetstones have been traded from Trøndelag to the continent from the mid-700s onwards, and goods transport along the route is key to understanding the Viking Age and developments in ship design before the Viking Age," Forseth said in the press release.

One question that remains open is whether or not there was a connection between the ruling class at Vendel and Valsgärde in Sweden and the people who built the Herlaugshaugen burial mound. Not far from Leka—further into the Namdalen valley—lie even more large burial mounds, most of which have yet to be investigated, that archaeologists believe could date to the Merovingian Period.

The burials at Vendel and Valsgärde also display similarities with the spectacular Sutton Hoo ship burial in England. Dated to approximately 625 A.D., Sutton Hoo is considered to be the oldest monumental ship burial.

The recent dating of the Herlaugshaugen mound helps to "fill the gap" between the Scandinavian ship burial tradition and the Sutton Hoo ship burial in England, Grønnesby told Newsweek.

"Should the ship in Herlaugshaugen burial mound be seen in connection with the burial mounds in Namdalen, Vendel, Valsgärde and Sutton Hoo, or is it a different phenomenon? This is a very exciting question, and something we want to explore further," Grønnesby said in the press release.