Boat grave from Port at Eilean Mhòir

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Coordinates: 56 ° 45 ′ 49.5 ″  N , 6 ° 1 ′ 1.6 ″  W.

The Ardnamurchan boat grave
Boat grave after Sarah Paris
Map of the site (the grave is north of Swordle Farm, immediately south of the mouth of the stream in the middle of the map)

The boat grave at Port an Eilean Mhòir is the first Viking Age (800-1050 AD) boat grave (of around a dozen) in the United Kingdom to be more than 1,000 years old. It was found in 2011 on the Scottish Ardnamurchan peninsula . It dates from the 10th century and consists of the remains of a five-meter-long and 1.5-meter-wide boat in which a man was buried with his shield, sword, spear and various grave goods.

The grave ( English boat burial ) is located between the villages of Kilchoan and Ockle on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. There could be a connection with a find from 1924, in which several nails and rivets from the Viking Age were found near Cul na Croise , which were interpreted as part of a Viking boat grave. The place of discovery, however, is not known.

Another Viking boat grave on mainland Scotland was found in 1935 in Huna , County Caithness . Nine other boat graves are on Scottish islands. Including six in the Hebrides , two on the Isle of Man and three in Orkney and the Shetland Islands .

Discovery and excavation

The Ardnamurchan Transitions Project has been researching and investigating the Ardnamurchan Peninsula in western Scotland for years. An Iron Age fortification and a Neolithic barrow were discovered. The aim of the project is to analyze the changes in social structures and on the peninsula in the period from 4000 BC. BC to the 18th and 19th centuries with the Highland Clearances .

At first, the scientists assumed that the formation they had discovered was an insignificant pile of stones that had been piled up from reading stones . A closer look in the early summer of 2011 showed that it was a boat grave.

description

Dr. Oliver Harris recovering the ax head.
X-ray of the sword.

The boat is almost completely rotten, but its contours and around 200 rivets have been preserved. It was almost completely filled with stones, which goes back to the funeral ritual.

Inside the hull, the archaeologists discovered an arm bone and teeth that belong to the remains of a man. He was buried with a large number of grave goods . A shield hump is the remnants of a shield that was placed on his chest, a sword and a spear that were bedded next to him, as well as an ax , a knife, a ring brooch from Ireland , various pottery, a whetstone from Norway and the bronze one Ring setting of a drinking horn . In addition, numerous other iron objects have been recovered that have not yet been identified.

So far it is unknown where the man came from. The plan is to determine the home region through the analysis of radioactive isotopes that one would like to extract from one's bones and teeth. Oliver Harris believes the deceased was a man of high social status who was appropriately buried. Based on the wood residues, one would like to determine the origin of the wood used and, if possible, the place of construction. Before the finds are presented to the public, they must first be cleaned and restored.

Scientific importance

Hannah Cobb emphasizes the importance of the find and said:

“A boat grave of a Viking is an incredible discovery. But together with the artifacts in this state of preservation, this is one of the most important Nordic finds unearthed in Britain. "

- Hannah Cobb

As for the location, near Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows , Cobb cites:

"We don't think the association with the older monuments can be a coincidence - this was a place which was very important to people over an extraordinarily long period of time"

"We do not assume that the close proximity of the other graves is pure coincidence - this was a place that was of great importance to the people in the area for a very long time."

- Hannah Cobb

In addition, there are no known Viking settlements in the vicinity of the grave.

Other boat graves found in Scotland are more recent or could not be recovered intact due to inadequate archaeological work methods. Boat graves have been found in Scotland at Carn nan Bharraich and Lochan Kill Mhor on Oronsay . In addition, two on Colonsay and one on North Uist and one on Fetlar , one on Ling Ness and one near Scar , on Sanday .

The next significant burial site ( Loch na h-Airde ) is 45 km further north on Skye , where a Viking settlement could also be made out. However, it is unclear whether this already existed in the 10th century.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b jak / dapd: Viking grave makes archaeologists cheer . In: tagesanzeiger.ch , October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011. 
  2. ↑ Entry on boat grave from Port an Eilean Mhòir  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  3. ↑ Entry on Huna Hotel  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  4. ^ Viking boat burial find is UK mainland first l publisher = University of Manchester . October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  5. ^ Archaeologists find the Viking burial site in Scotland . msnbc.msn.com. October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Viking chieftain's burial ship excavated in Scotland after 1,000 years l last = Kennedy . In: The Guardian , October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011. 
  7. ^ Viking burial boat surfaces after 1,000 years . October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011. 
  8. ^ Ardnamurchan Viking boat burial discovery 'a first' , BBC News. October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011. 
  9. ^ Vikings in Scotland: an archaeological survey . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1998. pp. 89 and 138
  10. ^ Ross, David (May 7, 2011) "Now for medieval shipping news". Edinburgh. The Scotsman .

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