At Gjellestad in Norway, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) have found a 60 metre longhouse. There is no longer a doubt that Gjellestad, where the same team discovered a Viking ship in 2018, has been a central place in the late Nordic Iron Age. In the next few years, researchers will hopefully find the answer to how Gjellestad became such an important place.
The Gjellestad Ship
Archaeologists armed with a motorized high resolution georadar have found a Viking ship and a large number of burial mounds and longhouses in Østfold County in Norway
The discoveries were made by the archaeologists Lars Gustavsen and Erich Nau from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) with technology developed by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro).
The Viking ship find is just below the topsoil, at a depth of approximately 50 cm initially buried in a burial mound. The digital data visualisations reveal a large and well-defined 20 m long ship-shaped structure. The data indicate that the lower part of the ship is still preserved. Further non-invasive investigations are planned to digitally map the unique find and the wider landscape.
The sensational find is located at Viksletta right next to the monumental Jell Mound in Østfold County, Norway. The team has discovered the traces of at least eight so far unknown burial mounds destroyed by ploughing. The georadar data also revealed 5 longhouses – some of them remarkably large.
In the research project Viking Nativity: Gjellestad Across Borders the historical context of the ship will be investigated, and further GPR surveys will be conducted in the area.
If you have any questions regarding this find or the ongoing research project please get in touch with Knut Paasche.
- Status Finished
- Client Østfold fylkeskommune/ NIKU
- Time 2018-2019
