When researchers began reexcavating a Viking burial mound in Norway, they knew they were following the footsteps of an influential archaeologist. What they didn’t know was that he’d left them a note 140 years ago.
The Myklebust Ship is the one of the largest Viking ships ever found in Norway, reaching about 100 feet long in its original form. Archaeologist Anders Lorange unearthed the burnt ship in a large burial mound in Nordfjordeid in 1874, according to the Sagastad Viking Center dedicated to the find.
The massive treasure-filled grave — likely belonging to a Viking king — was “only halfway excavated” before being filled in, the museum said.
A team of archaeologists recently decided to change that, the University of Bergen said in a Nov. 12 news release.
The team began digging at the iconic mound and unearthed a brown bottle which clearly looked more recent than the 11th century end of the Viking era. Inside the bottle were some papers and five coins.
The first paper was a business card for Lorange, the man who first discovered the Myklebust Ship, the university said. The card described him as an archaeologist with the Bergen Museum. Another name, Emma Gade, was added at the bottom, a photo shows.
The other paper was a letter from Lorange roughly translated as: This Mound was excavated Anno Domino 1874. Of Anders Lorange, Antiqvarius Norvegiæ. The mound is built over fallen Men. They were burned in their ship with their weapons and decorations. Of Skjold (shield) bulges were 26 - of Swords 2 - an ax and many Arrows - in addition to many other Old Saws. The find is handed over to Bergens Museum.
Archaeologists noted an error in Lorange’s letter. He reported finding 26 shield bulges, but the mound actually had 44 of these artifacts, the university said. Lorange’s message in a bottle also left out other more interesting finds from the Myklebust Ship.
Taken together, the errors and omissions suggest Lorange wasn’t the one doing the actual excavation work, Morten Ramstad, the archaeologist leading the latest dig, said in the release. Instead, the bulk of the excavation work was likely done by farm workers.
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A photo shows the letter from Lorange. Most of the text is written in Norwegian except for a line at the very bottom. Archaeologists suspected the unusual final line was written in runes, but runes experts couldn’t decipher it, the university said.
Researchers eventually realized Lorange didn’t know runes and had simply written the Norwegian phrase “Emma Gade my girlfriend” in a runic alphabet, Ramstad said. The two later married.
The 140-year-old message in a bottle is the second such find linked to Lorange, the university said. A similar time capsule — with a declaration of love to a different woman — was found in the 1930s.
The university plans to display the find and continue excavations at the Myklebust Ship mound in Nordfjordeid. Nordfjordeid is a small town on the southwestern coast of Norway and a roughly 320-mile drive northwest of Oslo.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the University of Bergen.
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 11:57 AM.
