Grønhaug
The Grønhaug ( German "green hill" ) is a large burial mound with a ship's grave , about one kilometer north of Avaldsnes on Karmøy in the Norwegian Fylke Rogaland . The hill was examined in 1902 by Haakon Shetelig (1877–1955). It contained a 15.0 meter long boat with the remains of a man's grave from the late 8th century.
The four meter high hill is about 30.0 meters in diameter and lies in a series of Bronze Age hills. It was therefore originally assumed that the hill dates from the Bronze Age. This was the impetus for Shetelig, inspired by Oscar Montelius , to specialize in the Bronze Age.
There was an elongated depression in the mound, but Shetelig believed the existence of an intact central tomb possible. He entered the mound with a shaft from the north side and found that the mound had a stone core - a not uncommon performance among the Norwegian burial mounds. There was a cavity in the core and inside it was a boat. Inside lay the remains of a looted and destroyed grave. Nevertheless, some items were preserved. The most spectacular are the fragment of an English glass mug and twisted wooden beads . Parts of the skeleton and remains of textiles were also found in the mound. Shetelig made no attempt to date the tomb more precisely, but assumed that it dates from the Viking Age (800-1050 AD).
In 1980 Bjørn Myhre attempted to date several Norwegian ship and boat discoveries, including the Grønhaug boat. After the ship technology and radiological dating he came to a dating to the Viking Age. Arnfrid Opedal later carried out several C14 examinations and came to a probable dating to the Viking Age (around 880-970 AD). In 2009 a dendrochronological dating was successful . It showed that the boat was built around 780 and ended up in the burial mound between 790 and 795 AD. It is therefore considered to be the oldest ship grave in the Nordic countries .
See also
literature
- Niels Bonde, Frans-Arne Stylegar: Fra Avaldsnes til Oseberg. Dendrokronologiske undersøkelser of skipsgravene from Storhaug and Grønhaug on Karmøy. Viking LXXII, Oslo 2009.
- Bjørn Myhre: New catering on the oldest båter. Arkeo, Bergen 1980.
- Arnfrid Opedal: Kongemakt og kongerike. Gravritualer og Avaldsnes-områdets politiske roll 600–1000. Oslo Arkeologiske Serie (OAS) vol 13. Unipub, Oslo 2010, ISBN 978-82-7477-490-2 .
- Haakon Shetelig: En plyndret baadgrav. Bergen Museums Aarbog 8, Bergen 1902.
Web links
- Description, drawings, location (Norwegian)
- Description, photos, location (English)
Coordinates: 59 ° 21'53.9 " N , 5 ° 16'43.1" E