Viking Graves To Be Reopened
The Norwegian paper Aftenposten reports that the Viking graves from the famous Oseberg and Gokstad ship burials will be reopened in September for further study.
Experts fear the human remains from Viking times may be in the process of disintegrating, if they haven’t already. They want to try to extract them to apply new methods of studying bone matter that can yield new information on the Vikings’ genetics and background.
Bone fragments from one of the Oseberg women were subjected to DNA analysis earlier this year. The tests showed a link to the Black Sea area.
Both ships can be seen at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo.
Sia Vogel on 25 Jun 2007 at 9:52 pm #
I went to this museum with my family, during a trip to Scandinavia last June. It was one of the best times on our trip. It’s a wonderful building, on a beautiful site. It was a very moving experience to see those ships, and the personal items, as well.
I’ve heard that the authorities are thinking of closing this museum and building a larger, new building closer to town in order to handle all the tourists who want to see these ships. I hope that is not true. As you know, this elegant building was made especially for these ships, and it seems so right that they should be there, close to the water. It was an unexpected thrill to find the Kon-Tiki museum right next door, and to see the RA ships, as well.
http://www.museumsnett.no/kon-tiki/Museum/
On another note, we were in Oslo at Midsummer, and saw a wonderful thing: A replica of a ship’s mast, made of sticks and drift wood, standing alone in a long narrow park, in the center of a popular tourist district, completely covered in flowers and vine leaves. The sign said that it was a Midsummer sculpture, made to stand in the park for that week in honor of the holiday and the old traditions. Lovely. Truly lovely.
all good things,
Sia