Two Women Are Buried in the Oseberg Ship

In 1904, Swedish archaeologist Gabriel Gustafson and Norwegian archaeologist Haakon Shetelig began excavating an immense burial mound on the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg, in Vestfold county, Norway. Beneath the mound lay an exceptionally preserved clinker-built wooden vessel, largely constructed of oak, serving as a monument to two deceased women. Tree-ring dating of timbers recovered from the burial chamber indicates that the mound was constructed and sealed no earlier than the autumn of 834, while the ship itself had been built around 820. The vessel is widely acknowledged as one of the finest surviving artifacts from the Viking Age.

The ship itself measures about 21.5 metres in length and 5 metres in breadth, with a mast rising roughly 9 to 10 metres. Built as a karve, it featured 15 pairs of oar ports capable of accommodating 30 oarsmen, a broad steering oar, an iron anchor, a gangplank, and a bailer. Its crew is thought to have numbered 32: 30 rowers, a helmsman and a lookout at the bow. Both the bow and the stern were adorned with intricate woodcarvings rendered in a dynamic style later categorized by art historians as the Oseberg or gripping beast style.